Students and faculty call on Mount Allison University to reinstate full funding for Women and Gender Studies program
HALIFAX – At an on campus assembly to be held later today, students and faculty at Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) will be calling on Mount Allison University (MAU) to fully restore funding cut from the MAU Women’s and Gender Studies program. Students will also be signing postcards and posing for photos with signs expressing why Women’s and Gender Studies matter to them.
“Cuts to women’s and gender studies programs marginalize the voices of women and deny students access to representative education,” said Charlotte Kiddell, President of the MSVU Feminist Collective. “By singling these programs out for elimination during budgetary processes, university decision makers are saying these voices don’t matter.
WHAT: Students and faculty highlight the value of representative education
DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, March 8, 3:00 PM
LOCATION: MSVU, Margaret Norrie McCain Atrium
On Monday, February 1, 2016 MAU announced its decision to cut funding for the Women’s and Gender Studies program. After facing public backlash the program funding has been restored in the form of a postdoctoral fellowship for the 2016/2017 academic year. However, this is a short-term solution and the university has not yet committed to funding full time faculty for the program. Prior to this year, MAU funded a full-time tenured faculty position for over a decade.
Replacement of full-time faculty with contract and temporary positions compromises the quality of education. “As an institution committed to the advancement of women, it is so important that the MSVU community speaks out again this injustice,” said Kiddell.
The MSVU Feminist Collective is a student initiative, dedicated to promoting gender equity and advocating against sexist attitudes and actions, on campus and in our communities.
-30-
For more information:
Media Contact: Charlotte Kiddell, President of MSVU Feminist Collective, 902-580-5735 (cell)
The site for the Halifax local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.
