University of Victoria students are planning a rally to demand the school’s board of governors “become accountable to the student body and embrace the university’s role as both a public place of higher learning and as a responsible public actor.”
A press release from the UVic Student Society (UVSS) said the rally is focused on concerns around the school’s proposed hikes to international tuition fees – 20 per cent for undergraduate degrees and four per cent for graduate tuition.
“Students cannot afford these massive tuition increases, and it is degrading the quality of education at UVic,” said campaigns and community relations director Ainsley Kerr. “We demand that these proposed hikes be rejected and that international tuition be re-coupled to domestic tuition.”
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The rallying students say another concern is the way in which UVic “remains deeply implicated in the fossil economy” – juxtaposing the school’s self-proclaimed commitment to environmentalism and “strong focus” on reconciliation.
“As a matter of climate and intergenerational justice, and to ensure that our actions match our words, we demand that UVic divest itself from the fossil economy and encourage other post-secondary institutions to do the same,” the statement reads.
The rally will take place Tuesday, March 26, from 10 a.m. until noon at UVic’s University Centre Senate Chambers.
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