KPIRG Asks Students to Get Dis/Oriented
Two weeks of events offer a different sort of student orientation
The Kwantlen Public Interest Research Group’s annual Diso/Orientation series—titled DisO Days this year—was different from your typical university orientation. Whereas most orientations are meant to familiarize new students with the way things are done at a post-secondary institution, KPIRG’s events had been designed specifically to shake things up, to disorientate students from the traditional standards of student life.
The two weeks from Sept. 12 to 23 that made up Dis/Orientation consisted of workshops, discussions, and gatherings that are open to both students and the general public. While many of the events were aimed at re-focusing narratives on suppressed voices and supporting marginalized groups, the series welcomed anyone with an interest in opposing systematic oppression and fighting for environmental sustainability.
“It isn’t that people don’t want to do anything about the social and environmental injustice. A lot of the time it is just that people don’t have [the information],” says Corrina Tang, a DisO Days coordinator. “From these events, students can take away a piece of knowledge with them . . . and do something with that knowledge. Even something small like telling their friends and family or do something bigger, like starting a group to bring more awareness.”
Nine events were held as part of DisO Days between the Surrey, Richmond, and Langley campuses. The series began with “We are at Kwantlen” which recognized that students are on Kwantlen First Nation’s indigenous territory during their time at KPU. The event’s Facebook page stated that, “through riveting storytelling, [the event] aimed to explore the process of decolonization and to raise consciousness on the sovereignty of the Unceded Coast Salish peoples.”
“It shows the Elder in Residence that we are allies,” says Alex Dingiria, a member of KPIRG.
Most DisO Days events featured guest speakers with specific knowledge on various areas of social and environmental justice. For example, Luke Wallace, a folk musician from Vancouver, was a special guest at the Anti-Pipeline and Just Eat event on Sept. 14. His folk music is rooted in conservation and environmental action to form a genre dubbed “folktivism”.
Wallace has collaborated with Indigenous communities, conservation groups, and grassroots organizations in an attempt to raise awareness about conservation efforts occurring along the West coast of Canada. Many of these projects are situated around the expansion of oil and gas pipelines that put communities and ecosystems at risk.
Since they were founded, KPIRG has served KPU students as an on-campus resource centre which provides support for students and community members to engage in social justice and environmental issues. If students have a passion or a problem to discuss, KPIRG is a safe place for them to do so.
“A lot of students like me have these concerns and questions and they usually don’t have a platform to talk about it,” explains Tang. “They should know that KPIRG is a place where they can voice these concerns.”
