University of Windsor students search for a voice in the strike

by Chris Mailloux

When it comes to fighting for their rights to an education, University of Windsor students were all talk and no show.

A sit-in was planned through a facebook event drawing over 250 students to click the attend button. The protest was planned against both the faculty and administration to give students a chance to make their voices heard.

When the event happened on Sept. 29, within the first half an hour only one student had attended the sit-in located at the Windsor University Faculty Association house. In the first hour only six had attended the sit-in located inside of the foyer in front of the president’s office.

Despite low numbers, the spirits of the students in attendance still appeared to be strong. There was some good news, the strike threatened by faculty association had been temporarily adverted. Both the faculty and administration had announced that they were going back to the bargaining table.

Thomas Santoro, a fourth-year communication, media and film student at the university, was in attendance at the protest.

“I’ve been a part of that silent majority for a long time now, I’m in my fourth year and it’s frustrating that something like this is happening every year,” said Santoro.

Santoro said he was tired of remaining anonymous and planned to speak up for himself and others when he heard about the sit-in. He also said he believes the administration and faculty need to realize that the students are the common denominators in this situation. According to Santoro, if the students lose, everybody loses.

“We’re being thrown around, being used as pawns, we’ve been reinforced every year to believe that they don’t care about us,” said Santoro. “If they don’t care about us, why should we care about them?”

During the sit-in two fellow U of W students came into the foyer to pass around an essay about the strike that was written by a friend who they wished to keep Anonymous but called him Earnest. Michael Zajner and Dominic Pizzolitto decided to hand out the essay after they were inspired by its message. The message being that students should speak up for their rights to an education.

“In this whole squabble the students are the ones suffering and they aren’t being represented, there is a lack of a student body,” said Zajner.

Zajner, a philosophy student at the U of W, was handing out the essay because he believes it explains the lack of representation for students. He also said the essay can be used to call students across the university to come together to speak with one voice.

“I would say they should come down to protest this,” said Zajner. “This is an outrageous situation where our education and lively hood status as students is being jeopardized.”

Santoro said that the essay “hit the nail on the head” and represented the message the students were trying to deliver.

“Students make this place what it is, if no students come here, what is this place?” said Santoro.

The faculty and administration are still currently at the bargaining table. There is still a possibility of a strike if both sides cannot reach an agreement.