Collective

Ethnocultural Collective

Ethnocultural Collective

Ethnocultural Officer: Salma Elmubasher

#Who are we?

The Ethnocultural Collective is a place for any UTS students who identify as black, Indigenous or as a person of colour (BIPOC) to connect and organise together. It’s a safe space for BIPOC students to forge friendships and be surrounded by in a sense of community.

There is a high population of students from a variety of ethnic and migrant backgrounds who deserve a safe space to feel supported and validated during their time on campus. In 2020, UTS had 46, 382 students enrolled and of those students, 13,963 were international students, 47% of students spoke languages other than English at home and 48% were born outside of Australia.

We want to see these numbers reflected at a university management level via the centring of BIPOC issues and voices when it comes to activism concerning BIPOC communities. We are working to ensure that BIPOC voices are at the forefront of campus activism and anti-racism efforts. We also offer a space for students to escape whiteness and the structures that often exclude them. We will be fighting alongside UTS management this year to ensure that all students feel safe and heard both on and off-campus. Furthermore, the UTS Ethnocultural Collective is staunchly against all forms of marginalisation, oppression, and prejudice.

#What's do we do?

We aim to offer a space for students to feel safe to discuss their experiences with racism and advocate for issues that concern BIPOC students by raising awareness on campus and bringing said issues to the attention of university management. We endeavour to learn, grow, and develop our understandings of oppression, racism, and colourism, presenting a united front with people from all cultures against these nuances

#We offer...

  • Regular meetings and catch-ups throughout the year that all members are invited to. These meetings are a good space to bring up any concerns or thoughts you have that would better the BIPOC experience during their time at university. 
  • Events that range from being social in nature, such as picnics and dinners, to being educational or engaging, such as seminars, panels, training sessions or even rallies or strikes.

#Things we want to offer in 2022

  • Offering a mentorship program for BIPOC students this year and connecting our collective to the wider community
  • Attaining a permanent space on campus for our collective 
  • Ensuring the implementation of a more efficient and accessible complaints system that has an effective resolution process for students facing racial discrimination

#How to get involved

It’s important that the ethnocultural collective is active and accessible, and we can’t be either without you! We will be working on a range of campaigns this year and will need your help! If you are passionate about the plight of BIPOC students against racial discrimination and prejudice, join our collective by signing up below! You can choose how much of a role you want to play throughout the year but essentially, the collective is what you make of it via your involvement. You can follow our progress on our Instagram @utsethnocultural or like our Facebook page: ‘UTS Ethnocultural Collective’. We also have a Facebook group, which you will gain access to upon becoming a member.


 Email

Email

If you have any queries, or for more information about the collective, feel free to reach out to the 2022 Ethnocultural officer, Suzy Monzer, at: ethnocultural@utsstudentsassociation.org

#Sign up

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#Related