Overcast skies loomed over Progress Campus in February while the Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Inclusion’s Global Citizen Ambassadors finalized details for the centre’s first Social Justice Fair. The centre partnered with the Progress Campus Library to create a multi-faceted event experience for Centennial College students. The purpose of the Social Justice Fair is to give Centennial students the opportunity to support the social justice issues that they’re passionate about. Centennial College has many students who are seeking meaningful volunteer opportunities, and the Social Justice Fair is one event that can help them connect with organizations looking for volunteers.
The fair was held in the Progress Campus Library Commons and Fireside Gallery. The Commons hosted 14 organizations motivated by social justice and an art display courtesy of TakingITGlobal, featuring 15 pieces that tackled prevalent issues from extreme poverty to global warming. The Fireside Gallery acted as a secondary interactive space, where students made social justice buttons, played board games, perused a display of over 50 books from the library covering topics ranging from LGBTQ+ rights to Islamophobia and enjoyed free muffins and coffee (if one could finish their Social Justice Passport, that is!). A video conveying speeches, poetry by Maya Angelou and trailers for documentaries covering social justice issues played on loop in the background as students enjoyed the interactive portion of the Social Justice Fair.
The Fireside Gallery was also filled with the sound of powerful spoken word courtesy of iNsight, performer Tanika Riley’s stage name. When asked about the fair, Riley said, “I really commend any educational institution that really tries to enlighten students about issues surrounding social justice so that students, no matter what degree that they’re doing, know that we’re still on this planet together.”
The library was filled with a sense of togetherness and benevolence as students were excited to be networking with organizations who carry powerful messages. Pricilla Arias, the Young Women’s Outreach Coordinator at the Scarborough Women’s Centre thinks that “it’s great that there’s a social justice fair.” Robbie Ahmed, the Men’s Outreach Coordinator for the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP), comments, “It’s amazing how many folks are coming out.”
“It’s very inspirational,” Riddhi Hingragiya, a first year biomedical engineering student, says. “We are meeting social organizations [from] Canada… We also got to know about [volunteering in] Canada.” Another student, Nihhn Baten who is also in first year biomedical engineering, comments on the benefits of the fair, “We can help spread awareness and help other people. It’s amazing!”
Given the volume of positive and constructive feedback, the centre hopes that plans for the second Social Justice Fair will be in the works soon.
The weather may have been gloomy, but the event by the Global Citizen Ambassadors proved that no amount of overcast skies could deter Centennial College students from being socially proactive within their community.
By:
Allyson Aritcheta
Post-graduate student undergoing the Publishing- Book, Magazine, and Electronic program at the Story Arts Centre.
Hailey Bartolomeu
Social Service Worker student at Ashtonbee with a passion for activism.