A Statement Regarding The Instances Of Sexualized Violence On Our Campus

Trigger warning: Sexualized Violence.

The StFX Students’ Union is saddened to hear yesterday's communication from the University regarding instances of sexualized violence on our campus. The StFX Students’ Union does not tolerate sexualized violence in any form and will continue to advocate the importance of survivor centric approaches to the University as we work to improve its prevention and response strategies to better support students.

First and foremost, we believe survivors and believe in a system where survivors can come forward with their stories.

Secondly, we believe that the University should be providing full support to anyone processing the information contained in today’s press coverage, especially during exam season.

StFX offers the following resources for students seeking assistance:

StFX Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Advocate
Heather Blackburn
306B Bloomfield Centre
P: 9028675601
E: hblackbu@stfx.ca
Monday - Friday: 9:00AM - 5:00PM

StFX Health and Counselling: 
3rd Floor Bloomfield Centre
P: 9028672263
Monday & Thursday: 8:30AM - 8:00PM; Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 8:30AM - 4:30PM

REES (Respect, Educate, Empower Survivors):
As a reminder, all students have access to REES which is available 24/7. REES is an online reporting platform which allows students to create a record of an incident and select from multiple reporting options including: Anonymous Report, Report to Campus (Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Advocate), Report to RCMP, or Repeat Perpetrator Identification. Further information regarding REES can be found at: https://theu.ca/rees and https://stfx.reessecure.com/

Students wishing to seek academic accommodations in light of today’s release are asked to contact their professors or respective deans for support. If students require additional advocacy support regarding academic accommodation, please contact the Students’ Union at su_pres@stfx.ca.

Antigonish is also home to several community-based supports, including the Antigonish Women’s Centre and Naomi Society, which are available to students.

Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre & Sexual Assault Services Association
https://awrcsasa.ca/
P: 9028636500

Naomi Society: 
https://www.naomisociety.ca/
P: 9028633807

Students seeking assistance outside of office hours are encouraged to use resources available through HealthyMindsNS, including:

  • Good2Talk Phone (connect with a professional counsellor by calling 1-833-292-3698).

  • Good2Talk Text (contact a trained, volunteer crisis responder by texting GOOD2TALKNS to 686868.).

The StFX Students’ Union is committed to preventing and addressing sexualized violence in our community and will continue to push our University to foster a safe and supportive learning environment free from violence for all students.

StFX Students’ Union Executive Team

To the Campus Community: Statement Regarding Mark Mercer's Speaking Engagement at StFX University

In regards to Mark Mercer’s speaking engagement at StFX University

To our students,

We want to acknowledge the harm caused by this individual’s presence on campus and provide support to students impacted and affected. We stand with all of our members who were impacted negatively by this speakers presence on our campus. We hope that we can help support you and call the University to action.The Student’s Union does not condone any event that has a negative impact on our students, and we are saddened that it happened on our campus.

To our University Administration,

It has been documented that in the next strategic plan for STFX, the University aims to weave equity, diversity, and inclusion, (EDI) into the fabric of the strategic plan and, in turn, the fabric of this institution. This individual’s presence on our campus does not reflect an EDI approach to higher education. The Students’ Union asks the University how having a speaker like Mark Mercer on our campus lends itself to this direction of EDI values, and how they plan to address the negative impacts that this caused?

The Students’ Union asks on behalf of our affected members, that you clearly demonstrate your commitment to a welcoming and inclusive STFX. In reviewing past articles and comments that this speaker has made, how does this speaker represent the Xaverian Values that the University asks its students to represent when they first arrive on campus. Are these Xaverian Values also not the responsibility of the University staff and faculty as well?

Lastly, we wanted to ask the university, who was this presentation for?

To read about StFX’s commitment to EDI:

https://www.stfx.ca/about/news/Being-Xaverian

https://www.stfx.ca/about/news/respectful-communities

https://www.stfx.ca/about/news/Dimensions-Charter

https://www.stfx.ca/about-stfx/university-governance/strategic-plan-2017-22

Agenda | Students’ Union Annual General Meeting (AGM)

October 27th, 2022, 6:30 PM The McKay Room

  1. Call to order

  2. Roll Call

  3. Land Acknowledgement

  4. Opening Remarks of the Chair

  5. Approval of the Agenda

  6. Business Arising

  7. Special Reports:

    • Auditor’s report on Students’ Union Financial Statements 2021-2022

    • StFX Student Union By-law presentation

    • Annual Plan Presentation

  8. New Business:

    1. Appointment of the Auditor ‘Grant Thorton’ for the Student Union 2022-2023

      • Motion to approve the Financial Statements 2021-2022

      • Motion to approve the By-Laws as presented and replace the current By-Laws of the SU

      • Motion to approve The Annual Plan for 2022-2023

  9. St.FX’s Students’ Union President’s Report (Mr. Brendan Roberts)

  10. 10. Question Period

  11. Closing Remarks of the Chair

  12. Adjournment

Congratulations to the Pride of StFX Awards

The STFX Students’ Union was extremely excited to see the Pride of STFX Awards established this past Homecoming weekend as a collaborative effort between the Alumni Association and X-Pride. We would also like to congratulate the first winners of this incredible award, and the significant impact that their leadership has had on our Xaverian community.

We were deeply saddened by some of the recent comments made by an alumni in regard to this awards creation, however these only serve as a reminder of the work that there is still to do across the Xaverian community. There never was, and never will be tolerance for harassment, discrimination, homophobia or transphobia towards the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and we must strive to foster a Xaverian community of love, inclusivity, and acceptance for all.

We stand beside the voices of 2SLGBTQIA+ students here at STFX as well as those within the broader Xaverian community.

Brendan Roberts, President

On Behalf of the Students’ Union Executive Board and Representative Council

Storwell Foster Children Bursary Program

A $2,000 annual bursary to help foster children pursue post-secondary education 

In response to the growing number of foster children and youth in care that struggle to afford post-secondary studies, Storwell has developed the Storwell Foster Children Bursary Program. Along with providing accessible and affordable storage units, Storwell is also devoted to helping out the local community through various charitable causes and social initiatives. For over a decade, Storwell has helped numerous students across Canada achieve their educational goals. 

Eligibility Criteria:

The applicant must:

1. Have been a foster child with an official Canadian or American foster care program and agree to have the above organization verify the same.

2. Be enrolled as a full-time student at a recognized general/ vocational College or post-secondary institution in Canada or USA as of September.

3. Be a Canadian or American Citizen or Permanent Resident.

4. Be 24 years of age or less at the time of application.

5. Agrees to have their name, photo and post-secondary institution displayed on the Storwellwebsite.

Storwell offers an annual bursary of $2,000 to help foster children attend post-secondary schools and to offer a hand up as they make their way forward in life. Eligibility requirements and access to the application form can be found at: https://www.storwell.com/bursary-application

St.FX Students’ Union (The U) Open Educational Grant Program 

September 19, 2022

St. Francis Xavier University and The U, Antigonish, NS

We proudly announce that the StFX Students' Union and the University have partnered to launch the first Open Educational Resources (OER) grant program! This grant program offers StFX professors funding for the resources that will allow them to switch from using traditionally published textbooks to Open Educational Resources. Open Educational Resources are an openly licensed free alternative to regular textbooks, making for more affordable and inclusive student learning opportunities. 

This is a huge help to the affordability of textbooks for StFX students, and we are thrilled that the first year of the program, which provided $39 488 of funding to StFX faculty, will save students approximately $88 000 in textbook costs per year. In addition, a significant portion of the funding was used to pay for summer students hired by StFX faculty to help them with their Open Educational Resource projects. We would like to thank all the faculty who applied to the OER pilot program and are currently working on their projects, and all those who have contributed to this initiative. Some projects that are presently being funded include Dr. Janitina Toxopeus’s Biology 111/112 which alone will save students up to 56,700$ a year by providing an OER. Successful grant recipients are Dr. Mark Baker’s Physics 121/122, Dr. David Young’s Education 434, Dr. Erin Mazerolle’s new Selected Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience, Dr. Tracy Everitt’s Human Nutrition 425, and Dr. Keith De’Bells’s Math 236. We thank these award winners for their participation and patience as we created and implemented this program. 

Currently, the Students’ Union is working on other initiatives to further the accessibility of universities by lowering the cost of textbooks. Our Zero Textbook Cost course database is available on our website to feature the amazing work professors here on our campus have done to make their classes more accessible. This course database showcases classes that do not have an assigned textbook or that use OER within their classes. The Union and University have also collaborated on the textbook loaner program, where students can donate their used textbooks for free in-library use for other students. Our on-campus partnerships with the university have helped us provide more services to more students to make post-secondary education more accessible. 

For more information, contact: 

Naomi Stobart

Vice President Academic, StFX Students’ Union 

Su_academic@stfx.ca

The U- For Students by Student |   @theuoffical | su_academic@stfx.ca

To our Campus Community

The Students’ Union is heavy hearted following the recent news of the loss of one of our fellow students. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the student, in addition to our entire Xaverian community during this time. If you need any support in mourning our loss, we strongly encourage you to reach out to the services suggested by the University in their email to students yesterday. In addition to those resources, we are currently exploring other resources that we can offer, and will be updating this list as they become available.

    •    Healthy Minds NS—free eMental Health resources for Nova Scotia post-secondary students which includes:  

     •    Good2Talk—a free helpline offering confidential support from professional counsellors to any university student who is studying at a university in Nova Scotia. Call 1-833-292-3698   

     •    Crisis Text Line—A volunteer support service providing text-based supports to university students. To connect, text Good2TalkNS to 686868 

    •    StFX Chaplaincy - (902) 867-2320 or dwmacgil@stfx.ca 

    •    NS Mental Health Crisis Line - 1-888-429-8167 (toll free) available to help 24/7

  •    International Office -

Alumni Recognition Awards for Students

A $1500 bursary could be yours!

The StFX Alumni Association will recognize four StFX University undergraduate (first degree) full time students who combine high academic standing with involvement in campus and/or community activities. Each award is $1500 and will be awarded to one student in each of the four years of study: first year, sophomore, junior, senior. (The funds are applied to your student account at the StFX Business Office.) These awards are intended to recognize full time students who have made a significant contribution to campus/community life and have benefited from their experience at StFX. You are not eligible to receive this award more than once.

A minimum grade average of 70% is required for the current year to apply.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

  1. Sophomore, junior and senior applicants are asked to submit a 1,000-word essay describing what influence they think their experience at StFX will have on life after graduation. Essay submissions need to be original work. Returning students are asked to include their previous years' averages as well as their Christmas average (does NOT need to be an official transcript – just a copy of your grade report from Banner or list your yearly averages).

  2. First-year student essays (1,000 words) should include reasons for choosing StFX and how the StFX experience has impacted them. First-year students need to provide their Christmas average (official transcript NOT necessary – just note your average on cover page).

  3. Previous applicants may apply again but note that essays from applications in previous years cannot be resubmitted. It must be a new essay.

  4. Applicants must also include a list of their extra-curricular activities.

  5. Applicants must include a cover page listing full name, home address, campus address, cell phone number, an email address, year of attendance, program of study, student ID number and anticipated year of graduation and a list of your marks.

  6. Award winners may be asked to attend and read their essay at the fall Homecoming Hall of Honour ceremony in the fall (graduate students who are unable to attend are exempt).

  7. Please submit an electronic version (Microsoft Word document) of your entire submission (including marks) to the email address below before the application deadline.

For further information or clarification of eligibility criteria, interested students should direct their inquiries to:

Glenda Bond, Alumni Affairs Office
Email: gbond@stfx.ca

Students who qualify need to email all of the necessary information to the above email address by the date and time below.

Application Deadline:
MONDAY, February 28, 2022 at 3pm

StFX Students’ Union | Annual General Meeting

To all Students’ Union members:

The StFX Students’ Union will be holding its Annual General Meeting on October 7th, 2021 at the Golden X Inn at 5:30pm.

The first 50 people will receive a free item from out 7$ menu.

Agenda will include:

  • Presentation of the Students’ Union Audited Financials for 2020-2021

  • Motion to approve the Audited Financials for 2020-2021

  • Presentation of the Students’ Union Executive Annual Plan

  • Other agenda items TDB

Hope to see you there!