Doors Open was held on Sept. 15 to help students get acquainted with the variety of support resources and service providers in the Queen’s community.
New and current students were invited to explore the campus and the different organizations serving equity-deserving communities, which hosted open houses all day long. The event was run by the Student Experience Office (SEO).
According to the event’s description, equity-deserving communities include individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+, international students, students with a disability, students from minority religious or faith groups, and students of colour.
“Our hope with Doors Open was that it would provide students with an opportunity to see the spaces where supports and programming for equity-deserving students are delivered,” Taryn McKenna, SEO student inclusion and engagement coordinator, said in a statement to The Journal.
The Doors Open booth in front of Douglas Library distributed maps with participating offices, such as the Yellow House Student Centre for Equity and Inclusion, Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre, Queen’s University International Centre, Faith & Spiritual Life, Athletics & Recreation, Student Wellness Services, and Queen’s Student Accessibility Services and Health Promotion, which held their own respective events.
During the pandemic, the SEO ran a virtual Equity Open House with various booths students could visit.
The event was designed to be nonsynchronous and have a distributed design for the events.
“We also felt that it allowed students to navigate the offices on their own terms rather than visiting several booths in one space. For some students, this ‘open house’ style event can be overwhelming or intimidating,” McKenna said.
Many students from equity-deserving communities were involved in planning and execution of the Doors Open booth and programming across campus.
“There are a wide range of volunteer and work opportunities for students, including equity-deserving students specifically, across campus,” McKenna said.
The students leading the Yellow House Queer Walking Tours worked at Yellow House during the summer, organizing activities for the academic year, like Solidarity Swim to provide non-cisgender students with a safer space to swim.
McKenna added there are many opportunities for students to get involved with equity work and organizations on campus. Students interested in employment opportunities can view them on MyCareer or visit a given organization’s site directly.
“Offices including the Yellow House, Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre, and the Queen’s University International Centre, for example, all offer student positions both in the summer and throughout the academic year,” McKenna added.
For students who couldn’t attend the open house, McKenna said there are many university and student-run events and initiatives for equity-deserving students every week.
She said students can visit the particular office of interest any time during the week and learn about services and events for the remainder of the year, or by visiting the EDII Student Events Calendar and filtering results by demographic.
Tags
BIPOC, Doors open, EDII, LGBTQ+, Student experience office
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