EDI: EngiQueers

For the first post part of our EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) campaign, we interviewed Ezra Goldberg (former EnqiQueers President) and Nicholas Ramsubick (current EngiQueers President) and learned a lot about EngiQueers at Queen’s. Scroll down to read the interview!

Also, check out the video below showing the highlights from the interview!


What is the story behind Engiqueers at Queen’s?

Engiqueers was established four years ago with the aim of creating a safe, accepting, and inclusive space for queer-identified students and their allies in engineering at Queen’s. Some of the events that they hosted last year included a Bridge Building competition and a Valentine’s Campaign for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS research. The purpose of these events was to improve mental health and destress students during the fall semester.

Engiqueers is part of a national nonprofit organization, a chapter of Engiqueers Canada. Every year, Engiqueers Canada holds a fundraiser for all chapters to raise donations.

 

How did you find out and/or get into Engiqueers?

Nicholas: I’m coming back for my last year and I knew I wanted to get involved and make sure that I was a part in holding spaces for underrepresented individuals in the engineering community, like the QTBIPOC LGBTQ+ community. Especially since my identity is a black queer person. During the two years I spent away from Queen’s, I appreciated having people around me who could understand and share my experiences and now that I’m back I want to make sure that I am a part of creating a safe space for all engineers.

Ezra: I literally didn’t know EngiQueers was a thing until I noticed a sticker that my friend had. Because of that, I went to my first event where they had a table at QP and they were just having a conversation. At first, I was worried about it being cliquey, and exclusive, but instead everyone was so nice and welcoming. From there, I got more involved, started off as an Events Manager and then became President the year after.

 

What is one thing you want people to know about Engiqueers?

This year, Engiqueers is focused on making more events specifically catered to the QTBIPOC community, as well as focusing on all the intersectionality’s of being a queer person. The goal is to create a community that represents all identities; culture, gender, etc. Students in engineering cannot be categorized into one box. They are black, queer, fluid, etc. Engiqueers is creating a space for those voices that have usually been silenced, to find space, and hold space. The events we have serve more as a space where we people can come together and have conversations with others who understand them. It’s a space where people care about who you are and are trying to uplift who you are, in a safe and supportive environment.

 

In what ways do clubs like yours help Queen’s engineers?

We have had professional development, and educational events, queer sex ed. talks serving as educational resources, and held a panel with queer alumni and staff at Queen’s. We help students in more specific ways. Even just “fun” events allow for a space that is specifically and explicitly queer. It’s a place to meet other people of different ages and take up space.

A couple of years back the Engineering Wellness Center was closed down. It was a beacon for engineers to go talk and sit in a safe and supportive environment. Now that we don’t have that space available, clubs like ours have to take on that initiative to hold similar supportive environments. We are engineers but there is so much more to us. With our busy schedules there’s no time for us to sit and reflect on the rest of our identities, which can be draining.

 

What does Engiqueers mean to you?

Ezra: Engiqueers is about empowerment. Growing up you see so many ideas of “what it means to be an engineer” and I never saw myself in that. I never thought it was something I’d be able to do. Instead you see that gay men can be hairstylists or interior designers and that’s it. I never saw myself being technical or using math, which I’ve always liked. Representation matters and its important.

Nicholas: Engiqueers, for me, shows the resiliency of the community to take up space in such oppressive environments, especially engineering, which is predominantly cis white males taking up space and holding power. Again, it’s about empowering and shows resiliency to come together and show that show we’re here, we are engineers, and we’re queer, and we’re also XYZ. To show that this is what it means to be an engineer, and this is what it looks like to be an engineer, like it could be anything. I think it takes a lot of courage to do that in spaces where you’re told to not talk about these things.

 

What would be the goal of your initiatives at the end of the year?

Our main goal is to uplift and advocate for queer engineers and allies. We are trying to focus on the uplifting and advocacy for the QTBIPOC community. It is important to speak about the intersectionality’s of being a queer person, being a white queer person, and recognizing privilege and oppression. There are hierarchies in our society, and we need to talk about them. There are underrepresented groups in engineering, who need to know that there is a space for them and there are people who look like them and who are advocating for their lives. Engiqueers is a place where individuals can come out of the gaze of their oppressors and come together to be a community. That is the hopes of our initiatives.

We also really want to collaborate with other queer clubs or just clubs in general who are helping to create queer-positive spaces. There are so many clubs at Queen’s outside of EngSoc that a lot of engineers may not know about who are doing a lot of amazing labour to help the queer community, so we want to partner with them to help them with the work they’ve already been doing.

 

What is one misconception about your initiative?

The main misconception is that our space is only for queer people or those who are very much out and self-assured. Engiqueers is an open space to allies, those figuring themselves out, or those in the closet. Nobody has everything figured out in life. Everyone is welcome. It’s not a space where you have to know your label. It’s a space for you.

 

What change would you like to see and how can other students help? What would you like to see the Engineering Faculty of Queen’s do to help?

Faculty: I’ve heard disheartening things about faculty, and I know that is out of my control. On the @erasedbyFEAS Instagram account, a student was being misgendered and treated rudely in the washroom by a staff member. It would be nice if staff could have positive space awareness training, to ensure they aren’t just going to be a bystander and actively help. There are people who are opposed to this training and there are some people who will never understand these things and that’s unfortunate, but despite this, I think this training should be pushed to the staff as being something important.

Change I would like to see, I think, is have the faculty prioritize bringing in representation of queer and BIPOC engineers, with financial backing behind it. The faculty should try and hold their own panels and have guest speakers so engineering students can learn from them and see what it actually means “to be an engineer”. I think that if you bring a queer engineer you should compensate them for their time and discussing their hardships, success, and traumas. It’s a lot of labor that BIPOC students put into doing this stuff. It’s time for faculty to put in the same sort of labor. Doing the same thing students have been doing for a while, the faculty should show that they prioritize their students.

In addition, I find it frustrating with everything that has happened with mental health support. It has been cut leaving three individuals to take on all of the engineering students. I think more effort could be made towards mental health. For example, giving out lemons with the duck song playing in the back for #BellLetsTalk was super inconsiderate. It talked down the severity of mental health and spoke volumes about the faculty. Queer people are far more likely to suffer from mental health illnesses and we should have conversations on how to uplift people. Mental health shouldn’t just be addressed in our tuition.


We want to hire more people of all types, so we can have all voices in the conversation. We are hiring for positions if you’d like to come join. If not please feel free to come to any of our events and check out our social media @QueensEngiQueers

2017/2018 Clark Assistant Managers

Congratulations to the Clark Assistant Managers!
 
Operations: Andrew Litt
Marketing: Keshav Sharma
Entertainment: James Osborne
Business: Garrett Richardson

2017/2018 Golden Words Managers

Congratulations to the new Golden Words managers!
 
Editors: Brendan Robson, Sam Goldstein
Operations: Peter O’Donnell
Business: Seth Davis

2017/2018 Head Managers Hired

Congratulations to the new Head Managers!

 

Clark: Elise Hewat

 

CEO: Chaz Sutton

 

EngLinks: Alan Goodman

 

Icons: Jack Williams

 

Tea Room: Mary Hales

Position Descriptions!

Are you interested in applying for a position in the society, but unsure of what each position entails? Check out our EngSoc position descriptions here which include:

  • The goal of the position
  • Job Description
  • Responsibilities
  • Time Commitment
  • Skills Required and Skills Gained
  • Daily Tasks
  • Past Projects/Accomplishments
  • Timeline of Job
  • People who have held the position in the past
  • And much more!

 

Congratulations to the New Director Team!

Academics – Monica Cowper

Communications – Behshid Behrouzi

Community outreach – Jordan Pernari

Conferences – Aidan Thirsk

Design – Oliver Austin

Events – Leah Vignale

Finance – Sarah Rodin

First year – Nick Dal Farra

Human Resources – Emily Wiersma

Internal Affairs – Alex Clifford

Information Technology – Carson Cook

Professional Development – Hannah Cameron

Services – Cody McLaughlin

Fall Reading Break Stance

The Engineering Society supports the implementation of a Fall Reading Break by moving move-in day 7 days earlier, maintaining the current orientation week, and implementing a full-week break attached to thanksgiving weekend.

This stance is a result of the plebiscite question which was included on the executive and senator ballot. The two options on the plebiscite question were as follows:

Option 1

  • Move in day is exactly 7 days earlier, on the Sunday 8 days prior to Labour Day
  • Aside from being a week earlier, orientation week remains unchanged
  • Classes begin on Tuesday after Labour Day
  • A four-day fall break occurs, likely from the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to the Friday of that week. This would be a full week off

Option 2:

  • Move-in-day occurs 1 day earlier (on Saturday)
  • Faculty Orientation would be 4 days starting on the Sunday
  • Classes run on the following Thursday and Friday
  • Residence Orientation would run on the following weekend and on the night of move-in day
  • Thursday and Friday classes are cancelled at some point around the middle of the year. This break may or may not be paired with Thanksgiving

 

Overwhelmingly, engineering students supported option 1 for the implementation of a fall reading break. 60% of students who voted (1209 students) favoured option 1, whereas 40% of students (806 students) supported option 2.

The Engineering Society plans to advocate on behalf of our students to the Fall Break Task Force and any other decision-making body involved, in support of option 1.

Sincerely,

Taylor Sawadsky, Engineering Society President

A PDF version of this statement can be found here

Fall Reading Break Plebiscite Question

Hello Queen’s Engineering!

This Monday and Tuesday there is an election happening, and on this election ballot, there is a plebiscite (non-binding referendum question) about which option you prefer for a fall reading break.

It was decided last year that a Fall Reading Break will be implemented and there are now two options being considered. Not having a Fall Reading Break is not an option

The two options are below. Please note that the pros and cons below may not be a complete list.

Option 1

  • Move in day is exactly 7 days earlier, on the Sunday 8 days prior to Labor Day
  • Aside from being a week earlier, orientation week remains unchanged
  • Classes begin on Tuesday after Labour Day
  • A four-day fall break occurs, likely from the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to the Friday of that week. This will likely be a full week off
  • Pros
    • Full week break
    • Preserve orientation week in its current form
    • Same general layout as 1st semester is now
  • Cons
    • Residence fees will increase by ~4% to account for the extra week
    • Classes start 7 days earlier

Option 2:

  • Move-in-day occurs 1 day earlier (on Saturday)
  • Faculty Orientation would be 4 days starting on the Sunday
  • Classes run on the following Thursday and Friday
  • Residence Orientation would run on the following weekend and on the night of move-in day
  • Thursday and Friday classes are cancelled at some point around the middle of the year. This break may or may not be paired with Thanksgiving
  • Pros
    • Either a small extra cost to students or none at all
    • Move-in day is only 1 day earlier
  • Cons
    • Classes start 4 days earlier than the current system (on Thursday rather than on Monday)
    • We will have 1 less day of faculty Orientation Week

It is very important you vote on this very important issue to have your voice heard!

Sincerely,

The Executive Director Team

This information can also be found in PDF form here

Orientation Week Page Under Construction

Check back here later in the summer, and the week’s details will be up!

A letter to the members of the Engineering Society

The letter can be seen here