Halifax, NS– The sound of fireworks, cheering, and celebratory music could be heard from across the Coburg Road area on Friday night, originating from the University of King’s College campus.
The disturbance, now being referred to as a “celebration of diversity” by King’s administration, came as a result of a record breaking enrollment of five students of colour for the new academic year, raising the racialized student population from three students to eight.
The Mackerel spoke to King’s Admissions Officer, Chad Connors, who was thrilled by the latest statistics. “This is an amazing milestone,” said Connors. “We never could’ve imagined such a large number of non-white students joining our student body.”
When asked how they felt about the influx of diversity, white students’ responses were generally positive. “Of course I think diversity is important,” said 3rd year student, McKinleigh Smith. “My mom’s yoga instructor’s uncle’s friend is a person of colour, so I’m like, totally passionate about fighting racism or whatever.”
This change has King’s using a new approach in terms of marketing. “This is very exciting,” explains King’s photographer, Everlee Wallace. “Representation is incredibly important, especially in marketing, which is why I’ve made it my mission to capture that.” When further questioned about the possibility of this new marketing scheme bordering on tokenism, Wallace took a short break from the interview to google the word ‘tokenism’ before declining to answer any further questions. The new students in question declined interviews with The Mackerel, wanting to avoid public attention if given the option. King’s remains hopeful about continuing on this path of diversity to provide higher education to more non-white students by recruiting them into the university’s prestigious Foundation Year Program, which gives students of all racial backgrounds the opportunity to learn about prominent white authors throughout history.
By Lauren Sooksom