All around the world, students are walking out of their classes to attend climate rallies. Most of these rallies are, in one way or another, inspired by the young climate activist from Sweden, Greta Thunberg. On Friday, September 27th, students at all Sheridan campuses are taking part in climate rallies of their own.
Mission Zero, the organizers of the rallies, are fairly confident they will be highly attended. “We expect a lot of students to come out because this is their event,” said Sheridan sustainability coordinator Wai Chu Cheng.
However, when asking students on campus, not a single student knew much about the rallies.
Sheridan student Gurkaran Cheema said, “I come to class every day, we’re in the commons a lot, we’re in the cafeteria, we’re in the library, and even in our lectures we haven’t heard anything about the rally.” Cheema also went on to explain that if he were to ask his friends about the rallies, he is sure that they would all give very similar responses.
More than 10 groups of students were asked about the rallies, and not a single group knew anything about them. Furthermore, not a single poster or advertisement was found at the Trafalgar campus. After being told about the event, Will Brown said, “Ya I’ll probably go.” When asked why, Brown explained that he was mostly interested in attending because he would get to skip class.
Mission Zero has organized a rally for each campus.
- Trafalgar: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the Medicine Wheel Garden
- Hazel McCallion: 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Creativity Commons
- Davis: 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Peace Garden
Speakers are expected, but it is still unclear who they will be. Students are also encouraged to express themselves in words, songs, and poems. There will also be a banner that each attending student will have the chance to sign in order to show support for the cause.
Some Canadian universities and colleges have had very large climate demonstrations involving thousands of students walking out of class, but can Sheridan students match that? If you want to make a difference and spread awareness, the details for the rallies can be found below.