Letter: Yes to Support Cure and Community-Driven Research
The Community-University Research Exchange (CURE Concordia) gives students the chance to take their academic work outside the university and work on real projects that benefit communities struggling for social justice.
I’ve been involved with CURE for three years and every year I get more excited about the possibilities it holds.
Already two professors at Concordia have adapted their entire course outline around CURE projects. One class worked with the indigenous solidarity group Missing Justice to analyze information related to missing and murdered indigenous women.
Next semester another class will work with Accessibilize Montreal to map the accessibility of the streets around Concordia’s downtown campus, a small step towards making the city more navigable for people living with disabilities.
Imagine if more classrooms and individual students geared their academic work towards concrete projects that directly supported the needs of local communities. Policy analysis, research, art, marketing, accounting, computer programming, design, counselling and so much more—Concordia students at all levels hold so much capacity to create meaningful change and deserve the opportunity to do so.
I encourage undergraduate students to vote YES to a modest $0.08 per credit fee levy for CURE. A stable source of funding will allow CURE to expand, offer more support to community groups and students in all faculties and really work to turn Concordia into a hub of community-driven research and engagement.
— Cassie Smith, independent student
