Dark Academia

This morning, before I got the chance to wash my face or brush my teeth, I read an article from my alma mater that boiled my blood. A testament that the “Don’t wake up and immediately check social media” method is crucial to self preservation, but it’s a battle I continue to fight. The article was published by their independent newspaper, the headline stating that the school would not be renewing many limited term teaching position contracts; contractual one year teaching positions. According to the article, many of the staff affected were surprised that they may not have positions in the upcoming school year, as they were under the impression that they were working towards extended-term teaching positions, which would guarantee more job security and a higher wage. These cuts are apparently in an ongoing effort to “stay within its approved deficit target for 2025-2026”.

You may ask yourself, “Why is Zakiyyah emotional over budget cuts at a school she no longer attends?” To which I pose a question to your question, which is, do you have any topics that just set you off? You’ll be completely tranquil, meandering through your day happily, when one mention of this topic sets your insides ablaze? For me, it’s the bureaucracy of my alma mater. In my last years I was extremely involved in student politics, going as far as to run for, and win thank you very much, a position in the Arts and Science Federation of Associations in my final year. While it has now weaned down to a casual interest, it doesn’t take much to get me ranting about it the same way I did as a student. One of my greatest frustrations as a student was how much money administration paid themselves while simultaneously cutting the funding towards services that benefitted the students who paid those salaries.

Which brings me right back to the article from this morning and why it irked my soul. The president of the school stated that these budget cuts were necessary as they are mitigating one of the toughest financial times in the school’s short history, which is surprising because he rakes in over half a million dollars every single year, a number that has grown significantly since he became President In 2019. A little quip of mine that I love to throw out whenever I mention having spent so much time in student government is that, it’s just a microcosm of what being in the real world is like. Including the fact that trickle down economics has never and will never work. Budget cuts rarely affect those at the top and this is a perfect example of it. Top administrators approve raises for themselves while blaming falling international enrolment for budget cuts. Blaming the students, of course and not the policies that are preventing students from enrolling at the rates they have in previous years.

These budget cuts come from the same administration that refused to allocate funding to my own program while I was still enrolled. I remember seeing students on track to graduate scramble to enrol in the very limited but necessary courses in order to matriculate on time. I remember professors being over worked and burnt out without the resources to hire additional staff. A professor I admired left to teach at another institution FOR the stability and salary they were offered, despite having loved their current position. A professor who ignited in me a passion for subject material I hadn’t known in years. The very people who were meant to encourage the next generation, being chased away because of a lack of funding.I remember students coming to student government representatives, presenting their cases and asking for assistance that no one within our department could give, because there was no funding, allegedly.

Before I was in student government though, I was just a student. A student who couldn’t get access to mental health resources because they were simply spread too thin. I remember finally getting to see a campus doctor after waiting for what seemed like forever, only to be rushed in and out of his office, because there were too many students scheduled to be able to spend more than 5 minutes with each one. A student who didn’t know anything about the bureaucracy of her school but still felt it anyway. It angers me to see that so many years later there is a new generation of students still fighting for the same access to resources that I did, it angers me to see the salary of administration continue to increase when I know Teaching Assistants just recently went on strike for fair pay. It pains me that lecturers and professors, arguably the backbone of the institution are in unstable positions. It breaks my heart that students leave school just to find out, it’s simply a microcosm of the real world. Stepping off the graduate stage to realize that the villain they shook hands with when they accepted their diploma is small fish compared to the villains who hoard wealth on the outside. Of course there are the students who have been privy to this information before, they always understood that money does not trickle, no matter how high up it is above us.

Now I know there is someone who knows way more about economics than me, who is going to point out that even if the administration didn’t accept their many pay raises, that the amount wouldn’t be enough to fix the several issues I brought up. And they would be correct, but my frustrations still remain. How can one accept money knowing that students are suffering? How can you claim to be an institution of the future? What kind of future do you envision? One where those at the top continue to line their pockets while those at the bottom suffer in silence? What stops you from envisioning a future without suffering? Where there is no top and bottom? A future where educators don’t get emails in the middle of their classes telling them this might be their last year?

Watching my alma mater slash teaching positions while executives earn more feels like déjà vu, the same logic that cuts SNAP benefits while billionaires build rockets. In the future I envision, I wouldn’t have to read articles knowing so many people’s lives were changed. In the future I envision, I wouldn’t have to read about the U.S government cutting funding for SNAP benefits for 41 million people, despite some of the richest people in the world living here. When I mention student government being a microcosm of the “real world” it’s a bitter comment, because there is no escape from claws of capitalism, not even at a self proclaimed “next generation”institution.