From Corner Book, Conor Curtis is Digital Communications Coordinator for the Sierra Club Canada Foundation. They hold an MA in Environmental Policy from Memorial University, focusing on climate change impacts for NL. They were a contributing author on the federal government’s national report on climate impacts for rural and remote communities in Canada. Most recently they worked as Manager of Community and Volunteer Services at the Whitehorse Food Bank helping address food insecurity in northern Canada. A founding member of the 4 O’clock Whistle Magazine, and past member of Divest MUN, Conor writes primarily on issues relating to social justice, climate change, and policy.
The debate on tuition and fees at Memorial has, at its core, the larger problem of the commodification of education. The fight for education as a right is a crucial struggle.
As the prospect of tuition fee increases looms once again, absent from dialogue among politicians and academic administrators is a more crucial understanding of the role of post-secondary education in people's lives and society.
There’s a deeper psychological play at work in the current response to our economic situation, one which threatens countless families and individuals across the province and which is actively being used to counter human potential.