Activism and the College Experience
The college experience is one full of new ideas, new ways of knowing, and critical reflection. In our 2022 exhibit on Student Life, we acknowledged that the experiences students have during their time in post-secondary leave a lasting impact on who they become outside of it. At Douglas, a core purpose of the College is to provide educational experiences that both challenge and enlighten. For many, time spent at college is a particularly exploratory period in one’s life – one where values might be clarified, paradigms shifted, and boundaries pushed. It’s no wonder then, that activism can be a big part of the College experience.
Indeed, College and University campuses have long been spaces for social, environmental, and political activism. Some of the world’s most liberating and powerful movements have been led by students. The 20th century saw students front and center to the Civil Rights Movement and anti-Vietnam War protests in the US. In 1989 peaceful demonstrations in Czechia, led largely by students, directly contributed to the fall of a 40-year communist regime. And student activists in South Africa, with solidarity from students around the world, were fundamental to eventually ending the Apartheid system in the 1990s. While these are examples of hugely transformative activist movements, students (as well as faculty, administrators, and staff!) continue to change the landscape of politics, social justice, and education for the better, through varying forms of activism that are both big and small.
Student Protests & Labour Strikes
From the very start, Douglas College has seen marches, rallies, and strikes. In fact, photos in our archives show that at the College’s opening ceremony on November 19th, 1970, a large group of labour protesters stood outside the old New Westminster Campus at 8th 
Avenue and McBride. According to Gerry Della Mattia in his History of Douglas College, in 1970, B.C. was in the midst of a terrible recession. At the time over 40,000 individuals were facing unemployment. The protesters gathered with signs, not to protest Douglas College, but because they sought the attention of Premier Bennett who was attending the ceremony.
The next three decades would bring significant changes to public education within the province. Severe budget cuts and changes to government funding for post-secondary institutions in the late 1970s through to the 1990s resulted in increases to tuition, layoffs to faculty and College staff, and decreases in the number of courses being offered. Numerous records in our Student Governance Collection speak to the frustration and concern students felt regarding the impact of these cuts to their quality and cost of education. Student newspaper articles, textual documents, and photographs in the archives capture several protests involving the Douglas community in these decades, with three major events occurring in 1983, 1989, and 1995.
PDF Resources on Student Activism
1983
After several years of cutbacks, by 1983, students at Douglas were fed up with the state of post-secondary education in the province and they weren’t alone. Across B.C., a growing movement called the Solidarity Coalition or ‘Operation Solidarity’ was mobilizing in opposition to the B.C. government’s introduction of legislation that saw austere decreases in many social services, including public education. According to the Canadian Labour Congress these cuts predominately affected students, women and children, minority communities, and individuals with disabilities. In March 1983, at the opening of the new campus at 700 Royal Ave in New West, students exercised their rights with a “silent protest” directed at the Education Minister, Bill Vander Zalm. A memo from the Student Society asks the student body, faculty, and staff to give no reaction to the Minister after his speech, i.e. no clapping, booing, or any other response.
In his history of the College, Gerry Della Mattia recalled that the government’s austerity measures had resulted in hundreds of students being turned away from the College at the start of the Fall semester in 1983. By November, the Douglas College Student Society (now called the DSU) had joined the Solidarity Coalition and rallied students and faculty to march alongside thousands of workers, women, and other students in what became one of the largest political protests in British Columbian history.
1988-1989
After a tumultuous period of economic hardship and labour disputes across numerous service sectors in the province, by the end of the 1980s, labour tensions were also high at the College. In March of 1989, the College and the Faculty Association entered negotiations to renew a collective agreement in which issues of faculty salary, the role of sessional faculty, and job security for sessional faculty were to be addressed. However, both sides were having a difficult time coming to an agreement. Negotiations dragged on for months until finally in November, the Faculty Association issued a strike notice and began picketing at the College’s campuses. The strike lasted four weeks before a tentative agreement was made between the College and the Faculty association – which according to Gerry Della Mattia, was the longest ever strike in the history of Canadian education at the time.
Articles in the student newspaper, The Other Press, tell us that students were active in supporting faculty in the early days of the dispute. On February 18th, 1988, in solidarity with faculty, students rallied in the New West campus concourse and heard speeches from members of the Douglas/Kwantlen Faculty Association, the Douglas Student Union, and the Canadian Federation of students. According to the 
columnist, Ronaldo Horvat, the rally lasted approximately three hours before students, carrying signs and singing protest songs, staged a ‘sit-in’ in front of the College President, Bill Day’s, office. Photographs in the archives capture the moment Bill speaks with the students, addressing their concerns.
Mike Roth reported for the Other Press that just five days later, on February 23rd, 1988, students also boycotted classes in support of faculty. Marching again to Bill’s office, the students handed him a letter discussing their concerns in relation to how the labour dispute was affecting the quality of their education.
However, after several weeks of faculty striking, it seems student support had turned. Instead, students were increasingly interested in standing up for their own education. While a powerful effort to protect their labour rights, the faculty strike still had significant negative consequences to students. Concerned with missing class time and the loss of their tuition, students began to protest the strike. Articles written by Marion Drakos and Tamora Gorin in the November 20th, 1989 printing of The Other Press tell us that students held marches and rallies asking for an end to the labour dispute, not in solidarity with either party, but rather to advocate for themselves and the loss of their semester.
1995
In the mid 1990s, students in B.C. and across Canada were once again facing a decrease in the affordability of post-secondary public education. An article by Paul Andrew in the Other Press from January 27, 1995 explains that the primary issue at hand was a proposed change to funding formulas for education by the Federal government. Namely, the government was looking to redirect funding to an income-contingent student loan repayment model. Essentially, the government would reduce funding, schools would be forced to raise tuition, and students would then have to take out larger loans. In turn, the proposed model then made the loan contingent on the student’s ability to pay it back. This meant students who were successful in finding immediate employment after college would pay less interest than those who took longer to find work. Needless to say, students were not on board!
In his history of the College, Gerry Della Mattia writes that on January 25, 1995, Douglas College students participated in a national student demonstration in protest of the Federal government’s proposed changes. Over 100,000 students across the country marched, rallied, and mobilized on what the Canadian Federation of Students called the National Day of Strike and Action. Ultimately, Canadian students were successful in quashing the government’s plan. Photographs preserved in the archives document students protesting the funding cuts in the New Westminster concourse, holding signs that read “Stop the Cuts, Education is a right!”.
Environmental Activism
In 1972, Douglas College faculty and students joined forces to raise awareness related to a proposed construction of an Alaskan pipeline that would result in the transportation of crude oil via large tankers down B.C.’s coastline. It became known as the STOP THE TANKERS campaign. Correspondence in our archives speaks to a growing concern in the province regarding oil tanker spills along B.C.’s coast, which had become increasingly common in the late 60s and early 70s. An archived FAQ handout claims that a study had shown that B.C. could expect to see an average of at least four oil spills every ten years, with one catastrophic spill happening every eight years if the tanker route was adopted!
According to a letter in the Archives, neither Canadian nor U.S. governments were taking any solid action on the issue. Frustrated and concerned, David Anderson, the then leader of B.C.’s Liberal Party, initiated a private lawsuit in American law courts to have this newest tanker development slowed or stopped until a comprehensive environmental impact study could be completed.
In solidarity with Anderson’s action, Douglas College formed the STOP THE TANKERS Executive Committee. Meeting minutes show the committee was focused on raising public opinion and funds to support Anderson’s fight in the Supreme Court of the United States. The plan was to raise funds by enlisting members to the STOP THE TANKERS Committee at a fee of $1.00 per member. The campaign was mostly focused on raising awareness in the Lower Fraser Valley and in secondary schools throughout the lower mainland. A memo in the archives states that student representatives from 40 out of 58 schools attended a meeting in support of the campaign at Douglas’ Surrey Campus on February 1, 1973 – indicating that interest in stopping the proposed tanker route was widespread. From correspondence files we know that the STOP THE 
TANKERS Committee was even involved with other climate activism groups such as the Canadian Wildlife Federation and Seattle’s Coalition Against Oil Pollution.
However, the STOP THE TANKERS campaign never fully got off the ground. In February 1973, Anderson’s lawsuit was successful in preventing the transportation of oil along B.C.’s coast and therefore the campaign was no longer needed. Despite never fully taking off, records in the archives show that Douglas faculty, administrators, staff, and students felt strongly about this issue and worked hard to organize for an environmental issue that continues to resonate today.
Second-Wave Feminism
Between 1960 and 1985, Women’s movements were taking off across Canada and other western nations. Often referred to as second-wave feminism, this era of feminist movement was focused on tackling many issues of equality, safety, and representation. While second-wave feminism has since been critiqued for how it did (or did not) address intersections of race, class, and sexuality, it was nonetheless a transformative era of feminism and in Canada it directly led to legislative reform regarding equality rights. Of relevance to Douglas College in these years, was the mobilization of women for equality in education and employment. When the College opened in 1970, women in Canada were still predominately labouring in the household, with few paid employment opportunities outside of specific roles such as teaching, nursing, or secretarial work. Equal access to education became a foundational platform of second-wave feminism and records in our archives indicate that Douglas was paying attention to the movement.
In 1971, the College hired Lillian Zimmerman as a programmer for the Liberal Arts Division. Lillian joined Douglas with the express desire to develop credit-free courses for continuing education for women. By the following year, in collaboration with the Counselling department, she had the College offering workshops and evening courses tailored specifically to the interests and needs of women. Lillian would later go on to become a renowned advocate for the rights and dignity of mature women.
By 1973, Douglas was offering courses in Women Studies and in 1974 the Women’s Studies Advisory Committee was formally established and soon included representatives from the student body and as well as the broader community. In 1977, Douglas College would designate Women’s Studies as a Special Programs Unit.
In 1981 the College would also open Women’s Centres on its campuses. The role of the Women’s Centres was to “assist women gain equal access to College programs and services.” Textual records indicate their function was to assist women with accessing the College by providing resources and information. They also worked to identify and address barriers women faced in enrolling and succeeding in higher education. The Centres provided a safe and welcoming space to relax and de-stress, and importantly acted as an advocacy service for women. The Centres also hosted and organized workshops and events. These included skill-building workshops, film screenings, and support groups.
However, this work was not without its challenges. A letter from 1988, written by Marian Exmann, Coordinator for the Women’s Centre in the 1980s, reads:
Still, the Women’s Centres remained popular. Year end reports from the 1990s indicate that the Centres continued to be active in developing relevant resources to issues faced by diverse groups of women, including issues of access to education for immigrant women, the experiences of single mothers as college students, and the unique challenges faced by Indigenous women, women with disabilities, and mature women.
It is evident from materials in the archives that staff and faculty at the College were dedicated and passionate about advocating for equal access to education and employment throughout these years.
Student Governance
Student governance is fundamental to fair representation of the student body at any College or University. The Douglas Student’s Union, initially called the Douglas College Student Society, was incorporated in 1972 with the goal of being “a representative student organization which defends the rights and interests of Students”. The DSU has a long history of advocacy and activism on behalf of Douglas students. In the 1980s, over 200 records were transferred to the archives from the DSU, many of which highlight the significant role that the student union has had in ensuring public education remains accessible and affordable. Indeed, the protests previously discussed here were organized, supported, or led by the Douglas Student Union and its representatives.
However, the DSU could not operate without the voices and consent of its members. Exercising one's right to vote is an extremely effective form of activism and is one of the most direct means to make political change. Materials in the archives, such as this campaign flyer from the ca. 1980s, demonstrate that student governance candidates were serious in obtaining students’ votes.
Why activism in the archives?
Whether it is an organized rally, a silent protest, or creating a safe and inclusive space for people to come together to learn, activism in any form is a powerful way to make positive change in the world
Archives and archivists acquire and preserve records because they are tangible and direct traces of past activity and therefore, they have an ability to account for, or corroborate things said or done in the past. They capture the shifting tides of political landscapes and social attitudes over many years. Through archival materials we can understand and evidence activism through time, allowing us to recognize the labour and effort of the individuals who fought for the rights and privileges we enjoy today.
Recognizing that archives are rarely complete, and that there are many silences in archival collections, they can still give us a snapshot of past events and eras, allowing us to simultaneously see how far we’ve come and sometimes how far we have yet to go.
Check out what other archival materials we have by visiting our online database, our digitized collection in DOOR, or visit the archives website for more information!
If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with the Douglas College archives, please email us archives@douglascollege.ca.