Colour Connected Against Racism, an AMS resource group aimed at providing support and information for BIPOC students, has been inactive since 2020.
The group's Facebook — which has been inactive since October 2020, reads that Colour Connected supports students “who feel alienated and disempowered due to discrimination” and hosts “events on various issues pertaining to racialized peoples and lobbies the university and other institutions to implement necessary change.”
Despite still being listed on UBC’s equity and inclusion website, it no longer appears on the AMS website. Angie Chen, a social work student at UBC, said she was spurred on to join the resource group after the Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC) cancelled a BIPOC student event.
“SASC [was] having a BIPOC community circle that I really wanted to attend. So I tried to register for that, but they told me they cancelled the event ... which was unfortunate.”
Chen eventually stumbled upon UBC’s equity and inclusion website and noticed Colour Connected.
“At first, I was really excited because ... this is exactly what [I was] looking for. But then the more I looked into it, [I realized] it is not active at all, which is disappointing because it's one of the only resource groups I see on their website that has fizzled into nothing,” said Chen.
When asked if any other initiatives on campus filled the space that Colour Connected seemed to, Chen said, “There is nothing.”
While there are other BIPOC committees within undergraduate societies, Chen said “The problem with those equity groups ... is that they're very events focused, [with] one-off events ... like tote-bag painting, coffee, doughnuts, stuff like that ... they do not intertwine support and activism .”
“There [is] not really any programs that are support focused and are ongoing like [Colour Connected] was advertising.”
In a written statement to The Ubyssey, VP Admin Ian Caguiat wrote “The resource group’s decreased visibility and activity after 2020 was due to the impact of COVID-19.”
“The group saw a decrease in the number of students involved, [making] it challenging for the remaining students to organize events, projects and initiatives.”
“Equity and inclusion remains a top priority in [the AMS’s] operations and advocacy.”
He wrote the AMS is currently in the process of reviewing the constitution and bylaws of Colour Connected to ensure that “its purpose remains relevant to the needs and priorities of the BIPOC student body.”
“We aim to have the Colour Connected back as a resource group before the end of the term,” wrote Caguiat
Chen said this can also put an unfair burden on other organizations at UBC to fill this gap “when they have so few resources to go around.”
“I would really like to see Colour Connected be up and running again.”