Fredericton – A number of students gathered in support of the delivery of a message against rising tuition to the St. Thomas University administration on Friday, Dec. 6th. Red T member Caroline Shaw read the letter while the group awaited the return of the messengers.
The letter explains to the STU administration the collective’s opposition to rising tuition and other concerns. It was attached to a petition against rising tuition at STU. The petition was signed by approximately 25% of STU’s student body.
The Red T movement is a collective of students dedicated to fighting social injustice at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, NB. The collective was inspired by the organizing that brought about the massive student movement seen in Quebec. Their current aims are to: 1) Fight the tuition hike; 2) Reform the St. Thomas University Students’ Union under direct democratic lines, like the ASSÉ model in Quebec. “We believe this is crucial as we need to reinvent student unionism in the 21st century context of an increasingly aggressive neoliberal agenda to commodify the right to education.”
NOTE: The “Red T” has absolutely nothing to do with “Tea.” Students graduating from St. Thomas University get a T ring. The “Red T” subverts this symbolism, while also drawing on the powerful red square image famous from the Quebec student movement and now largely synonymous with student resistance more generally.
Listen to an interview with Denis Boulet about the Red T Movement at St. Thomas University (STU). The interview aired on From the Margins on CHSR FM 97.9, a radio show produced by the author, on Dec. 2nd.