Mission Statement
OPIRG – Carleton mobilises individuals to identify and improve environmental, social, and economic conditions.
- We recognise the rich history of social creativity and resistance, while maintaining and building a community that embraces plurality and participation.
- We encourage critical thinking that inspires projects and initiatives across communities.
- We create space where diverse perspectives are able to meet, share, learn, and grow.
- As an organisation we believe the foundation for social change lies in the promotion of social and economic justice, deep ecology, and the realisation of a peaceful world. To promote positive, progressive, and ethical change, we must examine the roots of our relationships with each other and other communities of life.
- We promote and provide tools for positive change from the roots of the community; In doing so, OPIRG bridges people, organisations, and ideas, in a commitment to radical social transformation.
OPIRG-Carleton is committed to Radical Social Transformation, where Radical Social Transformation consists of:
- Recognizing the rich history of social creativity and resistance, while seeking to maintain and carry forward a community that will continue to incubate and provide tools for Radical Social Transformation;
- Creating spaces where diverse perspectives will be able to mingle, and thus share, learn, and grow in an interdisciplinary environment;
- Encouraging progressive action that will generate Radical Social Transformation; and,
- Co-ordinating projects and initiatives across communities.
Membership
OPIRG-Carleton (the Ontario Public Interest Research Group) is a non- profit student-run organization involved in research, education and action on social and environmental issues. We operate in a democratic way, working collectively and making decisions by consensus. OPIRG-Carleton is overseen by a Board of Directors (2/3 of whom are Carleton students) elected at an Annual General Meeting and currently employs 2 full-time coordinators. All students at Carleton University are members of OPIRG through a fee in their tuition. Everyone is welcome to visit our office and use our resource library. Volunteers are always needed and welcome.
OPIRG-Carleton was founded in 1980 after a lecture at Carleton by famous consumer advocate Ralph Nader. The following year the majority of students voted in a referendum in favour of placing a small levy on their student fees to support OPIRG. In 1991, Carleton students again voted in support of the OPIRG, agreeing to raise the amount of the levy to its present level ($6.30 full-time students and $2.10/credit part-time undergraduates, $1.26 part-time graduates).
Board of Directors
Below are brief bios of for the members of the 2009-2010 OPIRG Carleton Board of Directors. To contact the Board, send an email to opirgcarleton.board@gmail.com
Tanya MIller - Communications Portfolio
Tanya was appointed to the Board on April 30, 2008. She has been involved with OPIRG’s Animal Rights group since beginning her studies in journalism, forensic psychology and environmental studies in 2006. The inadequate legislations and humanity to protect animals from cruelty and suffering in Canada drive Tanya to raise awareness actively, politically and socially. Tanya is working towards creating solid relationships with communications outlets on and off-campus, to further OPIRG’s commitment to positive and progressive change.
Contact: tmiller2@connect.carleton.ca
Janet Yip
Apart from her studies in the College of the Humanities and a brief foray into French working- class neighbourhoods, Janet has been involved with OPIRG and the Carleton student community in various capacities, as a volunteer, work-study and a representative on the Board. Committed to the principles of grassroot community organizing and creating opportunities for social equity, she is working on the Anti-Oppression portfolio since being appointed to the board on April 30, 2008.
Abla Abdelhadi -- Bio coming soon!
Mujahed Kmail -- Bio coming soon!
Emma Slaney-Gose -- Bio coming soon!
Jenaaleinee Davarajah -- Bio coming soon!
Matt Hollingshead -- Bio coming soon!
Stephanie Kittmer -- Bio coming soon!
This Website
This website was designed and developed by Eliot using the Drupal open-source content management system (more at www.drupal.org and www.covertops.ca). The image of the slingshotter in the collage at the top of this site is originally by Eric Drooker (www.drooker.com).
