COVID-19 and Exams Update
All remaining December exams (originally scheduled for Tuesday, December 14 and all subsequent dates) will be online, postponed or cancelled. Please wait to hear from your course instructor in the next few days. Where in-person assessments are physically required, students will be contacted and expected to attend in person.
All remaining December exams (originally scheduled for Tuesday, December 14 and all subsequent dates) will be online, postponed or cancelled. Please wait to hear from your course instructor in the next few days. Where in-person assessments are physically required, students will be contacted and expected to attend in person.
Food and drinks are now banned in Dalhousie libraries. A reminder that masks must be worn while studying. Students in residence, including those self-isolating, are encouraged to take regular rapid tests.
The DSU will continue to amplify University updates to students as information becomes available. Ongoing COVID-19 updates, including information on where to get rapid tests, how to monitor your symptoms, to check on campus exposures, or volunteer to build rapid test kits, can be found on the Dalhousie website.
We understand how stressful these changes may be. If we continue to monitor our symptoms, get tested and follow provincial COVID-19 guidelines, we can do our part in preventing further community spread. We have outlined a variety of resources available to assist you during this time.
COVID-19 Self Assessment
Check the Nova Scotia Government’s website for resources on symptoms, who can be tested, and how to self-isolate.
On-campus rapid testing
Where to get a rapid test
There are two ways you can get tested on-campus:
picking up a take-away test kit at one of several campus locations that you can do yourself.
attending one of two COVID testing centres
Volunteer to assemble rapid test kits
Come help us with on-campus testing! No experience necessary. Fill out your contact info in the form below and you'll be directed to the volunteer schedule to sign up for a shift.
Mental Health Resources
Exam season can be stressful. Please reach out if you need to talk.
Dal Student Health & Wellness
Website: dal.ca
Phone: (902) 494-2171
Good2Talk
Good2Talk is an anonymous, confidential, 24/7/365 telephone and texting counselling available to all Dalhousie Students.
To access, call 1-833-292-3698 or text GOOD2TALKNS to 686868.
Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team
If you are in crisis, you can always call 902-429-8167 or 1-888-429-8167 to reach the Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
DSU statement on unsanctioned Halifax street parties
This weekend’s large, off-campus homecoming parties have made waves across the community, and the time has come for an open discussion on their impacts. We can and must do better in the future, so, let’s talk about what happens next.
September 27, 2021
To our Dalhousie students and community,
This weekend’s large, off-campus homecoming parties have made waves across the community, and the time has come for an open discussion on their impacts. We can and must do better in the future, so, let’s talk about what happens next.
We must all acknowledge that hosting this party during the COVID-19 pandemic put students and community members, double-vaccinated or not, at risk of contracting a life-threatening virus. We know that this has been a long, isolating, period and that everyone is eager to get back to normal. We are allowed to grieve for the experiences that were lost because of COVID-19. Still, the reality remains that we are in a pandemic and we must behave accordingly to keep everyone safe. It may seem unfair, but we are all being held to a higher standard because of COVID-19.
If you did attend this weekend’s events, we are asking you to get tested regardless of your vaccination status. Dalhousie is asking attendees to stay home and monitor their symptoms until October 4th. You can and should come to campus to pick up rapid test kits. Our actions in the coming weeks will be vital to limiting the public health impact of this weekend.
We understand that students are going to party. Social gatherings are a part of many students’ university experiences and are an important part of how we find community. It is also true, however, that those who live in our community are rightfully upset about property destruction, not being able to leave or return to their homes, and the strain placed on Halifax’s emergency services.
The actions of some students this weekend do not represent the values of students at large, and we will have to work to repair damaged relationships. We will not see news stories about the students who went out after the party to collect trash, those who volunteered on campus, or who found other ways to celebrate. To those students, we see you and we thank you.
Some individuals who attended this weekend’s parties may be disciplined by Dalhousie through the Student Code of Conduct. If you find yourself in this position, you can contact student advocates at the Dalhousie Student Advocacy Service (dsas@dal.ca), which is a service funded by the DSU. These advocates can help navigate the process of responding to a Student Code of Conduct violation. Everyone deserves fair, due, and informed procedure.
The DSU is here to support all students. We will work with DSAS to ensure that students have fair violation hearings. We will also support students who are upset with their peers, by calling on them to do better. We will continue to connect with Dalhousie to emphasize the importance of harm reduction programming and an educational focus on discipline.
In future years, we believe it is crucial that Dalhousie University play a stronger role in providing alternative programming for our students. With an influx of students on campus, it is imperative that Dalhousie University work with students and community members to develop programming that highlights the importance of safety, consent, and harm reduction. If the University wants to welcome 20,000 students to Halifax, it must respond by providing engaging activities to encourage students to stay on-campus to celebrate without being penalized. We must also discuss the harms of bans on alcohol in residence, which drive students off campus, in to the community, and away from supports and services.
In the coming weeks, the DSU is working to lead an extremely large, community-wide effort to increase access to rapid testing. All students are welcome to volunteer. We thank those of you who continue to prioritize the wellbeing of our community. Please know that this conversation will continue as an open dialogue, and that the DSU hopes to represent students in conversations about the future of homecoming.
If you are a student and would like to share your thoughts, please email DSU President Madeleine Stinson at dsupres@dal.ca.
Let’s do our part.
Get tested.
Walk in clinics and take home testing is available on campus. If you attended this weekend’s events, we are asking you to get tested regardless of your vaccination status. You can and should come pick up rapid test kits on campus.
Click below to find out hours and locations for on-campus testing sites.
Volunteer.
We need your help! Sign up to help assemble or distribute take-home testing kits. Once you’ve filled out the forms), you’ll be able to sign up for shifts.
DSU Statement on Housing Security and Police Violence
We need all levels of government to address the housing crisis with the same urgency it showed during its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Housing is a human right which must be protected, and houselessness is a crisis which must not be punished.
DSU statement on housing security
and police violence in HRM
September 3, 2021
On August 18, 2021, the Halifax Regional Police carried out orders from the Halifax Regional Municipality to forcibly evict and fine houseless people living in temporary housing and crisis shelters made by Halifax Mutual Aid and community members.
During these evictions, citizens of Halifax, including students of Dalhousie, came together to stand in solidarity with our community and to advocate for access to affordable housing. As a response to community action, the Halifax Regional Police used excessive force including violent arrests, pepper spray, and full riot gear as weapons against protestors.
The Dalhousie Student Union, on behalf of our 18,000 members, condemns the violence enacted by the HRP as well as the lack of action taken by the HRM in response to this violence. Ordering mass evictions and the destruction of temporary shelters will not solve the housing crisis. These actions are a poorly concealed attempt to hide the housing crisis in our city, and students stand among the many community members who are appalled by the HRM and its police force’s decision to escalate the situation. The municipality’s response to houselessness cannot be removing crisis shelters, but rather must be the investment into long-term solutions to address housing insecurity and houselessness. All community members in this city deserve housing.
The DSU calls on the Halifax Regional Municipality and the Halifax Regional Police to immediately cease the evictions of houseless people from temporary shelters in Halifax and the destruction or removal of any temporary shelters that are created in this city. We call on the municipal government and police to revoke all fines issued to individuals occupying temporary shelters on August 18th, as well as all charges or fines issued to community members protesting the evictions of houseless people from shelters on August 18th.
Furthermore, we call on the provincial government to work with the HRM to put permanent protections in place for those occupying temporary shelters in Halifax as a first step to recognizing the reality of the housing crisis in this city. The government must protect rather than destroy these short-term, lifesaving measures that community members are creating for their houseless neighbors. This is the bare minimum response that community members need from our government.
This is not enough, however. We also call on the provincial government to immediately instate permanent rent control in Nova Scotia. More of our community members, particularly students, are in danger of becoming houseless due to the low vacancy rate and sky-rocketing rental prices in this city. The government is prepared to lift the rent cap put in place during the state of emergency due to COVID-19, but what the events on August 18th have highlighted to all of us is that the housing crisis in Halifax is not over. The housing crisis, which is already a dire situation, will become dramatically worse upon the removal of the 2% rent cap.
Students and community members need permanent rent control now. We need all levels of government to address the housing crisis with the same urgency it showed during its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Housing is a human right which must be protected, and houselessness is a crisis which must not be punished.