An introduction, "letter from the editors...", from issue #1 (Dec. 2011):
Like the mythical Phoenix bursting from the ashes of its incinerated corpse [insert rebirth cliché here], we are pleased to announce that the Knoll has risen back to life. And what a time to reemerge. With Occupy Vancouver taking place at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Shia LaBoeuf spottings on campus, and plenty of stimulating events and talks on and off campus, we’ve been left with no dearth of material to discuss.
But first: what is the Knoll? Contrary to some people’s first impressions, we actually have nothing whatsoever to do with the Kennedy assassination. Rather, the “Knoll” is a reference to that other grassy knoll, the one offering a great place to nap, chat and study on the south side of the SUB, a location which was once threatened by a bulldozer.
In 2006, way back when UBC Students for a Democratic Society was still an active group on campus, the university administration was planning to pave the knoll to make new commercial retail space and market housing. Troubled by the university’s ongoing march of development and corporatization, the SDS used the knoll as a rallying point to push for the preservation of public space on campus, and for the rights of students to have greater say in campus affairs. After a long and impassioned struggle with the administration (which included the arrest of 19 students at “Knoll Aid” in 2008) the development plans were scrapped. As such, the knoll stands today as a symbol of student resistance against the anti-democratic tendencies of the university’s administration and as a small but significant landmark in the long tradition of student engagement with the issues of campus and beyond.
In compiling this issue, we would like to acknowledge the debt we owe to all those who took part in previous incarnations of the journal, from which we drew great inspiration. We would also like to acknowledge the generous support we received from the Social Justice Centre, UBC’s collective of activists committed to supporting social justice work, who are fully funding this journal. Check out the SJC online or at their meetings (every other Monday at 5:30, in the SUB room 245).
If you would like to contribute to future issues, or want to tell us what you thought of this issue, send us a line at
knoll.ubc@gmail.com. We hope you enjoy what you hold here in your hands, and hope that this can be the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship with the UBC community.
the Knoll Editors,
On unceded Musqueam land
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