Undergraduates at McMaster pay $7.83 refundable fee to OPIRG McMaster: find out how it is put to use supporting students

So this is a thing. Someone has been busy posting this notice on residence doors (see image), and writing on chalkboards in classrooms. So yes, it is our three week opt-out period, a time for those who do not want to support OPIRG McMaster's work can come to the Resource Centre/Office in MUSC 229 and claim a full refund of $7.83. All you need to do is fill out a form with your name, student number and mailing address, and after October 7th, we mail you a refund cheque.

Many people who come to claim a refund don't know what we do, so if they are interested, we tell them how OPIRG McMaster serves students by giving them an opportunity to take action on important social and environmental issues.

They hear about how we ask students each year about what issues they want to take action on through a "Working Group" application process.

Successful applicants are supported with finances, access to room booking, equipment, and given free skill building workshops, including core workshops on Consensus Decision Making and Anti-Oppression.

Current working groups include Black Brown Red Lives Matter, Community Volunteer Action, Food Not Bombs, Fossil Free McMaster, Global Citizenship, Guatemalan Solidarity, McMaster Indigenous Student Community Alliance, Threadwork, United in Color. There's even an opportunity to start your own later this term.

We also explain how others volunteer with OPIRG to contribute and sharpen skills, and get volunteer experience useful for their resumes as they go into the workplace. 

Of course not everyone wants to volunteer so we also share how they can sign-up to get our weekly e-mail events listing with a wide range of informative and topical events and workshops throughout the year.

Depending on when they arrive, they meet some of our paid part-time staff, or our student board of directors, or other students from our working groups, or just people using our resources like our button-maker or our library.

If they are really interested they may even hear about initiatives OPIRG McMaster supports like the Hamilton Street Tree Project, bringing free street trees to neighbourhoods lacking green, while suffering from poor air quality. 

OPIRG McMaster has been supporting student engagement at McMaster since 1995. We hope you look closely at the many ways we engage student and community in issues that you care about. Even better if you get involved with our activities. One beer, or generations of commitment to social justice and the environment?