Judge allows expelled students back

Superior Court Judge Israel S. Mass gave temporary permission to CSU VP Internal Laith Marouf and councillor Tom Keefer to return to their offices in the Hall Building and at Loyola’s Campus Centre.
Keefer and Marouf are challenging Concordia on its definition of a student and the pair’s right to an internal hearing. The order, issued Oct. 10, is in effect until the court case against the university comes to an end.
Both men repeated their assertion that Concordia is trampling on student rights and muzzling voices that denounce corporate influences on the university.
“The victory allows us to come back on campus. It feels great after 51 days,” said Keefer. He was speaking to a small crowd gathered to witness a hastily organized ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the occasion.
“This is just the beginning of the fight against those who want to silence us,” Marouf said. “We have to prove that the university broke its own regulations.
This may take until the end of November. Hopefully, by December, there will be a job opening for the rector’s position.”
While the judge allowed Marouf and Keefer back on Concordia property to perform their duties as student representatives, Concordia legal counsel Bram Freedman said their access will be strictly limited to the physical boundaries of the CSU offices in the Hall Building and at Loyola.
“If they are found elsewhere, they are technically trespassing. Normally, they’d be asked to leave,” he said, adding that the pair would not be allowed to attend any events, such as council meetings or general assemblies, unless these are held inside CSU office space. Freedman said the university is not trying to stop anyone from speaking their mind. “I think that’s absolutely absurd,” he said.
“The spin is a smoke screen for their actions on July 20. This solely has to do with their actions on July 20. That is all.”
Freedman is referring to an incident during the summer where Marouf was found spray-painting graffiti on the exterior of the now-demolished York Theatre. This eventually resulted in an altercation in front of the CSU’s 6th floor Hall Building offices involving Marouf, Keefer and Concordia security agents.
A month later, Rector Frederick Lowy banned the pair from Concordia property, citing the fact that the student representatives were not students.
“Marouf and Keefer were treated as any other non-members [of the Concordia community] would be. As Concordia’s CEO, the rector has the right to exclude individuals from campus,” Freedman said, adding there is no specific policy regarding outsiders. “The rector deals with it as he sees fit.”
But the two men argued they were in fact students, therefore giving them a right to a hearing under Concordia’s published policies. They point to a definition of a student in the Code of Conduct (Academic) as someone registered at Concordia in the previous term.
The administration argued this definition only applied to cases of breeches of academic integrity. For any other matter, a student is someone who is currently registered, Freedman said.
The disagreement on these points led to the current court case.
Keefer said any damage to Concordia’s reputation as a result of this dispute will have been due to its own mistakes.
“If the university had stuck to applying [its internal regulations instead of
expelling us] and given us due process, there would be no media stink,” he said.
“The media and the courts are now the only options available to us.”

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