Another year has come and gone: a look back at the year that was for Concordia
It’s been eight months; 28 weeks; 196 days, since we published Issue 1 of Volume 31 of The Concordian. In that time Concordia University and its student body have experienced both highs and lows.
The fall semester introduced a brand-new CSU that was quick to prove that it was nothing like the previous year’s CSU.
The 2013-2014 CSU executive started the year off strong with an orientation that went off with very few hitches which pleased many who had been subject to the lackluster orientations of previous years.
They wasted no time in getting down to business, quickly filling vacant council spots and hiring a general manager. VP Finance Scott Carr was keen to get the CSU’s financials in order and council made a point of condemning the previous executives’ abundant spending on their Newtown dinner.
The CSU also earned the approval of students by succeeding in bringing Noam Chomsky to the university.
However, Concordia found itself in some tough negotiations with several unions at the beginning of fall, eventually managing to settle things with most of them before December.
On campus, students were gifted with a sexual assault centre but unfortunately not before a man began bothering women in the Webster library by acting inappropriately.
Initially, campus security neglected to call police to report these incidents, but after student media coverage pointed out the negligence in the university’s stance on dealing with this type of issue, the university decided that protocol would change to make it mandatory for the police to be called every time an incident was reported.
The university also pledged to increase security personnel and begin working on safety and security training programs for students, staff and faculty. As far as The Concordian is aware, there has been no further reported incidents of this nature.
On a lighter note, students and staff began to prepare for the completion of the university’s contract with Chartwell’s by polling Concordia members on what they want from campus food service.
Off campus, emotions boiled when the PQ announced plans for a secular Charter of Values. Protests in support and against the charter raged throughout the fall.
Come the winter semester, Concordia took an official stance against the proposed Charter of Values with the help of President Alan Shephard.
When it came to the school’s infrastructure, it was revealed that the Webster library would be getting a substantial makeover. In sports news, it was announced that former CFL player, Mickey Donovan, would be the next Stingers football coach.
In January, JMSB took home the top prize at the 2014 Jeux de Commerce.
The CSU had an even busier second semester. They hired a marketing intern to determine the best ways to communicate with students and argued over the best way to deal with the soon-to-be-vacant Java U space.
In March, the CSU held a contentious election which saw members of the Community Matters affiliation take all the executive spots. Furthermore, a controversial referendum question regarding whether faculties should be able to vote to opt out of certain fee levies was shot down with 1,526 votes against.
This year’s election also saw Kyle Arseneau, elected representative for the engineering and computer science faculty, disqualified for posting a message on Facebook that was deemed against campaign regulations.
However, members of the Concordia community weren’t done at the polls as a provincial election was called for April 7. Unfortunately many students, staff and faculty who originated from out-of-province were met with resistance as they tried to register to vote.
All-in-all it’s been a long year but not a bad one. We may have pulled a few all nighters and drank a bit too much, but another year has come and gone and now that we’re looking at the finish line, the year doesn’t seem like it was so bad. We might even do this again next year.
