Students walked out on a panel discussion concerning tolerance at Concordia.
Some say they felt frustrated at the direction of the discussion while others say the walk out was planned.
About halfway through the meeting organized by the Concordia-based peace group Tolerance on Oct. 9, Acceptance and Growth (TAG), half of the 80 students in attendance walked out.
“Another group of students came with [their own] agenda, not coming as
participants but as a disruptive force,” said Rocci Luppicini, president of the Graduate Student Association (GSA) and a member of the panel.
The meeting’s agenda was a general discussion on what services are available on campus to help students fight intolerance. Luppicini said tensions arose when members of the audience began straying from the intended topics of discussion.
Benoit Desgreniers, vp outreach for the student union, who attended the meeting, said it was impossible for students to realize what the intended topics were, since the agenda was not available to the audience.
He added that panel moderator and GSA VP Internal Nisha Sajnani did comment on the mandate of the meeting, but it was hard to stay on topic. “People already knew what services are available; they wanted to take [the discussion] further.”
Luppicini believed that students may have taken it too far, and characterized some of the audiences’ comments and questions as personal attacks. He could not give a concrete example.
Donald Boisvert, Concordia’s dean of students and a panel member, did not believe the comments were personal attacks, since as an administrator he is a public figure. He was disappointed with what happened, but said he would definitely take part in another panel discussion at Concordia, after taking a closer look at the topics.
CSU President Sabrina Stea, who was also on the panel, said students who left were justified. She called the walk-out a statement and said the tension arose from students being frustrated that questions were being asked, and few answers were being given.
The fact that so many questions were off topic and that so many students left has led some panel members to believe that the disruption was organized beforehand.
“Does it not seem curious that Stea would actively participate in a student sponsored panel discussion initiative, while another CSU executive was identified as leading a student walkout against this?” he asked.
That this walk out was organized beforehand is clear to Boisvert as well. “It doesn’t take much to put two and two together.”
Both Stea and Desgreniers said the walk-out was spontaneous, adding that students who walked out felt disillusioned by an administration who would not answer to their needs.
Even so, those involved still felt something was accomplished.
“Everything should be looked at in a positive light,” stated Stea. “It was a
very telling event and students need to talk about certain issues. We could just sit in our corners and be like, ‘Well, people walked out and that what really mean’. What you’re actually going to do about it is the really important part.”
Some say they felt frustrated at the direction of the discussion while others say the walk out was planned.
About halfway through the meeting organized by the Concordia-based peace group Tolerance on Oct. 9, Acceptance and Growth (TAG), half of the 80 students in attendance walked out.
“Another group of students came with [their own] agenda, not coming as
participants but as a disruptive force,” said Rocci Luppicini, president of the Graduate Student Association (GSA) and a member of the panel.
The meeting’s agenda was a general discussion on what services are available on campus to help students fight intolerance. Luppicini said tensions arose when members of the audience began straying from the intended topics of discussion.
Benoit Desgreniers, vp outreach for the student union, who attended the meeting, said it was impossible for students to realize what the intended topics were, since the agenda was not available to the audience.
He added that panel moderator and GSA VP Internal Nisha Sajnani did comment on the mandate of the meeting, but it was hard to stay on topic. “People already knew what services are available; they wanted to take [the discussion] further.”
Luppicini believed that students may have taken it too far, and characterized some of the audiences’ comments and questions as personal attacks. He could not give a concrete example.
Donald Boisvert, Concordia’s dean of students and a panel member, did not believe the comments were personal attacks, since as an administrator he is a public figure. He was disappointed with what happened, but said he would definitely take part in another panel discussion at Concordia, after taking a closer look at the topics.
CSU President Sabrina Stea, who was also on the panel, said students who left were justified. She called the walk-out a statement and said the tension arose from students being frustrated that questions were being asked, and few answers were being given.
The fact that so many questions were off topic and that so many students left has led some panel members to believe that the disruption was organized beforehand.
“Does it not seem curious that Stea would actively participate in a student sponsored panel discussion initiative, while another CSU executive was identified as leading a student walkout against this?” he asked.
That this walk out was organized beforehand is clear to Boisvert as well. “It doesn’t take much to put two and two together.”
Both Stea and Desgreniers said the walk-out was spontaneous, adding that students who walked out felt disillusioned by an administration who would not answer to their needs.
Even so, those involved still felt something was accomplished.
“Everything should be looked at in a positive light,” stated Stea. “It was a
very telling event and students need to talk about certain issues. We could just sit in our corners and be like, ‘Well, people walked out and that what really mean’. What you’re actually going to do about it is the really important part.”
