The Concordia Case Competition & Consultancy Club (C4) may no longer be an official club but that doesn’t mean they’re throwing in the towel.
For reasons the presidents of C4 don’t agree with, the club is no longer registered under the CSU. C4 was approved last year and was to be given a budget this year but the club’s status was revoked at the CSU special council meeting held Aug. 7.
According to student union regulation 60d, regarding new clubs, “the group must be unique with its ideas, events and activities.” The CSU did not find this to be the case for C4.
“There currently exist multiple case competitions and consultancy groups that are based in JMSB but which are open to all students,” said VP clubs and internal James Tyler Vaccaro. These clubs include The Apprentice, 5 Rounds Consulting, Enactus and the Management Consulting Club.
The presidents of C4, Julien Fortuna and Fedor Molnar, both of whom have owned multiple companies, explained their goal was to provide Concordia students with experience outside the classroom and offer basic business needs.
“We’re about meeting and networking with successful people,” Molnar said.“Our major goal was to establish a strong community within Concordia,” added Fortuna, who feels Concordia lacks an association accomplishing this.
The club would have teams where one member was required to have business knowledge and act as a mentor for other members who could be from any department at Concordia. Members of C4 would organize case studies and competitions wherein an unlimited number of students could participate. Vaccaro explained the ambiguity in regards to this club was the main issue.
“There was no clear outline of projects to be undertaken, documentation of approval by the CSU or an outline of funding requirements for this club,” he said.
“All the documents are on all of our computers and they should be at CSU from previous semesters,” said Molnar. “They didn’t consult us before making any decisions.”
Vaccaro has an email exchange from the former clubs co-ordinator informing C4 that they have not included enough information to be approved. Since he’s been unable to contact former VP clubs and internal Nadine Atallah for more than a month, questions regarding the validity of their club status could not be answered.
The CSU considered the way C4 labeled themselves as Concordia’s case competition club to be a problem, since JMSB already does this so expertly.
“C4 is branding themselves the way JMSB brands themselves,” said VP finance Scott Carr. “[This] takes away from [JMSB]’s credibility.”
Fortuna and Molnar said they never wanted to rival the John Molson Competition Program and don’t want to turn students into entrepreneurs.
“We’re not here to make money, we’re here to help the students,” Fortuna explained.
Regarding C4’s budget, Vaccaro said “the project that C4 has envisioned would require a substantial amount of funding; an amount that could not be provided by the CSU for a club with no historical precedent.”
C4, however, expected sponsorship from entrepreneurs and professionals who would be willing to help students.
“I just don’t see how we’re doing anything bad to the student body,” said Molnar. “We’re getting people to be more connected, getting students to be active.”
Vaccaro has informed C4 that they may reapply through the Clubs and Space Committee provided they include more information about their planned projects and offer valid reasons that what they’re offering is unique.
Molnar and Fortuna plan on pursuing their goals independently. “We’re still gonna go through with it, with CSU or without CSU,” said Molnar. “We have a team ready and people talking about it, so it would be stupid to stop right now.”
