Tag: Adrian Longinotti

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU on the lookout for a new finance coordinator

: CSU councillors met for their monthly meeting on Nov. 23. Photo by Ana Hernandez

Councillors discuss future finance councillors and Sanctuary Campus

The Concordia Student Union (CSU) discussed the resignation of their finance coordinator at a meeting on Nov. 23 in the Hall building of the university’s downtown campus.

Due to the recent resignation of the CSU’s finance coordinator, Adrian Longinotti, the student council is currently looking for a replacement. Lucy Marshall-Kiparissis, the CSU’s general coordinator, told The Concordian that the council will be holding a special meeting on Nov. 30 to meet with potential candidates. “We are looking for someone who has a passion for the task and is comfortable with making big decisions,” she said. “This person must be ready to put a lot of time and effort in the work.”

Longinotti’s resignation was made official on Nov. 21 after the CSU’s executive body announced he was unfit to act as a representative of the union. Lana Elinor Galbraith, the CSU’s sustainability coordinator, told The Concordian he had instigated a lot of issues surrounding queerphobia, misogyny and other oppressive politics.

For legal reasons, the CSU meeting went into closed session to speak about Longeniotti’s situation.

It was also announced at the meeting that the CSU will publicly support Sanctuary Campus, which is an initiative that was implemented in the United States following the elections. According to Marshall-Kiparissis, it involves an institution guaranteeing a degree of safety and protection for students or immigrants who are undocumented. An undocumented individual refers to either a person with expired paperwork, in deportation proceedings or who entered a country illegally.

“We want to publicly show solidarity with the vulnerable members of the society,” said Marshall-Kiparissis.

She also mentioned that, a few days ago, an agent from the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) was seen on Concordia’s premises. “To see this agent coming to Concordia around that time is a concern to us that they might be getting information about some members of the university,” she said. Marshall-Kiparissis said seeing a CBSA agent on campus is worrisome, as U.S. president-elect Donald Trump promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and end the Obama administration’s program, which let some students without the necessary papers into the U.S. to study temporarily.

According to Marshall-Kiparissis, the CSU openly supports the right for people to move freely, unrestricted by borders. They also announced they will be endorsing and supporting the demands of Solidarity Across Borders, a migrant justice network based in Montreal. Their demands include that the CBSA not have the right to access or make arrests in hospitals, shelters, schools or any other spaces that provide essential services.

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU finance coordinator resigns

Longinotti (centre) gave his letter of resignation on Monday. Photo by Ana Hernandez

Executive body cites problematic behaviour, asks him to step down

The Concordia Student Union (CSU) announced the resignation of their finance coordinator, Adrian Longinotti, after the executive body asked for his resignation.

In their announcement, the executive body said they believe Longinotti is unfit to act as a representative of the union and they cannot associate themselves nor maintain a working relationship with him.

An hour after the CSU sent out the letter announcing Longinotti’s resignation, his official letter of resignation was sent to The Concordian.

The CSU’s sustainability coordinator, Lana Elinor Galbraith, spoke with The Concordian about Longinotti before the CSU released their statement. “The rest of the executives see it more as a pattern of problematic behaviour,” said Galbraith. “The way he dealt with things, but also he has instigated a lot of issues surrounding queerphobia, misogyny and other pretty oppressive politics.”

“It creates a toxic atmosphere when one of the people who is supposed to be a leader is the one being the most problematic in the bunch,” said Galbraith. “One, because they’re supposed to set an example. Two, because it’s their job to leave that toxicity out.”

Longinotti was also acting as president of the board members for the Reggies Co-op and the CSU urged him to resign from this position as well, which he did. “Reggies is a pretty sensitive area when it comes to safer space,” said Galbraith. “I don’t think that was something he believed or felt that was important.” According to Galbraith, Longinotti would prioritize his self-interest and allowed his friends into Reggies despite them being banned from CSU events and spaces due to behavioural issues.

The Concordian tried to contact Longinotti several times for comment, but he did not respond before publication.

Galbraith said the council will be taking on his responsibilities for the next couple of weeks. “I will be the CSU representative on the board of Reggies and will be taking care of some things with the health and dental plan,” she said. Rachel Gauthier, the CSU’s student life coordinator, will also be helping out with more book-keeping tasks. “Hopefully, we’ll have someone appointed in a few weeks,” she said

Galbraith said the issue will be further discussed at the next CSU council meeting which will take place on Nov. 23 at 6:30 p.m., in room H-763 at the downtown campus.

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News

Reggies welcomes the new semester in as a solidarity cooperative

Reggies now offers a revamped menu and prompts a safer space policy

Your favourite student bar has opened its doors as a newly-formed solidarity cooperative for the Fall semester as of Aug. 8. Along with becoming a Concordia co-op, Reggies has released a new menu and a membership service.

Adrian Longinotti, the president of Reggies and CSU Finance Coordinator said since opening Reggies last year for the first time following renovations, it was very successful financially and took back its title as the campus bar.

Longinotti said due to Reggies’ success since re-opening last year, he felt that turning it into a co-op would improve the experience for students and customers.

Turning Reggies into a cooperative will allow students the chance to be more involved on the input and future of the student bar, said Longinetti. “We want to keep that non-profit philosophy—we want to give back more and reinvest that into enhancing the Reggies experience.”

By becoming a cooperative Reggies now has a membership system. “We subsidize $5 of the $10 membership,” said Longinotti, which results in customers only having to pay $5 for a membership. “[With a membership] you get a 10 per cent discount on all food items—even on specials.”

Longinotti said the most important thing about obtaining a membership for Reggies is that members are considered part-owners of the co-op—they have a share in the organization. Members are given voting rights, allowing them to be a part of the decision-making process, said Longinotti. He said the first general meeting for Reggies will be held in November, with the exact date yet to be decided. He encourages members to attend so they can be involved and contribute to the future of Concordia’s student bar.

“We have implemented and adopted a safer space policy,” said Longinotti. In order for events to be hosted, he said, those who are booking the event must sign a mandatory document to ensure that those are booking the event acknowledge and maintain Reggies as a safe space.

The Concordian referenced an article to Longinotti published last March. The article discussed accusations of sexual harassment and statements made about some students recognized at the bar who had been known to some people for spiking drinks with GHB, also known as the date rape drug.

“It’s a new year, there’s a lot of potential for this place,” said Justin McLennen the bartender at Reggies. He commented on the safer space policy stating, “it’s a plus, it’s a positive sign. It will help people feel welcome.”

We asked Longinotti how he plans to ensure Reggies will be a safe space outside of hosted events. “We have hired more security,” said Longinotti. “The training for the staff also makes them have the knowledge and foundation of how to intervene and prevent something like this from happening.”

Longinetti said he is confident the training of the employees, more security and the safer space policy will ensure that Reggies does remain a safe space at Concordia.

“There are always going to be these things that might happen in a bar environment,” he said. “The most important thing is that we do everything in our power to try and prevent something like this from happening.”

Reggies is open to students and the public from 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays and open from 12:00 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday through Friday.

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