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Concordia Student Union News

Former CSU councillor delivers resignation speech to CSU Council of Representatives

On Wednesday, Oct. 12, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) reconvened for the second Regular Council Meeting (RCM) of the fall semester. The major developments from this RCM are as follows:

CSU pledges $35,000 to Students For Consent Culture (SFCC)

The CSU executive team unanimously passed a motion to renew a grant worth $35,000 to SFCC. SFCC is a student-based organization dedicated towards ending sexual violence on campus.

SCFF’s representatives told the CSU the funding will be used to help support ongoing SFCC projects and advocate for further implementation of sex violence and safe space policies on Concordia’s campuses.

The decision comes after representatives from the CSU announced a withdrawal from Concordia’s Standing Committee on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence.

CSU committees remain understaffed

The shortage of volunteers that affected many CSU committees last month continues as many committees struggled to fill the vacant positions on their respective bodies. Less than a third of the 18 vacant committee seats were filled by the end of the appointment phase of the RCM. 

The Student Life Committee (SLC), which oversees the allocation of $30,000 in the special-project fund, once again failed to reach the minimum requirement of members to reconvene. Amina Vance, an arts and science councillor, was the only volunteer to join SLC at the RCM. 

Councillor Vance stated that she was motivated to temporarily join the committee solely to open the special-project fund.

“It just seems so unfair that we have this money that we can open to students and special projects,” said Vance.

Despite Vance’s appointment to the SLC, the special projects fund will remain inaccessible until an additional councillor joins the committee.

Ikjot Singh appointed as CEO of the CSU 

The CSU voted unanimously to appoint second-year finance student Ikjot Singh as the CEO of the CSU. 

CSU General Coordinator Fawaz Halloum put forward Singh’s candidacy during the RCM on Oct. 12. The CSU’s appointments committee recommended Singh for the position after interviewing candidates on Oct. 3. 2022.  

Singh will be responsible for overseeing all CSU elections and enforcing CSU regulations during the election process for the duration of his mandate.

Former CSU councillor Jeremya Deneault delivers resignation speech to the Council of Representatives.

During the announcement period of the second RCM, former CSU councillor Jeremya Deneault took the opportunity to address the Council of Representatives for the last time. Deneault’s speech was delivered retrospectively after his resignation during the previous RCM on Sept. 19.

Deneault’s speech was reflective of his time working for the council and his legacy as the CSU’s first openly autistic councillor. 

In addition, Deneault accused the CSU of fostering a hostile culture between rival student alliances.

The former councillor also addressed the backlash he faced for comments he made allegedly trivializing gender neutral pronouns while in office.

When reached for comment, Deneault said: “People deserve both to have their pronouns respected and to have some time to adapt their speech. I understand some people might have concerns about me, but at the end of the day I’m a fun person who simply wanted to ease some of the boredom and tension at meetings with some lighthearted humour.”

Correction:

In a previous version of this article, the appointment of Ijkot Singh was attributed to the CSU’s executive team. The executive team brought forward the motion to present Ijkot Singh as CEO of the CSU to the council of representatives, who then voted unanimously to ratify the appointment.

Photo by Lucas Marsh

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Arts

The CSU is trying to bridge the gap between art students and the rest of the University

Art Swap event at the VA building - Esther Morand/The Concordian

By proposing events such as Art Swaps, the CSU proposes to serve as a ground for the exchange of supplies among students and the general Concordia community

On Sept. 29, the Art Swap series held its first event in the courtyard of the VA building at Concordia’s downtown campus. 

“We figured that having this event in the courtyard would create the sort of traffic that this event would like to cater to,” said Sean Levis, sustainability coordinator for the CSU and co-organizer of this event. 

Thanks to a collaboration with Zero Waste Concordia, Art Hives, the Fine Arts Student Alliance (FASA), and Concordia University’s Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR), the CSU was able to make this event possible. 

Art Hives staff and volunteers preparing their stand – Esther Morand/The Concordian

The CSU decided to organize a four-part swap series building off of the Queer and Kids Clothing Swaps that happen every year during the anti-consumerism week. 

The Art Swap is a space “where students are encouraged to either take the art materials that are viable to them or leave any art materials that they don’t use,” Levy noted. 

These events raise awareness around the idea of exchanging, rather than spending.

“The purpose of this event is to get students on campus, exchange different materials and promote a culture of sustainability, discouraging the commercialization of specific products, encouraging gifting and trading,” Levis said. 

Glitter containers – Esther Morand /The Concordian

“The whole point is to avoid buying new things and encourage this cycle of reusing and recycling and overall bring more sustainability on campus,” added Julianna Smith, external affairs and mobilization coordinator for the CSU. 

“There’s been this culture of individualism with the pandemic. This is a community effort to get people to connect, have fun, and promote sustainability on campus,” noted Smith. “On top of that, a lot of these events are trying to involve students to allow them to share common ideas and feel like they belong to a space.”

People painting and crafting at the Art Hives table – Esther Morand/The Concordian

Other spaces like the Art Nook offer students the possibility to make art and use available materials. 

“It’s always open, it’s a free space, where people leave and take supplies, it is an ongoing art supply swapping space,” added Smith. 

The Art Nook is located just behind the CSU offices on the 7th floor of the Hall Building. 

Three other swaps will occur throughout the year. At the beginning of November, there will be a book swap that will feature events such as “dates with books,” where book covers will be covered in brown paper with only short descriptions to accompany them for people to pick up. 

“It’s the idea of not judging a book by its cover,” Levis said. “It’s the idea of the de-commercialization of certain products.” 

There will also be a seed swap in April with the Greenhouse, where planting workshops will occur. 

Lastly, there will be a Black hair-care products swap in February. The workshops will be for people to be able to make their own hair-care products. 

“We are creating specific themes for these events. It’s an effort to reinvigorate student life at the same time,” Levy added. 

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News

CSU, GSA and TRAC withdraw from Concordia’s Standing Committee on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence

Becca Wilgosh, Vice President of TRAC, at last week's press conference. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Three student organizations — the Concordia Student Union (CSU), the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA), and the Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia (TRAC) union — announced their withdrawal from the University’s Policy Advisory Committee on sexual violence on Oct.5. 

During their press conference outside of the Hall building, student representatives announced their decision to no longer participate in Concordia’s Standing Committee on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence due to ignored demands and mishandled complaints. 

The committee is made up of students, staff, and faculty with the goal of raising awareness to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual violence on campus.

Alan Shepard, President of Concordia between 2012-19, announced the establishment of the task force on sexual misconduct and sexual violence in Jan. 2018, following several harassment allegations within the University’s Creative Writing program. 

Since then, student representatives like Vice President of TRAC Becca Wilgosh have shared their disappointment in the lack of transparency and resources for students. 

“We’ve talked a couple of times about how complainants’ survivors in the University don’t even receive the results of their case, especially when that case is regarding faculty,” said Wilgosh. 

“And the University is more concerned with their reputation, especially when it comes to faculty than actually giving justice to students,” she added. 

Margot Berner, a past student representative in the standing committee, read the statement at last week’s press conference, describing Concordia’s policy processes as ‘hostile to students.’ 

Berner also explained that the required non-disclosure agreements to participate in the committee prove a lack of transparency towards student organizations. 

“Non-disclosure agreements work directly against our mandates of transparency, accountability, and accessibility to information,” read the statement. 

Another reason that was provided for the collective withdrawal was the lack of student representation. Only four of the 15 committee members are students, representing only slightly less than a third of the active student body. Berner also highlighted that the final authority on the sexual violence policy remains at the discretion of the Board of Governors. 

“With most decisions taken behind closed doors or through coercive consensus, the student representative positions in actuality remain simply observational rather than representative,” Berner added. 

During his speech, Nelson Graves, a TRAC delegate for the philosophy department, claimed the department has a history of sexual violence. 

Graves recalls an instance wherein two teaching assistants (TAs) were recently assigned to one individual who has allegedly perpetuated sexual violence amongst his female TAs. 

Additionally, Graves spoke about another situation in which an international student felt humiliated by the lack of awareness from the University about the sexual misconduct allegations.

“We’re working with TRAC Union to better expand our campaign, and we are interested to see how the University responds to this larger campaign,” concluded Graves.

Payton Mitchell, communications coordinator for the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA), was also present at the press conference. 

“Concordia’s sloppy process and refusal to approach problems with a student-centred and solution-oriented mindset have hindered accessibility to fully support our own membership,” said Mitchell. 

The CSU, GRA, TRAC and ASFA have no plans to return to the standing committee in the foreseeable future unless major changes regarding transparency are implemented. 

The three organizations will work closely together to raise awareness and support students who are mistreated. 

“We actually believe that we would do a better job of leading, beginning the discussions about what the sexual violence response should be in the University because we don’t have these institutional restraints that the University faces,” said Wilgosh.

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Concordia Student Union News

A breakdown of last Wednesday’s CSU meeting

Student Life Coorindator Harley Martin during Wednesday's CSU meeting. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

The CSU reassembles for the first Regular Council Meeting of the fall semester

On Wednesday, Sept. 21, representatives from the Concordian Student Union (CSU) gathered at the Hall building to attend the first Regular Council Meeting (RCM) of the 2022-23 school year. In total, seven representatives on the CSU’s executive team and eight CSU councillors attended to discuss initiatives for the upcoming year. Here were the major topics of discussion:

$30,000 worth of funding remains inaccessible due to lack of volunteers on CSU committees

During the committee appointment phase at the RCM, a number of CSU committees struggled to fill the vacant positions on their respective bodies, leaving many committees at risk of being unable to meet their respective quorums.

The impact of the shortage of volunteers means that the CSU will have severely limited operational capabilities for the foreseeable future. One example of the consequences of this volunteer shortage is the Student Life Committee (SLC). 

The SLC, which oversees the allocation of around $30,000 worth of funding within the special-project fund, was in need of three additional committee members at last week’s meeting before it could resume operations. 

Student life coordinator Harley Martin made sure to stress that unless these vacant positions are filled, the SLC would be unable to reconvene and the special-project fund would remain inaccessible for student use in the foreseeable future. 

“I get multiple emails every week of people wanting to apply on this funding,” said Martin. “But we need to have a committee to vote to open that funding in the first place. So we really need people to join.” 

Despite Martin’s pleas, only one CSU executive volunteered and was appointed to the SLC on Wednesday.

Amendments to the 2022-23 mural festival project

Another motion passed at the RCM — the 2022-23 mural motion — included two amendments made to a motion from last year, regarding the establishment of a mural within the G-Lounge space located at Concordia’s Loyola Campus. 

Both amendments, which were presented by the CSU’s Loyola Coordinator Sabrina Morena, involved the reallocation of the project to a different artist from the one specified in the original motion. The amendments also ensured that the CSU would prioritize Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) artists during the selection process for the project.

When questioned about the rationale behind the amendments, councillor Morena clarified that the amendments were necessary once it became apparent that the artist initially commissioned for the project was unable to complete the project within the intended time frame due to prior obligations.

Referendum on CSU General Operations Fee Levy increase to be featured on upcoming bi-election ballet. 

The CSU unanimously approved a motion to include a referendum question regarding a 25-cents-per-credit increase to the CSU General Operations Fee Levy in the upcoming CSU bi-elections.

The referendum will provide students with the opportunity to vote on whether or not they approve the proposed increase of the CSU General Operations Fee Levy from $2.46 to $2.71 per credit. If passed, the fee levy increase will be implemented as early as the beginning of the 2023 winter semester.

While presenting the motion to the RCM on Wednesday, academic and advocacy coordinator Asli Isaaq stated that the intention behind the fee levy increase is to help the CSU provide additional services to meet the surge in demand with the return to in-person instruction.

CSU opens Student Space, Accessible Education, and Legal Contingency Fund (SSAELC) to striking Members of Associations (MAs) 

The CSU also voted in favour of amending its policy to allow for the SSAELC to fund student associations on strike. CSU’s external affairs and mobilization coordinator Julianna Smith explained the application process for funds through reimbursement. MAs should expect to receive a reimbursement around mid to late October.

The CSU’s decision comes after multiple MAs passed mandates to go on strike in the coming weeks. As of Wed, Sept. 28, 11 MAs under the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) have approved a strike from Oct. 3 to 7 in support of a fall reading week for the 2022-23 school semester.

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Briefs Concordia Student Union News

CSU elects its new General Coordinator

Fawaz Haloum, the CSU's newly-appointed General Coordinator, at Concordia's downtown campus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Elected after the resignation of the previous General Coordinator, Fawaz Halloum is ready to start his year

Fawaz Halloum takes over as General Coordinator after the previous Concordia Student Union (CSU) leader, Elijah Olise, resigned over the summer. Despite starting in the middle of the mandate, he says: “I can do this role. It’s a role of support and just providing an environment where people can be heard and speak freely.”

A fourth-year history student, Halloum joined the CSU in his first year as a board member, and climbed up the ranks with the hopes of one day becoming an executive.

“I’ve had a lot of exposure to how the CSU works and I’ve always felt like I could bring some change.” 

Halloum took over the position shortly after Olise was involved in a dispute and resigned.

Julianna Smith, the CSU’s External Affairs & Mobilization Coordinator, in her office at Concordia’s downtown campus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

According to the CSU’s External Affairs and Mobilization coordinator, Julianna Smith, “[Olise] was brought to an impeachment trial — he was about 20 minutes late — and then he resigned in the middle of the impeachment trial, before evidence could be provided.” 

The executive committee elected Halloum as a replacement in August, and he accepted the position despite needing to juggle it with his role as Internal Affairs Coordinator.

Halloum shared his plans for his year-long mandate. His first priority is overseeing the renovation of a CSU building downtown, which will become a student centre. This is the first time CSU dabbles in real estate. 

“This is unique and, in a way, historic. So that’s on the top of my list, making that student centre ready for use by next summer.”

He also wants to improve mental health services for students, and he hopes to establish a drop-in daycare for student-parents like him. 

When asked about Halloum, Smith stated that “he’s someone who is very determined and has a clear outlook of what he wants. He’s good at seeing something up ahead and following it through to the end.” 

Both coordinators are excited about the CSU’s plans for the semester. “We want to bring back the vibrancy that Concordia has, because we do have such a vibrant community,” says Smith. “We have so many clubs, so many different fee-levies, so many groups, so we just want to bring everyone together so we can all have a great year.”

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News

Students to decide whether CSU purchases a student center

The decision to purchase 2045 Bishop St. will appear as a referendum question in the upcoming CSU General Election

The CSU unanimously voted to let students decide whether the union should purchase a building on Bishops street for a new student centre in the upcoming election.

The purpose of this new building is to create a student centre that would include office space for the CSU, as well as a space for other student clubs and fee-levy groups to operate out of. The CSU would also be able to use the space to host their own events.

The price per square foot for the building is $419.31, rendering the 13 thousand square foot building a $5.5 million cost to purchase. The CSU is also exploring the option of adding an additional floor. Since it is not a heritage building, the CSU will have the ability to renovate and make modifications to the building as needed.

The CSU has been exploring the possibility of creating their own student center for some time. Initially, they approached Concordia about renting a space, however, these spaces were deemed to be unaffordable. However, according to CSU President Eduardo Malorni, Concordia will offer financial support in other ways, although those were not specified at the special council meeting held on Feb. 17.

The downtown property is located directly across the street from the Hall Building at 2045 Bishops St. “In terms of location it doesn’t get more ideal than this,” said Malorni.

The prime location is one of the many reasons that Malorni believes now is the right time for the CSU to buy the building.

​”Other reasons why now is a good time is we do have a good surplus in the fund, where we could expense this and not be left completely depleted or be left in a situation where we might not be able to maintain the building for long term.”

Purchase of the building would also give the CSU more independence and control of the events and activities they want to create for students.

“This is a step in the future of the CSU being more independent from the university. Even though Concordia is acquiring buildings, that doesn’t necessarily mean that those buildings are going to be used for student life,” said CSU Councilor Lauren Perozek.

“This building would be under our purview and our control. We could use it for more student life related activities and our contribution to the students.”

Primarily the project will be funded by the Student Space, Accessible Education & Legal Contingency Fund (SSAELC fund) fund. The SSAELC fund was created 20 years ago and in that time has been used for other purposes. Its initial purpose was to be used for the purchase of a property and creation of a student centre. The fund has now accumulated enough capital that this initial goal is possible. The CSU will also pursue other grants to fund the building’s purpose.

The union will have to undergo a hefty due diligence process involving many inspections of the building. Some parts of it will require renovations, but others are usable at this moment. The result of the referendum question as well as the results of the many building inspections will determine if the CSU goes through with the purchase of the building.

“There are spaces that are not in great condition, but it’s in usable condition. So we could definitely use it for a lot of purposes already. Starting from day one that we own it,” said Malorni.

According to Malorni the CSU actually does not need to send this expense to referendum at all, but he believes students should be involved in the decision.

“I personally think that if we’re going to spend such a large amount such as $5.5 million, our decision should be backed up with the students’ consent on this, which is why I want to send it to the referendum.”

Photos provided by Catherine Reynolds

VIDEOS: Week of February 15, 2022

Concordia has no immediate plans to address boil-water advisory in the annexes

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TRAC and CSU band together to give students free N95 masks

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News

Concordia has no immediate plans to address boil-water advisory in the annexes

Student Organizations feel Concordia’s struggle to permanently address water-advisories is indicative of other maintenance issues

Since water advisories were first posted on Concordia’s downtown campus, little has been done to implement a long-term solution and provide clean running water to Concordia’s annex buildings.

In a September 2021 communication by Concordia Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), it was announced that “​​preliminary findings appear to indicate the presence of lead in the water of certain annex buildings on the Sir George Williams campus.”

The response by Concordia was to provide water bottles to the annexes, until free standing water coolers were eventually installed. They also posted signage at sinks and faucets.

Further testing was completed to determine the severity of the lead content in the annexes. Following a second test, the water advisory in some buildings was removed. However, many buildings were still determined to have unsafe drinking water and were placed under water advisory. According to Internal Affairs Coordinator of the CSU, Harrison Kirshner, two of the annexes that were particularly affected were the P and K buildings, where many club offices are located.

“There is an investigation that needs to be done. It’s not a quick fix, unfortunately,” said Lina Filacchione, the manager of occupational health and hygiene for EHS. “We have to know where it’s coming from, what the actual problem is before you start to figure out what’s the solution to this.”

The origin of the lead will determine if the water issue falls under the city of Montreal or Concordia’s jurisdiction.

But, the investigation to determine the origins of the lead is delayed and permanently fixing the issue is not Concordia’s first priority at the moment.

“The main issue is really making sure that they have drinking water. That’s the base priority,” said Filacchione.

Despite Concorida’s response, student organizations are feeling uninformed about the situation. Matthew Dodds is the office manager of Concordia’s Graduate Students’ Association, which is based out of the annex. He says the last communication regarding the water advisory came out last November.

“Some updates like ‘we are still testing the water, or here are some infrastructure solutions we’re working on’ would have been nice,” said Dodds. “These are old buildings, we do deserve to know what’s going on in them, we do work in them. We provide services out of them.”

While Dodds and other student organizations affected by the advisory want to be kept in the loop, there is not much more to tell them according to the EHS. “There’s been no new updates since then. We send updates when we are doing some testing,” said Filacchione.

“It’s still ongoing. It’s still on the agenda, but as for the ‘when’ and ‘how long it will take,’ I don’t have the answer for that unfortunately.”

The most likely next step according to Filacchione would be to get consultants to come and determine the source of the lead, but even that has not yet been put into motion.

The lack of communication from Concordia’s maintenance services echoes other issues that Dodds has experienced working out of the annexes.

“It took me two weeks to get a lightbulb changed,” said Dodds. “I wonder sometimes if the maintenance team at the university is smaller than it should be.”

Kirshner has been in communication with the university regarding the water advisory and other maintenance issues. Like Dodds, he says that this response from the university is nothing new. Many organizations have struggled in the past to receive prompt maintenance support.

“It’s important for them to take action, because students deserve to have an on-campus environment no matter what building they’re in, including the P and K annexes. I think those are the annexes that most of student life takes place in, and clubs deserve to have adequate resources in their office space,” said Kirshner.

“It’s typical of this institution. So, for example, the Muslim Students Association have a library at the ground floor of the E annex and the roof is about to collapse. So they can’t use the library. I’ve been trying to follow up [with Concordia] since September on this and they say ‘we’re working on it.’ Well, okay, but what are you doing about it?”

Despite the fact that the university has followed through on their promise to supply water coolers, Kirshner wants to see greater action on maintenance issues.

Kirshner says he has a scheduled meeting with EHS regarding clubs and the annexes in general where he wants to “get the ball rolling” on these issues. But for now, there are no long-term plans to provide clean running water to the annexes other than the installation of water coolers.

Filacchione said they know these spaces are occupied and used by many departments and faculty. “We need to be cognizant of that and make sure we’re meeting their needs.”

Photos by Kaitlynn Rodney

Categories
News

Concordia’s return to campus announcement sparks calls for greater flexibility

As Concordia relaxes health measures, students have mixed feelings about it. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

The university officially confirmed the return to campus on Feb. 3 in an internal email to Concordia students, one week before the scheduled date

With the official return to campus around the corner, some Concordia community members say the university’s lack of flexibility surrounding in-person courses is disappointing.

The announcement confirming the Feb. 3 date comes close to two weeks after the university initially notified students of the expected return-to-campus schedule.

The Quebec government gave educational institutions — including CEGEPS and universities — the green light return to in-person instruction as of Jan. 17.

“Not everybody has the luxury to come back in person,” said Sethe Nakib, a fourth-year marketing major. “We have other obligations, so being in person might be complicated for some individuals.”

Nakib currently lives in Toronto with her father, for whom she is a primary caretaker. She said she is struggling to arrange for someone to look after her father in her absence, delaying her move to Montreal.

“We’re going to have to make sacrifices that could be easily avoided if we just kept it remote until the end of the semester,” said Nakib.

The Quebec government’s current health and safety measures for educational institutions does not include distancing. However, this has not diluted students’ concerns about returning to classrooms.

Maria Calcara, a first-year child studies student, recalled feeling uncomfortable attending her in-person classes during the fall semester of 2021.

“Everyone was squished with one another, there was no protocol, no distance,” she said.

The thought of returning to physical classrooms on Feb. 3 is nerve wracking for Calcara.

“I’m kind of afraid and [returning to campus] has been causing me a lot of anxiety,” said Calcara. “Everyone should have a choice of whether they go back [in person] or remain online.”

 

A mixture of reactions 

Amid the pushback, the university’s return-to-campus announcement has also ignited sighs of relief from students.

“I’m really happy to get back,” said Nina Severa, a first-year film production student. “I really enjoy being in person and having the social part of school, so I’m really excited about it.”

As a result of COVID-19 health and safety measures, not having access to campus grounds prevented Severa and her classmates from acquiring necessary equipment for various class projects.

Now returning to campus, Severa said she is looking forward to getting her hands on the materials she needs and getting back to working with her peers.

“Just knowing that we are able to go back and we have access to the equipment, […] that’s great for us because we are able to make the movies like we planned to do,” said Severa.

Although Severa feels enthusiastic about returning to campus, she recognizes the need for more flexibility regarding class options beyond those in person.

“If a teacher can offer a hybrid course, I think it should be done so that everyone is accommodated and feels comfortable with the situation.”

 

Calls for greater flexibility 

On Jan. 13, the Concordia Student Union sent an open letter to the university calling on the university to “offer a fully online or at the very least fully hybrid semester […] ensuring that students do not have to choose between dropping out of all their courses and risking their lives.”

The Concordia University Faculty Association (CUFA) echoed the CSU’s concerns in an open letter of their own on Jan. 24.

Addressed to President Graham Carr, CUFA acknowledged that “faculty are divided on the issue of returning to campus.”

The CUFA’s letter pleaded for the postponement of the Feb. 3 return to campus, proposing a gradual return “by bringing smaller classes back first and then gradually adding larger classes as the situation improves.”

In the letter, CUFA  requested “Concordia consider allowing faculty to exercise their judgement and academic freedom to decide what they think is best for them and their students, whether this is to continue teaching remotely to return to in person teaching, or to use a hybrid model.”

“An across-the-board decision of a single return date for all is contrary to the flexibility required to adapt to this ever-changing situation,” wrote the CUFA.

 

Safety concerns 

Concordia’s announcement on Jan. 27 noted that “many measures have [been] put in place during the pandemic to protect the health and safety of the Concordia community.” Among these, the university highlighted the mandatory use of masks indoors and maintenance of ventilation and heating systems.

In a statement to The Concordian, Concordia Spokesperson Vannina Maestracci explained that “all preventative measures implemented by Concordia since the beginning of the pandemic have been in line with the directives and guidelines we receive from the government, including public health authorities, and this is still the case for Winter 2022.”

Contact tracing on Concordia’s campuses continues to take place despite challenges of restricted access to PCR tests in the province, according to Maestracci.

Regardless of the measures Concordia has put into place, several students feel that these are not enough.

Tyler Sedborn, a fourth-year accounting student, feels that returning to campus on Feb. 3 is a “quick move” on Concordia’s behalf.

“Why add risk if you don’t need to? You’re putting a lot of people who may or may not have had it already into one building or two,” said Sedborn. “I think that’s kind of a timebomb.”

In their letter, the CSU condemned the university for their “lack of leadership and clarity regarding the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff”, noting that the previous fall semester “saw a flagrant disregard for social distancing and mask mandates.”

Concordia currently requires a vaccine passport to take part in on-campus events and activities “not linked directly to the university’s academic, research and institutional work.”

“All my classes have 130 plus kids, and I don’t feel safe being in a room with anyone not knowing who’s vaccinated or not,” shared Seb Buche, a fourth-year leisure science student. “As if we didn’t have enough on our plates as students already during a pandemic.”

 

Photograph by Catherine Reynolds

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News

Concordia’s labour union for teaching assistant’s pushes back against the Feb. 3 return to campus

The letter states 78 per cent of members feel unsafe returning to work

The Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia University (TRAC) union detailed their displeasure with Concordia’s decision to return to campus on Feb. 3. The letter states that 78 per cent of TRAC members do not feel safe returning to work.

Distributed on Jan. 17, the letter titled “No Work But Safe Work” outlined TRAC’s five demands which they would like to be met when a return to campus should occur. Their safety demands include that “Concordia commit to online learning at least until cases and hospitals are under control for a minimum of two weeks.”

Additionally, they demand the provision of N95/KN95 masks to students and employees, and a guarantee of at least two weeks notice before Concordia transitions to or changes their plan to return to campus. Currently the university has stated they will only give a week’s notice. TRAC aren’t alone in these demands, as other unions such as the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) and the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) have requested access to similar PPE.

TRAC expressed that Concordia should provide testing measures in the event of a classroom outbreak through “on-campus access to rapid tests and effective contact tracing.”

Their final request was that the university provide “professional, paid training for online teaching considering that it is not the same as in-person, and yet we are expected to learn on the fly.”

In regards to the virus, TRAC stated that a return to campus by Feb. 3 would “increase the spread and place thousands of students and TAs [teaching assistants] & RAs [research assistants] at an unnecessary risk of contracting the virus, which could then be transmitted to their families and overburden the healthcare system.”

The letter further stated that the university would be putting the greater Montreal community at risk if they went through with a preemptive return to classes.

“Although the government insists that mental health is their number one priority in pushing for a return to schools, the stress and fear of an unsafe working environment is a far greater burden on our collective mental health.”

The Concordia Student Union (CSU) published a similar open letter criticizing the university’s return to in-person classes, which collected 850 signatures in less than 9 hours since its release, according to Hannah Jamet-Lange, academic and advocacy coordinator at the CSU.

Currently there have been 259,626 COVID cases in Montreal since the beginning of the pandemic with over 1,374 new cases reported on Jan. 19. Third dose boosters are now available for anyone above the age of 18 in Quebec provided you are three months past your last dose.

Visuals by Alexa Hawksworth

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Concordia Student Union News

CSU Election Ballot to Include Question on Diversity

The CSU BIPOC Committee Chairs. Faye Sun, Shivaane Subash, and Camina Harrison-Chéry.

During the general elections, Concordians will choose whether to open a service centre for BIPOC students

From Nov. 16 to 18, students will vote on whether to open a diversity office in the CSU Elections.

This office will advocate for marginalized students and staff. It will also advocate for the inclusion of these students in the CSU. The point is to make the CSU hospitable for students with disabilities, who are a part of the BIPOC or 2SLGBTQA+ communities, or who are migrants/refugees.

A diversity office, which will operate independently from the CSU, will promote inclusivity regardless of the elected council. To fund the office, the union will ask each undergraduate student to pay $0.20 per credit in their student association fees each semester, starting winter 2022.

The BIPOC Committee’s executive team came-up with this idea. This committee hosts fundraisers and events that support local charities. They also offer grants to BIPOC students who start and run clubs or initiatives.

Committee chairs Camina Harrison-Chéry, Shivaane Subash, and Faye Sun believe BIPOC students must overcome barriers at Concordia.

To counter these problems, the diversity office will encourage students to speak their minds,  find community, and offer resources such as “mental health support, student advocacy, and other resources that are often not accessible to them given their identity and circumstances,” according to Sun.

“[Students of marginalized identities] don’t often see the point in reporting or talking about their experiences because they know that the people who read [their complaints] are also a part of the problem.”

In 2019, the CSU surveyed 1023 students about their on-campus experiences. The survey revealed a discrimination problem at Concordia, where nine per cent of students felt discriminated against by professors, staff, or peers. Also, 12 per cent of students witnessed another student who experienced discrimination at Concordia. According to the survey, discrimination includes harmful jokes, unwanted physical contact, hateful remarks, and the display of hateful messages or images. 

More recently, a report revealed that Concordia students and staff filed 20 official complaints about instances of racist discrimination during the 2019-2020 school year.

Harrison-Chéry believes the diversity office can improve the experience of BIPOC students.

“Our motion responds to years of recurring systemic issues,” said Harrison-Chéry. “So, there is a clear need for this service.”

The diversity office will comprise of an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) advisor, who is currently being onboarded. Community directors will also be hired if the fee-levy passes in the coming weeks.

“Black and Indigenous peoples have a very specific history of being enslaved or genocided on this land,” said Subash. So, the CSU wants to put more energy into those groups. Once they see what these community directors are able to accomplish, they will create community advisor positions for other minority groups on campus.

The EDI Advisor will ensure that the CSU adheres to inclusive policies. The advisor will also recommend ways to improve diversity within the CSU which will help to foster a more welcoming environment for marginalized students. The selected advisor is Sandra Mouafo, who also works with Concordia’s Anti-Racist Pedagogy Project.

Subash said that marginalized council members often feel undervalued. These council members are compelled to address BIPOC issues on top of their studies and regular councillor work. According to Sun, these members, “are forced into situations where they have to experience discrimination.”

“It can feel like you’re being stretched in a thousand different directions with everyday microaggression and the institution itself being unsafe,” said Subash.

Harrison-Chéry believes that the CSU can only function if it welcomes diversity.

“It’s about promoting effective leadership. If we do not address the problems in our institution then we cannot help students. So, we need to improve our governing culture and policies,” she said.

“Diversity work often gets offloaded onto the few BIPOC employees in a work space. […] I think it’s unfair to have a small group of people do this work,” said Sun.

According to Sun, diversity work is emotionally laborious, especially for those who are marginalized. “So, having many people doing this kind of work together spreads out the workload and it’s more fair,” she said.

Meanwhile, the community directors at the office will focus on student issues. They will help BIPOC students embrace leadership opportunities. They will also work to foster a community where students feel at ease.

 

Photograph by Hannah Sabourin

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Concordia Student Union News

Referendum questions ready for the ballot

CSU passes the questions that will appear on the referendum

Correction: A previous version of the article incorrectly stated that an additional student fee charge for Sustainability Concordia, The Link, and SEIZE could not be opted out of. They can be opted out — all fees collected for fee-levies organizations at Concordia can be opt-ed out of.

At the Concordia Student Union (CSU) meeting on Oct. 27, multiple questions were passed to be put on the referendum, including whether there should be a mandatory course on sustainability, and a charter of students’ rights. Here are some of the questions students will vote for in this upcoming election.

Position against transphobia

The CSU wants to add a position in support of trans, non-binary, and gender-non-conforming people to its positions book in lieu of the Quebec government’s proposed Bill 2.

Bill 2 will make it so that someone cannot change their sex on their government documentation without having gender-affirming surgery.

“It’s basically asking trans people to out themselves,” said Hannah Jamet-Lange, the CSU’s academic & advocacy coordinator.

Jamet-Lange explained that the CSU has a general position in their position book in solidarity with LGBTQIA2+ people, but Jamet-Lange wanted something that was specifically in support of trans, non-binary and gender-non-conforming people.

The position book is the CSU’s stance on political, social, and student-life issues. For any position to be added to the book, it must be first voted on by students in a referendum.

Pass/Fail 

The CSU wants to know if students want Concordia University to implement a pass/fail grading option until the pandemic is over. For the 2020-2021 academic year, students were allowed to receive a pass/fail notation in one class per semester. It was implemented as a way to reduce stress and burnout in students.

“We’re still in the pandemic, and people are still struggling,” said Jamet-Lange, who explained that student stress has not lessened during the return to in-person classes due to the continuation of the pandemic.

Charter of Students’ Rights

This question is asking the Concordia community if the CSU should create a charter of students’ rights and responsibilities. Many universities have a charter of rights, including McGill and UQAM, but Concordia does not have one.

Jamet-Lange explained that the CSU wants to see if students are in support of the charter before the CSU puts in the time and effort of creating the document.

Sustainability Curriculum

According to the question, Concordia is four times lower than the Canadian national average on sustainability learning outcomes in the curriculum. The question asks if students want Concordia University to commit to ensuring that all students learn about sustainability and the climate crisis in the curriculum by 2030.

Fee levies

Fee levy groups are organizations elected by students in referendums who receive their funding from student fees. They provide different services for students, such as free meals from The People’s Potato.

Multiple fee levy groups are asking to increase the amount of money they collect from undergraduate students, such as the CSU Advocacy Centre, which provides students with independent representation in disciplinary proceedings. They are asking for an extra $0.14 per credit, resulting in a total increase to $0.45 of the fee-levy amount, as the negative impact of COVID-19 has caused an increase in students reaching out for help. This means the centre has had to increase its staff and hours in order to support the influx of students.

Should this pass, an additional student fee charge will also increase by $0.42, to a total of $1.35 per 3-credit course, which cannot be opted out from.

Sustainable Concordia, an initiative that aims to reform systems that contribute to the climate crisis, is asking for an increase as their organization is growing and wants to give more support to their staff. The fee-levy increase will be to $0.07 per credit, resulting in a total increase to $0.22, and will be annually adjusted to the Consumer Price Index of Canada.

This fee-levy increase will result in a change of $0.21 to an additional student fee charge, to a total of $0.66 per 3-credit course, which can be opted-out from.

The Link, another independent student media publication at Concordia University, is asking for an increase of $0.10, resulting in a total fee-levy increase to $0.29. The organization has not requested a change to their amount since 2001 according to The Link, and seeks to increase funds to support their reporting, improve multimedia opportunities for students, enhance diversity and equitability, and account for inflation.

Should this pass, an additional increase of $0.30 for every 3-credit course will be added to the student fee charge, resulting in a $0.87 fee which can be opted out from.

A new fee levy group, SEIZE, is asking to be established. It will become, “a solidarity economy incubator,” which will, “engage students through the support, development, study and promotion of democratic enterprises.” SEIZE’s fee would be $0.29 per credit.

Should this pass, an additional student fee charge of $0.87 per 3-credit course will be added, a fee which can be opted out from.

Recorded Lectures

The CSU is asking if students want them to advocate to the Concordia administration for the implementation of either live-streaming or recorded lectures. The CSU states that at the beginning of the pandemic, the university allowed for classes to be recorded. Now as classes return to in-person, recorded classes have been reduced, yet many students, such as international students, are still unable to attend them.

 

Photograph by Lou Neveux-Pardijon

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