fundraising – The Concordian

Through the hard work and dedication of the JMoSB team, this year’s Movember campaign is set to be the most successful in recent memory.

The JMoSB team, a subsidiary branch of Casa Cares, kicked off the 2020 Movember campaign on Nov. 1. The Movember campaign is the annual initiative to help raise funds and spread awareness for issues related to men’s prostate cancer and mental health.

While the Movember campaign is just one of the many student-led initiatives that Casa Cares runs throughout the year, the JMoSB team solely operates during the month of November to oversee the Movember campaign.

This year’s initiative comprises both an extensive social media campaign as well as numerous independently-led projects by the individual members of the JMoSB team.

So far, this year’s campaign has helped to raise over $18,717 already surpassing the initial fundraising goal set for the entire month. It’s an impressive accomplishment considering the economic downturn due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re doing really good so far,” said Jessica Doyle, executive vice president of the JMoSB team, when asked about the accomplishments of her team this year. “We’re hoping to pass what [the previous JMoSB team] were able to raise last year and honestly, I think we are on the right track for that.”

All the money raised during the campaign is donated to the Canadian division of the Movember organization. From there, the funds are distributed amongst 1,250 different men’s health associations and scientific studies. A comprehensive list of the projects that the Movember organization funds can be found on the Movember organization’s website.

If the JMoSB team is able to keep fundraising at this current pace, then not only will this year’s campaign achieve its objective of raising more funds than last year, it will become the most successful campaign run in recent memory.

While fundraising still remains one of its core values, The JMoSB team has recently shifted its focus away from raising funds, and towards raising awareness. This year’s campaign has had the unprecedented challenge of conducting the campaign entirely online, as red zone restrictions in Montreal have prevented their traditional fundraising events from taking place.

In light of these circumstances, the JMoSB team has gone with the Movember Mo’ Match-up Cup initiative to spearhead this year’s campaign in place of bake sales in years past. The initiative is styled as a knockout competition, the competitors being the many different student-run associations within JMSB.

Based on a similar structure to the Stanley Cup playoffs, each week teams face off against one another to get the most points with the winning team advancing to the next bracket.

Every week, points are awarded to the remaining teams based on total shares and money each team is able to raise. The teams with the least amount of points at the end of each round are eliminated. The team who makes it to the end of the month is crowned the winner.

The Movember Gala, the main event traditionally held at the end of November, will be replaced this year by a remotely administered Mo’talking panel. The panel will feature mental health experts who will discuss a variety of topics associated with mental health, as well as answer participants’ questions on the matter. The event is open to the general public and will take place on Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. EST over Zoom.

In association with its official campaign, many members of the JMoSB team have begun their own personal initiatives to help raise funds and awareness for Movember.

Third-year marketing student and JMoSB team member Angélique Dinh-Vu uses her Instagram account to sell second-hand and donated clothing with the profits going to the Movember campaign.

So far, she has helped raise over $400 in the span of 10 days for the Movember organization and hopes to raise $200 more before the end of the month. She also helps to educate the public on mental health issues by integrating important facts about mental health into her promotional videos and posts.

Students interested in getting involved with the Movember innovative can register for the Mo’talking panel here, or can donate to the Casa Cares Movember campaign on the Movember organization’s official website.

Logo courtesy of Casa Cares JMoSB team

Alan Shepard comments on allegations, fundraising, campus expansion

“I hate that this kind of stuff happens,” said Concordia president Alan Shepard in response to a question about the unsolicited social media campaign that resulted in two Concordia students being allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted.

Montreal police opened an investigation into the alleged assaults, however, “I don’t have any idea how the investigation is doing,” Shepard told The Concordian. He said the SPVM hasn’t shared details with him.

The university was informed of the cases during the first week of November, Concordia spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr disclosed in an interview with The Concordian. Shepard said the incidents happened “some time ago,” including one last winter. “We acted as soon as we felt we had our facts straight,” he said.

According to Shepard, these incidents won’t change the university’s sexual assault policy, which he described as “strong and robust.”

Fundraising campaign

According to Shepard, the university is halfway to raising the targeted $250 million for its Campaign for Concordia: Next-Gen fundraiser, the largest in the university’s history.

The campaign is to attract world-class talent to Concordia, Shepard said. “You’re trying to make great education. It’s a competitive landscape [between universities]. It’s not a ladies and gentlemen club—it’s a free-for-all,” Shepard explained. “We need the resources to attract really compelling faculty, researchers and compelling students.”

The president said the money is not currently in the bank, and, instead, comes in the form of pledges or promises of gifts that eventually come to the school “over a 10-year window.”

“We have the promise that it will come in the next while,” Shepard said, referring to the funds they’ve already amassed.

Expanding Concordia

Following the announcement of a new $52-million research facility to be built behind the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex on the Loyola campus, Shepard told The Concordian he has “ideas of other needs” the university has for expansion.

“Every public institution has a responsibility to look at options and think about the future,” Shepard said. But the president admitted the process can be long.

“These buildings take five, seven, eight or 10 years between the twinkle in your eyes [when you say] ‘I think we should build a building there’ to opening the doors to students,” he said. Speaking about the university’s downtown campus, Shepard said the university is “pretty strapped for land,” adding that, “if we were to expand, we’d probably look for new acquisitions.”

Faculty social media policy

In September 2016, a York University professor was fired “for allegedly sharing anti-Semitic posts on his public Facebook page,” Global News reported at the time.
Shepard and spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr said there is no specific media policy, but the university’s academic code of conduct applies to all faculty members, even on social media.

“Whether you behave a certain way in person or in class or on social media, those same codes of conduct are in place,” Barr explained.
“If I’m your prof and I write to you by email, I’m writing to you in a governance framework. If you write to me on Facebook and I write back, I’m still writing to you as your prof, and the rule still applies,” Shepard explained. “If, as a private citizen, not as a professor, I write on Facebook, that’s a different matter.”

With files from Ian Down.

Feature photo by Alex Hutchins