Concordia's student association says the university is being non-transparent and indifferent by going over their heads and selecting student representatives for its task force on sexual misconduct and sexual violence on campus.
The Concordia Student Union, with the support of other student groups such as AVEQ and Our Turn, denounced the selection process which they said violated regulations that say student associations are the ones who should be conducting such a selection process.
CSU Student Life coordinator Leyla Sutherland said it would be more transparent and "I think we could be certain that the students were chosen by their peers to represent their needs."
#Concordia Student Union says university is being non-transparent and indifferent by selecting students itself for task force into sexual misconduct and sexual violence on campus and not allowing student groups do it as per regulations. #CJAD pic.twitter.com/6kUSyR7OIt
— Shuyee Lee (@sleeCJAD) February 1, 2018
The task force was struck following allegations of sexual misconduct in the creative writing department.
The CSU also wants academic standings waived so that sexual violence survivors whose grades were affected can take part. It's also calling for four undergrads to sit on the task force instead of two for a more wide representation.
Concordia University said in a statement that it believes it is conducting the process fairly:
"The university designed the membership of the Task Force on Sexual Violence and Sexual Misconduct to be open, robust and inclusive.
Students actually have greater representation on this task force than they do on other university bodies.
We made an open call to all members of the community to apply to be on the task force. We did this to ensure that the task force includes diversity in its members. We also needed to ensure that all members are engaged with this subject, are knowledgeable about our existing policies and can make the time commitment necessary.
The task force is an ad-hoc committee. It is not subject to the Accreditation Act and is not created in response to Bill 151.
We are sensitive to the CSU position. We have discussed with them several times in an attempt to resolve the issue.
We continue to reflect on the demands of the CSU. Our intention is to move forward with the support of our entire community."
#Concordia Student Union says university is sending the wrong message by conducting the student selection process for task force into sexual misconduct and sexual violence on campus and not allowing student groups do it as per regulations. #CJAD pic.twitter.com/JPrDXRA8ta
— Shuyee Lee (@sleeCJAD) February 1, 2018