ASFA Reopens Communication With The Link

Also Discussed: Filming At Meetings and Leaked Screenshots

NewsMiriam Lafontaine — Published February 11, 2017 | Updated February 12, 2017 at 2:39pm

This article has been updated.

During their council meeting on Feb. 9, council had a chance to discuss a recent statement made by ASFA on Feb. 6.

Made in a letter through ASFA’s public Facebook page, it states that ASFA executives will refrain from giving any comments to The Link Newspaper until a public apology is issued by the paper to them.

Veronika Rydzewski, a representative of the Political Science Student Association, was unhappy that ASFA executives had written the letter without first consulting ASFA’s council.

She brought forward a motion that ASFA reopen communication with The Link, that the federation issue an apology to the paper and their membership, and that ASFA issue a public statement detailing the reasons why they chose to take the stance.

A representative from the Women’s Studies member association claimed one of the main reasons ASFA executives chose to close communication with The Link was because a reporter from the publication had attended and recorded a public meeting of ASFA’s in which sensitive information was discussed without first announcing their presence.

After an hour of tense discussion, an agreement on the matter was made.

ASFA executives will write a public apology to its members for the method they used to release their statement. In addition to that, they will write a public statement providing a detailed explanation as to why they chose to write the initial letter, and will plan a meeting of reconciliation with The Link to discuss their future working relationship.

Filmed Archives of Their Meetings

ASFA is considering having videos of their meetings posted online so that they can better archive the operations of their council.

“I personally think it’s a good idea for transparency purposes,” said VP Internal Julia Sutera Sardo.

“It would impose a professionalism amongst all of us, knowing that you are here representing students and knowing those students are watching you,” said independent councillor Georgios Simeonidis. “That’s the best part of having a video, we’re held accountable better.”

There was a lot of consensus in the room that if video recordings of their meetings were to be posted online, care needed to be taken to ensure that the videos stay private.

Sutera Sardo said the videos should be made available for any student who comes into to their office to request one, and that video archives should be password protected. In addition to that, she suggested students who want to watch these archives be first made to sign a confidentiality form before receiving a password that would allow them access to the video.

“I think the whole idea of putting a password on it and keeping it limited to a few people doesn’t really make any sense,” said Francesco Valente, a representative of ASFA’s English member association. “Why would I want to watch a video of myself?”

Council was unsure of the best course of action to take to ensure these videos stay private. It was decided that their VP Communications, Paula Monroy, along with ASFA’s communications committee will work to determine the specifics of how exactly they will go about posting videos of their meetings online, and ensuring they remain private.

Their archives, like the Concordia Student Union’s, would not include closed session discussions.

Leaked Screenshots

Rydzewski, the PSSA councillor, also brought forward a complaint made in regards to a shared group chat that members of the ASFA executive team had created called “ASFA FAM.”VP

VP Finance Christina Massaro said that the chat had been made so ASFA executives could casually talk amongst each other. However, it was unaware that the group chat was public to anyone who wanted to join it.

Screenshots from the chat were sent to one of ASFA’s independent councillors. There, the independent councillor found ASFA’s VP-Internal Julia Sutera Sardo referencing a conversation they have previously had.

The independent councillor was under the impression that she was going to be paid for her position, and she had messaged Sutera Sardo to follow up on that. Sutera Sardo explained to her that there had been a miscommunication, and that she would not be receiving a honorarium since independent councillors do not receive honorariums.

In the ASFA FAM group chat, Sutera Sardo posted screenshots of that discussion, saying to the rest of the those in the chat that this was “nonsense.”

After the members of the group chat realized it was public, the settings were changed to make the chat private. The independent councillor decided to show the screenshots to Rydzewski, who then took the initiative to bring the issue to ASFA’s council.

She put forward a motion that ASFA take an official stance against cyberbullying, that they write a public apology on all their platforms in regards to that group chat, and that those whose names appear in the screenshots have deductions made from their honorariums.

The motion failed however, and it was decided that council would take another look at the issue in an upcoming meeting.

She was also disappointed with other content that was found in the screenshots.

“It’s what was in the screenshots that bothered us. The spousal abuse jokes, and the inappropriate language and discussion, all under the federation’s name. This was a public group barring the ASFA name. So technically, it was as if they spoke on its behalf. This is troubling since it’s coming from a student federation that claims to be a sensible organization; it clearly violates that,” wrote Rydzewski in an email the day after the meeting.

Sutera Sardo made an open apology to the independent councilor about her discussion in the chat about her pay, and urged those listening that if anyone had an issue with an ASFA executive that those issues first be brought up face to face for discussion before being brought immediately to council.

Rydzewski said that she does not plan on speaking with any ASFA executives to try and reconcile the situation, saying “We’re not sure what we will do about it next.”

Editor’s note: Greater details have been added to the final section, regarding Sutera Sardo’s participation in the discussion about the ASFA FAM chat. A quote that was originally misattributed to Sutera Sardo in this section was also corrected.