CSU judicial board appointment marked by legal letter

The letter alleges the CSU broke several bylaws related to hiring practices

NewsBriefMaria Cholakova — Published May 9, 2025 3 minutes

Towards the start of the meeting, which began at 5:30 p.m., councillor Drew Sylver asked that a legal demand letter—issued by councillors Sylver, Anastasia Zorchinsky and Chana Leah Natanblut—to the members of the executives be read to council. The letter pertains to an alleged breach of the CSU’s bylaws regarding hiring practices. 

Sylver alleged that the CSU broke section 4.3.1 of the Policy on Appointments, Appointments Committee, and Equitable Hiring Practices. 

The legal letter was not read or presented to the council, as it was not part of the agenda, and the chair disagreed with the notion that the meeting was not held under proper procedure. 

After Sylver’s attempt to ask executives to read the legal letter failed, he said, “If we move forward, then as the rest of council, or at least the names on that letter, do be prepared for further action in the future. I don’t want to take any.” 

Following Sylver’s statement, the meeting was recessed until 6:30, the time which was set for the interviews.  

Explaining the legal letter

A few minutes before the meeting started, StartUp Nation, a pro-Israel club on campus, posted the legal letter on their Instagram, claiming that the “CSU silences students, muzzles debates and nominates unqualified candidates.” 

In the legal letter, the students alleged that the “CSU policy committee met and approved numerous modifications to the Policy on Clubs and the Policy on Executives, Councils, and Committees. It is important to note that these modifications have occurred without proper consultation or consideration.” 

They also criticized the CSU’s executive decision to interview and nominate one candidate in particular. The letter claims that this candidate “actively engaged in illegal activities such as blocking access to universities and issuing threats against Jewish students.” 

The letter did not outline specific incidents, apart from a picture of a student participating in a protest.  

They demanded that the CSU immediately cease “undemocratic conduct, have any proposed changes to CSU Policies made in accordance with CSU Policies, and submit the same for proper democratic debate before the Legislative Council.”

They also further demanded that the accused candidate be withdrawn from consideration. 

Candidate interviews and deliberation 

The CSU had received seven applications for the JB. However, two candidates dropped out of the running before the interviews started. One of those candidates was the student named in the legal letter. 

Of the five candidates still running, only one was not asked questions in front of the council as they did not attend the SCM. 

During the meeting, councillors stated that Sylver’s sharing of the legal letter was meant to scare candidates away. Throughout the interview process, Sylver motioned to adjourn the meeting twice. Both instances failed. 

After all interviews were complete, councillor Mohamad Abdullah successfully motioned to call to question, and the council proceeded to vote on whether or not to appoint the candidates to the JB in a closed session vote. 

Only two candidates, Aya Saad and Ouswa Ben Rejeb, were selected to join the JB. They will join Suzana Ek, a student who was hired on Jan. 22. 

For JB to function, a minimum of three member need to be active. With the hiring of the new candidates, the CSU will be able to reinstate its JB.