Editorial

CSUseless

OpinionsThe Link — Published February 12, 2013

CSU President Schubert Laforest’s resignation is effective Tuesday night, as contracting mononucleosis forced him to step down.

But with the way our student union has been acting all year, we doubt anyone will notice much of a change. Unless he’s been sick since last March, there is no excuse for our president’s lacklustre—albeit consistent—performance.

Laforest’s presidency was, in some ways, already over before he resigned. Even if he had stayed on, we sincerely doubt he would have turned around what has been at best a series of unfinished projects. His legacy, mono or not, may be a series of mistakes for future presidents to avoid, rather than successes to emulate.

Looking back over his term, there’s not a lot of positive work to speak of.

We remember a president who had constant communication issues, with students and with the media. Even his own council complained of being a metaphorical rubber stamp for the executive.

Tech trouble was cited as the reason for the breakdown in communication between the union and its students. Fair enough, but it’s hard to blame IT for the Orientation posters appearing only days before major events and little to no advertisement for job openings. Lack of foresight and no initiative cannot be swept under the rug.

Let’s also not forget how we needed to publically call Laforest out in order to get our phone calls returned. And even after that, things didn’t really improve much.

Given the lack of leadership we saw over the course of his mandate, we expected Laforest’s resignation much earlier—for reasons unrelated to health. Frankly, we expected it because he just wasn’t suited for the job.

Like the disappointing end to a J.J. Abrams television show, his finale comes with many unanswered questions.

Students never got a straight answer as to why the president was never able to represent them on the Board of Governors, the highest decision-making body at Concordia, nor on the university’s Senate, despite those responsibilities being important elements of his job.

Allegations of his questionable student status have been rumbling ever since his disqualification—and subsequent reinstatement—in the running for president during last year’s general elections.

Further, Laforest’s stepping down marks the 12th resignation on council this school year, and the second of his executive after Lucia Gallardo was virtually forced to resign after council discovered she was not a registered student.

This is a very different CSU than the one we voted in. With CSU VP Clubs & Internal Nadine Atallah slated to take over for Laforest, her proposed replacement is precisely who we didn’t vote for in March—last year’s losing Concordia Could Be VP Clubs & Internal candidate Museb Abu-Thuraia.

And while Schubert’s inaction could be seen as a waste of resources, having another member of this merry gang take his place could actually cause some serious damage.

After working all year on student space, Atallah doesn’t intend to hand over her student centre pet project.

But seeing as she’s already confused us with seemingly sporadic schedules and timeframes, we’re wary of what’s to come with this changing of hands.

In an effort to finish what she started, it’s imperative the current stage of the student centre development—what exactly students want out of their space—isn’t rushed in the process.

Are we the only ones irked by the poorly thought-out postering propaganda campaign plastered throughout the schools hallways? It seems counterintuitive that an effort to give student space a fresh face at this school manifested itself in the form of a statement seemingly serving students with a ready-made version of what we want.

And if Atallah is going to be the new face of our student union, she needs to be ready for the public scrutiny that comes with it.

We wish Laforest a speedy recovery, and acknowledge his need to step down as a valid one. Above all else, his health is most important.

But a virus alone can’t be blamed for the sorry state of our student union.