Students, Professors Wait for Decision After First Tribunal

Eight Concordia Students Charged With Disruptions Call Process “Problematic”

NewsMichelle Pucci — Published December 12, 2015 | Updated December 13, 2015 at 1:34am

The original charges came after a ripple of anti-austerity protests and student strikes took place in Quebec CEGEPs and universities last spring.

About a month after complaints were filed by professors before the summer break, Concordia agreed to join them as co-complainants. Concordia’s spokesperson Chris Mota said the university became a co-complainant in support of the professors and will support the outcome of the hearings.

Despite hiring multiple mediators to settle the charges informally between students and professors, there are no plans for more efforts of mediation in the future.

“Mediation is voluntary and can take place so long as all parties wish to participate,” spokesperson Chris Mota wrote in an email. “The fact that tribunals took place last week suggests that the mutual interest in continuing mediation was not present.”

The remaining students charged will likely also be called to a tribunal. Students are calling on the university to drop the charges.

“We feel that the university is also responsible in a major way for what happened,” said Aloyse Muller, one of the students involved in the Dec. 2 tribunal. “They’re trying to present themselves like a neutral player when they’re really not.”

The current events stem from spring 2015 anti-austerity protest actions, when more than a dozen student associations and the faculty of fine arts student association voted to strike at least one day of classes last semester. Some associations voted to strike for several weeks.

Concordia’s response was to cancel a day of classes for each department, whose students voted to strike or to participate in city-wide protest, either March 23 or April 2.

On April 1, students enforcing the strike mandate entered a political science class with noise-making machines and chanted until most students walked out. An official complaint under article 29G of the Code of Rights and Responsibilities was filed by the course professor Graham Dodds. Some of the students also face complaints over other pickets from professors Michael Lipson and Travis Smith.

The first tribunal

The eight students presented evidence, personal statements and called forward witnesses at the tribunal last week. The university said respondents were able to request separate hearings.

The Dec. 2 hearing lasted about eight hours, according to two respondents, and coincided with the final week of classes and final assignments. For students in third or fourth year, exams take place in the last weeks of classes and not during the exam period, says Katie Nelson, one of the eight students at the hearing.

“It’s definitely affected my studies and probably the outcome of those classes, because I’ve either had to take time writing statements of evidence or meet with advocacy or go to the tribunal itself which is about seven or eight hours,” she said.

At least two more tribunals are expected, one for each of the professors who filed formal complaints against students, but dates have yet to be announced.

The university department responsible for tribunals avoids scheduling hearings during exam periods or vacation periods and tries to accommodate panelists, the chairperson, complaintants and respondents. This means the next tribunal will likely take place next semester.

“I’m not sure why they thought it was appropriate to schedule such a long tribunal at such an inconvenient time,” Nelson said. “It definitely shows that the university has very little regard to the actual academic work coming out of students and really illustrates the political nature of the tribunal itself.”

There was no testimony by an administrative representative at the Dec. 2 tribunal, according to Nelson. Mota previously told The Link that the university became a co-complainant to provide professors with information from campus security. Nelson said there was a representative from security at the tribunal.

Even if the jury comes back and recommends the lowest charge, a letter of reprimand, Nelson fears her case might be sent to upper administration since this isn’t the first tribunal she’s faced, or the last.

Following last year’s vote for Boycott Divest Sanction (BDS) of Israel by the Concordia Student Union, Nelson, who was campaigning pro-BDS, was accused of harassment and given a letter of reprimand for a different charge.

Now she faces complaints by two professors, Graham Dodds and Michael Lipson, for disrupting classes while carrying out strike mandates to picket political science classes.

Nelson says she is concerned that Lipson acted as an advocate for Dodds and was present at the tribunal.

“He was privy to all the argumentation, all the personal testimony, all the witnesses presented in Dodds’s case, and now essentially has the upper hand,” she said.

Professors Dodds and Smith declined to be interviewed, since the tribunal process is still ongoing. Lipson did not respond to a request for comment.

Nelson called the tribunal process, a lack of communication and delays in scheduling “legally problematic” and “psychologically abusive,” and hopes the tribunals don’t move on.

“The university should be preparing for the ramifications and consequences of doing that to its students,” she said, promising to look into civil litigation.

Unsuccessful mediations

Mediation, which was touted as a possible venue for resolution of the complaints, doesn’t seem to be a possibility for students and professors anymore.

Concordia began a mediation process in the fall to encourage an informal compromise between professors and students. The first attempt began in early October, but seemingly ended without an agreement.

All participants signed a nondisclosure agreement, which prevented them from speaking with media.

One student has agreed to a mediated settlement, but the terms of the agreement are still unknown. Some other students have had their charges dropped because they were not directly involved in disrupting the classes of the complainants.

About a month later, another round of mediation sessions were organized with new mediators—but the tribunal date had already been set.

“That’s something I found problematic, to have the tribunal at the same time as the mediation—especially a few days before finals,” said Aloyse Muller, one of the students being charged.

An administrative representative was noticeably lacking in all the meetings set up with the purpose of mediation over the semester.

“I have to give it to Concordia, you know, a ‘real education for the real world,’” said Muller, citing the university’s old motto.

“I’ve learned a lot about what’s the mediation process, what’s the problem of having a nine-hour discussion when you have to take caucuses all the time,” he said. “Real education, real helpful, probably better than some of my classes this term.”

Correction: A previous version of this story stated Katie Nelson was charged with harassment. She was accused of harassment, but received a letter of reprimand for a different charge. The Link regrets the error.