Tea-ing Off Security
Überculture Protests for Student Space
webedit__900_600_90.jpg)
Members and sympathizers of Concordia’s culture-jamming club überculture had a near run-in with Montreal police on Oct. 18—for drinking tea.
A rotating group of five to six activists sat on the floor of the foyer of the Hall Building for their annual tea party in a peaceful publicity stunt to protest the lack of student space.
Security seemed bewildered about what to do about the students’ refusal to move, quoting a number of breached policies, including fire safety concerns.
“They came over and bothered us a lot about just drinking tea, which obviously doesn’t pose a threat of any kind,” said überculture member Vincent Hubert. “We weren’t in front of any doors, we weren’t blocking any fire exits,” he said.
Security threatened to call police and asked the Concordia Student Union to deal with the tea-partiers, perhaps forgetting that before taking office, CSU President Lex Gill and VP Clubs and Student Space Gonzo Nieto were active members of überculture.
“We’re trying to reclaim the space,” said member Jason Roussel. “It’s very restricted as to what people can do here, and pretty much anywhere around Concordia.”
Two members of the CSU were sent to address the issue and, to the chagrin of security, sat down in solidarity for a cup of tea with the students, and before long, Lex Gill showed up.
“They’re students, they have a right to challenge these policies and protest for student space,” said Gill. “I just told them that if they called the police on these five or six students today, next week they might have five or six hundred students drinking tea in the lobby, and then they’d have a fire hazard.”
Überculture has been struggling since many of its members became engrossed in student politics. “It was a tough transition from member to leader,” said Hubert. “We don’t have the charismatic leadership of Lex Gill anymore.”
This year, the CSU’s actions have a playful, guerrilla-activist spirit—similar to überculture pranks of the past.
“I think it’s natural that we’ve learned from überculture tactics,” said Gill. “It taught us what creative, effective action looks like, but they don’t have the same structure as the CSU.”
According to Hubert, meetings have been poorly attended this fall; their events attract few participants because those organizing the meetings are just too busy to fully commit themselves.
Still fighting the good fight against corporatism at the university, the club plans to host another Really, Really Free Market on Nov. 8.
Students are invited to bring clothes up to the seventh floor of the Hall Building and swap with other students to revamp their wardrobe for free. Look for Really, Really Free Market posters—made of re-used cereal boxes— to pop up around Concordia in the near future.
Other pranks and culture-jamming initiatives by überculture are top-secret, and students interested in getting involved can come Monday nights at 5:00 p.m. to the Java U located in the Hall Building’s second-floor mezzanine.
