EDITORIAL: The student body won’t be silenced. Not now, not ever.
On Jan. 29, Concordia University undergraduate students filled the Henry F. Hall Building Auditorium for a Concordia Student Union (CSU) special general meeting (SGM).
Over 900 students showed face to vote on bringing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) motion to the Concordia Board of Governors (BoG) on Feb. 6.
Students voted overwhelmingly in favour of the motion in an astounding display of democratic passion, with a final tally of 885 votes for and 58 votes against. Hundreds of students cried out in euphoria the moment the vote count was announced. Cheers and chants resonated loudly in the Hall building lobby.
However, Concordia found a way to silence the cheers as quickly as they had erupted.
Concordia president Graham Carr released a statement a day after the vote, in which he claimed to have received “deeply troubling” reports on the SGM. Some such reports included the presence of “heavily masked individuals” and “complaints of discriminatory behaviour.”
The Link finds Carr’s statements on “masked individuals” incredibly ableist. Students are fully permitted to wear masks and should be encouraged to do so to protect themselves and others against the seasonal flu, the norovirus and other respiratory diseases notably on the rise these days. As for discriminatory behaviour, Carr was correct: some dissenters referred to BDS supporters as “terrorists” and an “850-student mob.”
Carr reiterated that the university’s position on BDS has remained unchanged for several years.
But it didn’t stop there.
Anne Whitelaw, Concordia’s provost and VP Academic, and Michael Di Grappa, VP of Services and Sustainability, sent a letter to the CSU on Feb. 6, announcing that the university would launch an investigation into the union following the vote.
The letter alleged that the CSU used the Hall mezzanine without first reserving the space; that it exceeded the auditorium’s maximum capacity; and that it allowed The People’s Potato to block emergency exits to serve food, which is forbidden in the auditorium.
After the overwhelming “Yes” majority at the SGM, The Link attempted to cover the Feb. 6 BoG meeting.
Media is usually allowed to attend open session BoG meetings as observers. However, the observation room on Zoom was closed at exactly 4 p.m., the moment the “open session” meeting was supposed to start. Access to the meeting was suddenly barred for all observers, including one member of The Link’s masthead.
The Link believes that the media and any interested patron should have been allowed to be present at the meeting—the discussions had at these meetings affect us all.
Until the investigation concludes, the letter states that the CSU is “not authorized to book any space on campus, including but not limited to spaces in the Hall Building, including the Mezzanine.”
This means that the CSU cannot table in the mezzanine or book any spaces on campus, until further notice. We consider this an extreme overreaction from the university.
The Link believes the administration’s arguments about the union exceeding the room’s maximum capacity or blocking emergency exits to serve food are near baseless claims working to delegitimize the vote and penalize the union.
None of these problems pertain to the SGM’s democratic procedure. Students demonstrated their feelings, clearly, fairly and democratically, yet the university is outwardly and intentionally tuning out the thunderous roar of its student body.
Concordia could have simply asked the CSU to respect these regulations in the future. Instead, it took the opportunity to heavily penalize the union, and by extension, all voting undergraduate students who have trust in the democratic process.
Students need representation. The CSU needs to have free reign to plan events and meetings. Without that right, student rights will be in jeopardy: a crucial channel of communication with the administration will be cut off. Student life will be severely limited.
The Link urges all Concordia students to be louder than the institution. Amplify your voice, fight for BDS, and any other issue that you believe in. Stand up for your right to a democratic union. Your voice is crucial to the proper governance of the university.
The university might try to tune its students out by publicly delegitimizing our efforts, but it will never be louder than us. Change is made when disruption and noise is at the forefront of the cause.
This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 9, published February 11, 2025.
