With no motions and only four attendees, Mar. 31 general assembly concludes in under 20 minutes and sparks renewed concern about engagement in student politics
On Monday, Mar. 31, the McMaster Students Union held its annual General Assembly, with no student participation. Adam El-Kadi, the MSU's vice president (administration) and chair of the meeting, opened the event at 5:03 p.m. and adjourned it just 18 minutes later at 5:21 p.m. Only four MSU members were present, far short of the approximately 780 students required to meet a quorum.
With no submitted motions and no observers in attendance, the meeting consisted only of a land acknowledgement, a brief procedural explanation and a presentation by MSU president Jovan Popovic. The official minutes confirmed the assembly was non-quorate, meaning any motions passed would be non-binding.
The General Assembly is one of the few democratic avenues through which any MSU member, meaning all full-time undergraduate students, can propose motions directly to the union. In contrast, most MSU policy decisions go through the Student Representative Assembly, which meets biweekly and involves elected faculty representatives.
A motion to adopt the agenda passed with four votes in favour and none opposed. Popovic then delivered his presidential report before the meeting concluded at 5:21 p.m.
In the weeks leading up to the event, the MSU made a post informing students to attend and submit motions, calling the GA a chance to shape the union's operations and advocate for change. Despite this, not a single motion was proposed by students.
Low attendance and engagement with student politics has been a consistent challenge in recent years for the MSU. But this year's lack of turnout has drawn particular concern from student leaders. In an email statement, Jovan Popovic, the MSU president, expressed concern about the lack of students who directly participate in shaping the direction of the organization's future.
Low attendance and engagement with student politics has been a consistent challenge in recent years for the MSU. But this year's lack of turnout has drawn particular concern from student leaders.
"Despite considerable outreach efforts, which included social media, banners, printed materials and features in our monthly newsletter, we saw a disappointing turnout of only four students. This outcome is deeply concerning, especially when we consider the reach of our communication channels. For instance, our March newsletter alone was read by over 10,000 students. If just 10% of those readers had attended, we would have far surpassed quorum," stated Popovic.
Popovic emphasized the union's commitment to improving future engagement, including starting promotion earlier in the academic year and collaborating with student leaders across campus.
"Our goal is to empower students to understand how their involvement in the GA can drive real, meaningful change on campus and ensure that the MSU truly represents the diverse voices of our student body," he stated.
Our goal is to empower students to understand how their involvement in the GA can drive real, meaningful change on campus and ensure that the MSU truly represents the diverse voices of our student body.
Jovan Popovic
President, McMaster Students Union
Although this year's meeting was largely procedural, the MSU maintains that the GA remains a vital part of its democratic structure. Moving forward, the union hopes new strategies and broader student outreach will reverse the downward trend in turnout.
For now, the empty seats at this year's GA serve as a reminder of the gap between available student governance platforms and student participation in them.
In an interview with Vulture, comedian Chris Rock articulated a sentiment that has since been echoed by a number of comedians.
Rock noted that he no longer performs at colleges because the student population is “too conservative.” He went on to clarify that it’s our “willingness to not offend anyone” that takes the fun out of comedy.
In short, his point is that comedy is being stifled by political correctness.
There’s some merit to this. Comedy thrives in the moral grey area between what’s considered “okay” and “not okay.” Like all artists, comedians need artistic licence. They talk about this all the time -- it’s the need to be edgy.
But artistic licence isn’t a free pass to discriminate. Moreover, comedy doesn’t need to hinge on discrimination.
Being politically correct might kill a joke here or there, but what good is a joke when it comes unfairly at one party’s expense? Comedians complain about people being too sensitive, but sometimes, comedians are just being assholes, and they get called out on it.
Take John Cleese, best known for his role in the British comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus. In an interview with Bill Maher, Cleese griped about not being able to make jokes about Muslims. His reasoning: “they’ll kill you.”
To be fair, Cleese made the comment facetiously -- as a joke. But what’s the humour in that? What’s funny about propagating horribly untrue Islamophobic sentiments? What’s the humour in generalizing Muslims as radical fundamentalists? Is that worth a cheap laugh?
The problem for comedians isn’t political correctness. The problem is that comedy is really hard and being an asshole simply doesn’t cut it.
Instead of griping about the need to tiptoe around sensitive topics, comedians should look to the clever and hilarious ones among them -- like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert -- who are able to play within the boundaries of political correctness, while providing poignant and insightful commentary on politically sensitive topics.
Ultimately, if a joke flops, it’s a failure on the part of comedian. If people are taking offence to a joke instead of laughing along, then the joke isn’t funny. And if the only way you can deliver is by discriminating, or being divisive, that’s on the comedians themselves, not political correctness.
