Embracing mad and neurodiversity to celebrate uniqueness
By: Elisa Do, Yvonne Syed and River Valade, Contributors
*DISCLAIMER: ‘Mad’ and ‘madness’ are reclaimed terms by the mad/mentally ill community. These terms were used to oppress them in the past and, just like with any reclaimed slur or term, are not necessarily labels that non-mad individuals should be using freely.*
People often throw around words without thinking twice. Phrases such as “the weather is so bipolar” or “I am so OCD” have become more or less normalized in our society today. But just as we should be mindful of our actions, we should also be mindful of how these particular terms can influence mad and neurodivergent students. Madness has been traditionally defined as a state of mental illness, and neurodivergent is a term used to describe folks with what most people refer to as atypical neurological development.
First coined in the late 1990s by Judy Singer, the term neurodivergent was originally used to describe conditions related to autism. Today, neurodivergence includes many different types of disorders, including autism, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. Madness and neurodivergence are terms that are often used together, as there is overlap between the conditions that fall under either label.
However, this overlap cannot be generalized across all folks. Unfortunately, because madness and neurodivergence are often portrayed through a medical lens, the two terms are widely misunderstood. Specifically, at McMaster University, our community has failed time and time again to accurately translate mad and neurodivergent perspectives.
First and foremost, it is important that suffering and distress are not seen as inherent to madness and neurodivergence. The stereotypes and false notions that surround the idea of mad and neurodivergent individuals are often rooted in misinterpretation and ignorance of what it really means to live with these conditions. Madness and neurodivergence is more so a different way of thinking, rather than a state of being broken.
Mad and neurodivergent individuals shouldn’t be seen as though there is something wrong with them that needs to be fixed. In fact, there are individuals that identify as mad and/or neurodivergent with pride. For some of these individuals, their unique conditions are a part of their individuality and a result of the variation in how the human mind works.
Mad and neurodivergent individuals shouldn’t be seen as though there is something wrong with them that needs to be fixed. In fact, there are individuals that identify as mad and/or neurodivergent with pride. For some of these individuals, their unique conditions are a part of their individuality and a result of the variation in how the human mind works.
For instance, not all people with bipolar disorder constantly suffer as a result of their condition. While neurodiversity in and of itself involves diverse experiences, some individuals find the mania experienced with bipolar disorder to be thrilling and inspiring. People have described this state of being to make them feel more productive, more likely to take risks or take on challenges and full of life.
Similarly, sometimes individuals with ADHD are perceived as disorganized and unable to maintain their focus. For this reason, some individuals have shared their personal experiences regarding the inclination for professionals and support services to reach out to these individuals with the goal of “fixing” deficiencies. This can be in the form of pushing for the use of medications, for instance. However, some people with ADHD also experience something called “hyper focus” where they are able to completely zone in on something they are very interested in and are passionate about. Unlike the condition notes, some have reported that they can actually be even more attentive and productive in this state of being.
More well known mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression are widely emphasized and given awareness in society and on campus. Neurodivergent conditions like the ones mentioned previously are often misunderstood due to the lack of understanding surrounding them and the amount of stigma attached to them.
Furthermore, rather than pursue an institutional or community care-based response, such as providing more counsellors at the Student Wellness Centre, the university expects the onus to be on students themselves in addressing their mental health. This is evident through public awareness campaigns such as the “Feed Your Hippo” campaign in 2016, and the current revamped version of that campaign, known as “Ways to Wellness”.
A Silhouette article written by a mad/neurodivergent student in 2016 criticizes the university’s attempt to address mental health concerns among students through the “Feed Your Hippo” campaign.
“According to the campaign, making sure to feed your hippo in these five ways can contribute to improved learning skills and academic success as well as mental wellbeing. Yet despite the supposed importance of these activities, no resources were provided to help students actually self care better — all of the onus is on the student,” wrote the author.
Even in the revamped “Ways to Wellness” Campaign, there are similar themes of individual responsibility for mental wellbeing. If you are unable to do their suggestions, say due to the result of the symptoms of a mental illness, it makes it seem like students have to shoulder the responsibility for their mental illness and its impact on their academic performance and that the university plays no part in this. While staffing and resources for mental health has increased since 2016, it is still not enough to support students, especially mad and neurodivergent students that may need more regular appointments, for example.
Aside from placing individual onus on students for their mental wellbeing, there is no mention of madness or neurodivergence within the conversation of mental health at McMaster. Specifically, madness and neurodivergence are often missing from communications to students. This could give the impression that both of those things are something to be ashamed of and to be kept quiet, as opposed to celebrating neurological differences among students on campus.
Embracing our differences is fundamental to establishing a community of diverse abilities. When we label madness and neurodivergence as a state of crisis, instead of a unique state of mind, we limit those individuals from being able to freely express themselves. When McMaster frames the conversation surrounding mental health from commonly-known perspectives only, we are excluding the experiences of neurodivergent folks. When people choose to throw around the words “bipolar” or “OCD” without consideration for how they leave an impact, our community takes a step back on building a safe and inclusive learning environment.
Mental health is a topic applicable to every single one of us. However, it also applies to each and every one of us in a different way. For McMaster to truly embrace the idea of mental health, we should also remember to involve student perspectives beyond those of the typical norm, and in doing so, reach out to an even greater range of capabilities in our community.
This article will be updated throughout the year as McMaster University continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spring and Summer
After classes were cancelled for the remainder of the winter term in March, many students scrambled to adjust to the online completion of the courses they were midway through completing.
While this was a bumpy transition given the unexpected turn of events, some students thought many instructors did a good job adjusting to the new remote format and the new technologies that came with the move. With new software such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to replace classes and office hours, professors had to figure out ways to continue delivering their courses under these new conditions.
“Even though it was a bit tricky, it's actually a pretty good platform for having virtual classes or even online classes. And since class sizes are really small right now...the environment is pretty good,” said Reza Khorvash, an honours life sciences student going into his fourth year.
“There's still some uncertainties about, well, some tricky parts of using it.”
Taking two spring courses online, Khorvash acknowledged that the class experience would have been different if instructional content didn’t have to be given remotely. Overall, he was satisfied with how it was all handled.
“It's actually pretty good that they made this adjustment [of shifting classes from in-person to online] in a very short period of time from like March to May. . . I think they have done a pretty good job”, Khorvash said.
So far, it has been announced that this form of online instruction will continue through the fall with classes for the entire semester taking place online and few students having access to campus. Only some students, including those who need to take “a limited number of health care professional courses”, will be required to be occasionally present on campus for their coursework if absolutely necessary.
Other Universities
McMaster joined many universities across Canada that shared similar plans for the fall semester, consisting of predominantly online classes. Some institutions are discussing different ways of offering various options that allow for a blended format, such as smaller in-person learning experiences to support online components.
While the move to online courses is not ideal for any program, this is especially a concern for programs that require access to special equipment or resources — among other associated concerns with online learning. How a blended system of courses could be implemented while adhering to provincial social distancing and health guidelines remains to be seen.
Many universities are planning on some sort of gradual return to campus that falls in line with the provincial government’s COVID guidelines.
Buildings and Access to Campus
As much of McMaster’s staff is encouraged to work from home, many of the buildings remain inaccessible. However, since their initial closing, McMaster has gradually allowed researchers access to on-campus labs, if required, with current plans to allow more access for other members of the McMaster community such as faculty. As of June 12, McMaster has begun allowing faculty to return in phases.
As of July 14, McMaster will also require face coverings to be worn in “all indoor public spaces”, including elevators, classrooms, washrooms and other common areas. They also have disposable masks available on weekdays at the COMPASS desk in the Student Centre and the lobby of John Hodgins Engineering Building.
Tuition and Fees
Despite the move online, McMaster has not lowered tuition costs for the Fall semester. While there are concerns about the tuition costs remaining the same, the university contends that the associated expenses of online learning — staff wages, technology, academic advising, etc. — will keep the cost for the university the same. Other supplementary fees may be dropped if a service’s availability will be affected by these changes, according to McMaster.
While McMaster is making efforts to allocate tuition to other online avenues, the news of unchanged tuition costs in the face of a drastically different term has not been well-received by many students, as evidenced by reactions on social media.
https://www.facebook.com/spottedat.mac/posts/1981807478621913
Eesha Rehman, an incoming first-year life sciences student, was unsure about McMaster’s explanation of the situation.
“I did think it was a little bit strange just because, you know...when you first you look at what tuition actually go towards — we don't have access to the campus or the library or any of these sorts of things, and we don't, at least for science students, most of us don't get to go on campus and do our labs and all that kind of thing,” said Rehman. “However, I do know that money gets redirected to creating the online experience itself. So I think there's a little bit of clarity to be had with how the university speaks to you know, 'Oh, this is where the money is going, where we're building this online thing' and it makes more sense that, you know, our money is going into that rather than just it being something like a Zoom call for a lecture.”
Incoming first-year students will definitely have a tough adjustment to a new academic environment, as many had to experience their last high school semester in online learning environments they had to adjust to suddenly. In addition to concerns over this adjustment and the obstacles that come with online learning (staying disciplined, engaging with the class, etc.), this group of first-year students’ introduction to university will be one that is unlike any traditional university experience many pictured when they applied.
”I mean it was sort of [like] being stuck between a rock and a hard place where we were missing out on these big high school things that usually happen [over] the final months of senior year: you have prom, you have convocation…. We missed out on that, unfortunately, and we're missing out on a lot of, like, the big things about first-year,” said Rehman. “People talk about welcome week and all these sort of fun experiences where you get to meet the other people in your program and in the school, and as first-year students get to explore the campus. So while I'm missing out, I think that, you know, it is what it is and it is something that's unavoidable.”
While it will definitely not be the same as previous years, McMaster plans on holding their Welcome Week orientation virtually, with other resources planned to help support new students in their acclimating to university academic life. The university has also created the Archway program that groups approximately 35 first-year students with an upper-year mentor. The goal of this program is to foster a sense community between the first-years, similar to what they likely would have gotten in-person.
While it will definitely not be the same as previous years, McMaster plans on holding their Welcome Week orientation virtually, with other resources planned to help support new students in their acclimating to university academic life. The university has also created the Archway program that groups approximately 35 first-year students with an upper-year mentor. The goal of this program is to foster a sense community between the first-years, similar to what they likely would have gotten in-person.
“I think that McMaster has done a pretty good job of sort of making the best of a bad situation with creating Archway and helping students to be like, 'hey, just because you're stuck at home doesn't mean you have to miss out and it doesn't mean that you're not going to be part of university life',” Rehman added. “That being said, I think the biggest concern for me and a lot of my friends and other students is the social aspect of things where you don't get to meet people in the same way. In some ways it is harder to take initiative to, you know, press the DM button and be like, 'hi, I noticed you're in the same program or you're another first-year student, do you want to get to know each other? Do you want to be friends?'”
In a video posted on the MSU’s social media accounts, Vice-President (Finance) Jessica Anderson provided an update on how the McMaster Students Union is in talks on how to reduce student costs for the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year.
Anderson stated that the MSU operating fee, which is used to fund clubs, services, governance and advocacy of the MSU, has been cut by 10%. She also said that due to COVID-19 and the Hamilton Street Railway temporarily pausing fare collection, students will be reimbursed for the months of April to June 2020. The bus pass will also be put on hold for the Fall 2020 term; however, a price was not stated for how much this fee would be for the winter.
While bus passes will be cancelled for the fall, Anderson said that the MSU is advocating for heavily discounted student fares for the time being. As of current, transportation passes are deemed mandatory fees by the provincial government for students to pay into as a part of the Student Choice Initiative.
SCI was implemented at the start of the 2019-2020 academic term allowing students to opt-out of fees deemed non-essential by the Provincial government; however, this recieved backlash by students who called for the initiative to be removed.
In November 2019, the Divisional Court of Ontario struck down SCI. At current, there is no word as to how the ramifications of this decision will play out on the upcoming academic term and if SCI will be in effect or not.
“In addition to the reduction of the MSU fee, we have asked the university to reduce any fee for services that are unavailable to students in the fall semester”, said Anderson.
All incoming first-year students are required to pay a mandatory fee that is used to fund welcome week activities; however, as this has been moved online, this fee will be cut by 19%.
Anderson is confident that each full-time undergraduate student will save over $110 in the fall term, although if the Student Choice Initiative still stands for the upcoming academic year, this number could be more depending on what students choose to opt-in to.
Extracurriculars
Extracurricular activities will also have to adjust along with academics, finding new ways to not only operate, but to attract incoming students and students still looking to get involved or expand their social circles — an even more challenging prospect due to health concerns and social distancing guidelines.
“We're kind of like planning to have some sort of information and maybe online events, because we have to help new students to get involved in clubs. I think they're really important for students,” said Khorvash, who is president of the McMaster MCAT Prep Club.
Absolute Pitch, a show choir at McMaster that focuses on being a space for people who love to perform music, rehearses weekly throughout the year, where their executive team teaches its cast choreography and vocal routines in preparation for a final show. Due to COVID-19, the club’s final showcase performance in March 2020 was cancelled due to social distancing regulations.
Currently, the club is trying to figure out how to address the pandemic, but still maintain a routine similar to what would have been in person. President Areeba Sharafuddin noted that it is difficult to rehearse choreography and vocals via a virtual platform such as Zoom, due to lag.
“Choral music is not ideally rehearsed through Zoom calls, so the Productions team, specifically our Vocal Directors, are trying hard to come up with alternative and more independent rehearsal techniques for the wide variety of musical skill levels in our cast. None of them are ideal, but given the unprecedented circumstances, we’ve all had to adjust accordingly,” said Sharafuddin.
The volume 91 Managing Editor of the Silhouette, Andrew Mrozowski, is also the co-Editor-in-Chief of the McMaster Undergraduate Journal of Law and Politics. While he does not anticipate any problems on the production side due to the seamless integration of posting a journal online through a platform such as Issuu, there have been some problems with engaging students to apply to the executive team.
“I think it’s really hit or miss with a lot of clubs and their online community engagement. Especially now more than ever when we don’t have ways to engage students face-to-face, if you don’t have a large following, how can you showcase what your club does? We’ve been lucky enough to have other clubs and student associations share things with their following, but I fear that this will be an ongoing issue and likely something that will have to be addressed at the MSU level given the access to resources that we simply do not have,” said Mrozowski.
MSU ClubsFest usually takes place at the start of the school year in Burke Science Building Field on campus. Currently, the MSU has advised club presidents that this will take place as a virtual social media campaign that will extend throughout the month of September. While this will bring awareness to the approximately 350 clubs on campus, there are many concerns that have yet to be addressed.
“Much of our ‘recruitment’ of new members relies on in-person interactions during ClubsFest, where we are able to build one-on-one connections with students to get them excited about the club and auditions . . . [the social media campaign] makes it difficult for us to have those one-on-one conversations with interested students because there is less room to relay all the important and/or specific information(s) about the club,” said Sharafuddin.
Sports at Mac will have to undergo a massive adjustment as U Sports, Canada’s governing body for university sports, officially cancelled all of their championships for Fall sports. Ontario University Athletics subsequently cancelled “all OUA-sanctioned sport programming and championships” until Dec. 31, 2020. That puts many athletic teams and their players in limbo, especially for teams that begin their season in the fall but conclude in the winter. Other sports not under the OUA’s purview, such as cheerleading, are currently assessing their plans for the year ahead.
Despite the many challenges ahead for both new and returning university students, and the traditional university experience likely looking drastically different, enrollment numbers do not seem to be affected by the pandemic. With a large number of students still expected to look to their institutions for answers, there is still a lot of uncertainty as we rapidly approach a new school year.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
On June 2, Black Lives Matter — Toronto posted a livestream series on Twitter of students protesting the “violence that Black and racialized Indigenous students face” on McMaster University’s campus.
“McMaster also silences students when we protest, we get ignored and we get ticketed for speaking against basic injustices that happen here on campus,” a student on the livestream stated.
At the end of the livestream, they call for McMaster to remove the presence of special constables from campus and to cut ties with Hamilton Police Services and to immediately terminate Glenn De Caire’s contract — the former Police Chief for the Hamilton Police Services who has been employed as the Director of Security and Parking Services at McMaster since 2016.
Background:
Much debate and controversy over De Caire’s tenure as police chief came to light while in the role. In 2010, De Caire introduced the Addressing Crime Trends In Our Neighbourhood team, five high-profile groups of officers tasked with lowering crime in the downtown-core. These officers were the only ones who conducted “street checks,” a practice also known as carding.
However, in June 2015, seven members of the ACTION team were arrested, with five members being charged after it was alleged they falsified tickets. The provincial government cut ACTION’s funding in half and sparked the government to enact regulations to stop carding within all police services across Ontario.
In response, De Caire sent a letter to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services outlining his worries that Hamilton could be at risk if carding practices ceased, citing “officer discretion” as being paramount to “stop, investigate, identify and record information of individuals in the appropriate circumstances.”
“Information must be gathered before it can be analyzed and interpreted . . . [t]he result of reduced officer-community engagement can lead to increase, crime, violence, injury and death” stated De Caire.
In a response to De Caire’s letter, Ruth Goba, Interim Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission classified the police chief’’s position on carding and street checks as a “textbook description of racial profiling”.
“Racial profiling in street checks has a corrosive effect on Black and other racialized communities. As the OHRC has said repeatedly — it must be stopped,” stated Goba.
Around the same time, De Caire forwarded an email to all police members that included an anonymous note commending the HPS for their work on a case involving a Black teenager being killed downtown.
“I also wanted to say that I believe it is time for these Black kids to stop blaming the police for the problems and take responsibility for the actions of the youth,” read the anonymous note.
Included on the bottom, De Caire hand wrote: “All of our officers that responded to the recent homicide did a great job. Keep up the good work.”
In an interview with the Hamilton Spectator, then-city councilor Matthew Green, Hamilton’s first Black councilor, expressed his concern over the email. “Does the Chief not understand how that . . . might create a culture of us-versus-them when it comes to community relationships?” said Green.
City Councilor Terry Whitehead, a member of the police services board, also shared his concerns with the Spec. “When you look at that line it looks like an endorsement that the Black community is blaming the police for all their issues . . . I think that’s a dangerous ground to walk on,” said Whitehead.
In late 2015, De Caire was initially set to continue his role as police chief when the Hamilton Police Services board unanimously voted to extend his contract by an additional two years. A month later, De Caire announced that he would be retiring from his position, a move that puzzled the board as well as the mayor.
“McMaster has offered me an opportunity to contribute to their organization over a long term, and my opportunity here with the Hamilton Police Service has been limited by the contract term,” said De Caire during a press conference.
Calling for accountability:
The June 2 protest at McMaster parallels the worldwide public outcry following the deaths of several Black people at the hands of police officers, notably the murder of George Floyd, who died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd’s death is one of several publicized deaths of Black people in the United States (including Breonna Taylor, Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells and Riah Milton) that sparked protests in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement internationally. In Canada, the deaths of Regis Korchinski-Paquet and D’Andre Campbell, among others, have also led to public demands for justice and accountability from police departments.
As a result, there have been many protests and riots against police brutality against Black people internationally. On a local level, students have been calling McMaster to address the racism that occurs at the university, as shown by tweets and comments by Mac students and alumni.
Oh cause I thought a school that hired a racist ex police chief as head of security said something https://t.co/LwEHixziXo
— 🌻 (@ItsIeshaa) June 1, 2020
https://twitter.com/dah0nggou/status/1268285560835264522?s=20
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBWXVN6jN9y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
One group that has been advocating for De Caire’s removal is De Caire Off Campus. The group was established by Black women studying at McMaster when De Caire was hired in 2016 and exists to advocate for the removal of police on campus. Although the surge of support has benefited this group, they want to ensure that this movement against police is sustainable.
“This isn't a temporary outrage. It has been present for decades and will continue to exist as long as police are on our campus,” said De Caire Off Campus in an interview with the Silhouette.
Among demands for De Caire to be removed by McMaster, the McMaster Students Union has also taken heat.
“The MSU can and should keep to their abandoned commitments — that is, to do the work necessary to remove De Caire and special constables from campus,” the group said.
In March 2016, the Student Representative Assembly passed a motion to call on the university to remove Glenn De Caire as the director of security and parking services and a call to end the university’s campaign of increasing police presence on campus. However, the execution of the SRA’s call to remove De Caire and special constables off campus remains to be seen.
On behalf of the board of directors, MSU president Giancarlo Da-Ré assured that the concerns regarding De Caire have been heard “strong and clear.”
On June 14, Da-Ré moved a motion to call on faculty offices to permanently terminate all ties to the Hamilton Police Services, Halton Police Services, and any other police service. This includes internships and training or co-op placements that involve police services. In addition, an amendment was made to the motion where the MSU will consult any relevant groups or stakeholders that hire private security firms in replacement of campus constables.
Both the motion and the amendment were passed during the meeting. This motion will be binding for the 2020/2021 SRA term.
Da-Ré also mentioned that the vice president (administrative) team is developing “Equitable Hiring Best Practices & Guidelines” in order to address the underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour within the MSU.
“These practices will include changes to application processes, hiring committees and promotional strategies, and be created upon consultation with [the Equity & Inclusion Office], [President’s Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community], the [Student Success Centre]’s Diversity Employment Coordinator and various other stakeholders,” Da-Ré explained.
The Silhouette asked McMaster University about the growing concerns students had and while providing a statement, did not directly address the concerns about De Caire.
“Equity, diversity and inclusion are critical to the university. McMaster denounces anti-Black racism and violence and supports the ideals expressed by the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Wade Hemsworth, the Manager of Media Relations for McMaster University.
Hemsworth outlined ways in which McMaster was addressing anti-Black racism and violence, such as a PACBIC and the EIO hosting a virtual check-in and conversation for Black students on June 11, the EIO hosting a virtual discussion called Let’s Talk About Race for BIPoC students, staff and faculty on June 18 and several statements made by McMaster.
What’s next:
Moving forward, De Caire Off Campus demands that McMaster “completely severs ties with Hamilton Police Services.”
“The removal of special constables cannot be followed with the hiring of private security or the enshrinement of surveillance against students,” the group said.
In addition, they demand that the budgets for special constables and security be released for transparency, to remove the university’s freedom of expression guidelines and that the MSU ensures that clubs are not forced to collaborate with security services.
As the 2020 fall term approaches, McMaster students continue to call for change on campus, holding the university and MSU accountable for their past actions and their next steps.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
Trying to chase your dreams in a system built to stop you is futile, and things need to change
cw: police brutality, white supremacy, anti-Black racism
My university was one of the last to close in March due to COVID-19. I went home and revisited the quiet, passive-aggressive racism prevalent in Ottawa. Yet I feared for my black partner’s life where cops patrolled the streets, supposedly ensuring people are ‘safe’. The question is now: safe from what and safe from who?
A year ago, I faced fraud in my bank account. Instead of my bank backing me as a loyal, responsible customer, and the daughter of very loyal, giving customers, they took a look at my black face and assumed I was at fault. To be honest, I hadn’t realized that until my father pointed it out to me as I phoned him from the bank, frustrated from being bounced around and receiving no help.
A year ago, I lost all my money that I earned working seven-hour evening shifts with a maximum course load. I did all that with extracurriculars because I have to bolster my resume, since I often lack the white connections to get interviews, but also to help me when my black face shows up to the interview that is full of white and model minorities. Although a part of me knows I shouldn’t worry all night about my braids that I love and how it will come across in the interview, it’s my reality.
The bank froze all my accounts and used my chequing account to pay them back for the cost of the fraud. Then they referred me to collections to avoid a major credit pitfall, all before I had received my first credit card.
So, when a cop pulls over my partner for speeding, spends too many minutes back at his car, and I’m in the passenger seat fighting a panic attack; no one can tell me I’m being paranoid or have nothing to worry about because I have done nothing. I often do nothing wrong. I am often very impressive but not the ideal candidate. I am often forced to defend myself against the consequences of allegations before they are even proven, and even if they’re illogical.
So, when a cop pulls over my partner for speeding, spends too many minutes back at his car, and I’m in the passenger seat fighting a panic attack; no one can tell me I’m being paranoid or have nothing to worry about because I have done nothing. I often do nothing wrong. I am often very impressive but not the ideal candidate. I am often forced to defend myself against the consequences of allegations before they are even proven, and even if they’re illogical.
What I have just outlined to you is my day-to-day life navigating white supremacist and racist establishments, because they are everywhere. At my school, at my job and because I’m a student and experience shared living, sometimes at home. Sometimes my resilience scares me, because no one should have to endure this constant oppression, constant hunting, constant murders, constant suffocation. Yet we do.
George Floyd was a person. Interviews and quotes make it clear that he was loved because of how caring and helpful he was. Instead, many news outlets have focused on his athleticism, and how much he needed to improve as a father and in life. It’s like a newspaper memorial for a show dog.
C/O munshots on Unsplash
It is not a black-specific issue to be a less-than-perfect father. But to watch your father die on live television, lying under the weight of an officer’s knee to the back of his neck, is a black-specific issue. To then watch that video circulate seemingly everywhere, as if it was game being killed and not your parent, is a black-specific issue. White supremacists cause broken homes and then write laws and create systems to disadvantage people with and from broken homes.
The commodification of the dead black body is completely out of hand. They say one of the main reasons why these videos exist is for evidence, because the police establishment has hunted countless black lives without evidence, without consequences, and without remorse. According to the dictionary, the definition of the word ‘hunt’ is to pursue or search and then capture and kill. How do you go about reprimanding the authority figure?
Is it really about evidence? President Donald Trump has been charged with fraud and has received numerous accusations of sexual assault, yet he remains unpunished, still in office as the president of the United States. Where is the evidence that justified Floyd’s arrest, let alone that would justify his murder? If rules only apply to certain groups or people based on status, and powerful people can use these rules to control groups, then we are the sheep being kept ‘in order’, not human beings with their own minds and aspirations.
Thankfully, when I deposited the fraudulent cheque into my account, the police did not show up at the bank. The bank froze my accounts but they never alerted me. When I figured out something was wrong and called the bank, they specifically told me to go into a branch. I went in and stayed all by myself, considering the bank advertises fraud and scam protection and that I had done my due diligence when depositing the cheque.
I was initially hesitant to deposit the cheque when I first received it, so I went to the bank and was assured by the teller that everything would be fine. She advised me to deposit the cheque because the bank would put a hold on it, and would notify me once it was cleared. Yet once I noticed my account had been frozen and I went to the bank to resolve the situation, I was informed the hold system was automatic, meaning it automatically lifts after seven business days — whether or not the bank had actually cleared the cheque.
That was not what was communicated to me at any point. The bank instructed me to come into the branch to clear up the problem once I realized. Yet when I got there, the bank, who I was assured would notify me if the cheque was fraudulent, told me I had authorized the fraudulent cheque when I transferred money out of my account.
How would I have known if the police had been called, or if they showed up, how would I know if they were there for me? Floyd could have been me: moved to a new place for a new start, job, and/or school, and was a helping, gentle soul according to colleagues, customers, friends and family.
How would I have known if the police had been called, or if they showed up, how would I know if they were there for me? Floyd could have been me: moved to a new place for a new start, job, and/or school, and was a helping, gentle soul according to colleagues, customers, friends and family.
So, what are the grounds for Floyd’s arrest with its subsequent assault? An alleged forged cheque is not enough. What are the excuses for his murder? Because he was unarmed yet was pinned under an officer’s knee — which is not a part of police training. Some people are hung up on that point, but even trained, law-abiding officers murder people. They aren’t reprimanded because they are doing their jobs.
"They were supposed to be there to serve and to protect and I didn't see a single one of them lift a finger to do anything to help while he was begging for his life,” stated Tera Brown, Floyd's cousin, to CNN. “Not one of them tried to do anything to help him."
One of the biggest lies we have been sold, is that the police are there to protect us. They are actually hired to protect property and to protect the establishment. Furthermore, the white supremacist foundation of the police force encourages abuse of power and systemic oppression.
People always say if you don’t chase your dreams, someone will pay you to help them chase theirs. That’s what a job is. We sign up to help a person or establishment realize their dream. Except many establishments’ dreams are our nightmares. Yet, we are almost never given the choice not to aid and abet the white supremacist nightmare. It is inescapable because it is ingrained within and throughout our systems.
People always say if you don’t chase your dreams, someone will pay you to help them chase theirs. That’s what a job is. We sign up to help a person or establishment realize their dream. Except many establishments’ dreams are our nightmares. Yet, we are almost never given the choice not to aid and abet the white supremacist nightmare. It is inescapable because it is ingrained within and throughout our systems.
I am a student so I need to have a bank account or job to support my needs, yet I have to face racism at the bank, on campus grounds, in class, at office hours, at interviews, at work, from my boss, from customers, from my professors, from classmates, from colleagues — it goes on and on. Oftentimes, these people are simply doing their jobs.
It is not simply snarky remarks but laws, bylaws and guidelines allowing legal, racist actions against people. White supremacy is so thorough in delivering its racism that it decides legitimacy. Honestly, it decides how we live. Yet it serves a specific type of person – the rich, white, cis, heterosexual, able-bodied, male with a socially-acceptable level of mental health issues.
What is also insidious about the alignment between the North American police establishment, government and news is that we have become accustomed to feeling small, inactive, disempowered and incapable. However, history will show you that when the people have had enough and they collect and organize, the powers and establishments have to listen. Right now, they’re not really listening and we aren’t really waiting—we’re acting.
But I am not enforcing chaos or a new ruling class, because the other leech tactic of white supremacy is to divide and conquer. That’s why model minority groups can add to the harassment I face because they are rewarded with privilege for aiding oppression, although the system is hardly serving their needs either.
Instead minorities are morphing themselves to be whiter to better experience the system. The issue with that is you cannot change the colour of your skin. So, you still face racism, no matter what you do. It was never about merit or actions; it was simply about power.
Clearly, the system is not working, and it’s beyond the point where the issue is simply a miscommunication because white supremacy is so deeply rooted within the system. We have tried to fit in and move through the system, but it is debilitating mentally, emotionally and too often physically. Instead of wasting our energy on existing by their rules, it’s time we have a say in what the rules are by rewriting them. This time, everyone needs to have a say. But that is only possible if we understand all the ways the system fails us and the ways in which we fail each other as groups, as leaders, as establishments of people; and rewriting the rules without ego but instead to resolve those failings.
C/O TVBEATS on Unsplash
That statement to involve everyone may seem ‘crazy’ to you, but that’s because that’s been sold to you as 'crazy' countless times before. When in reality, what that easily looks like is using whatever power you have in your position to seek out and hear others’ experiences, then doing whatever you can to change the system. This can look like bringing concerns to the right people or organizing to change processes yourself. Your privilege allows you a voice and a say, giving you the power to inform policy, law and change. Use it.
It is not as simple as waiting for the space, surveys or calls for opinions. It is also about bugging people in positions of authority to listen and act and helping those already doing the work. It’s about never shutting up, and never settling, and that is much easier with everyone involved fighting for everyone’s issues. Until now, it has mostly been black queer women doing all the work. They are exhausted, I am exhausted, everyone needs to act.
Doing nothing is no longer acceptable. However, reposting on social media is classified as hardly doing anything, because it lacks your personal tone and influence. Even that is not enough because you assume that the white supremacist algorithm will circulate your posts, pictures and stories, when you could use the platform to directly connect with people instead — especially those willing to act and organize. It’s about having conversations and not assuming that people are on the same page or fighting the same fight.
It’s also about avoiding the assumption that you lack power or everyone you know lacks power, when each of us are privileged in one way or another. There are many ways in which you are seen as more ideal than someone else. It’s time to wake up and be resourceful to educate yourself and others, to connect, organize, influence, act and cause change. It is not about being passive. It is about acting. Who do you know? What can you say? What can you do?
Figure out actionable steps for today, tomorrow, next week, next month and year, and DO them. This is going to be a long fight. Take your breaks, but exhaustion is not an excuse to stop fighting, especially if you are just now becoming exhausted. The hunt will continue, people will keep dying, and white supremacists and their lies will keep circulating.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
This article has been edited as of Feb. 27, 2020
A previously published version of this article stated that Giroux phoned his daughter to ask about Casablancas. This has been corrected to state that he asked his son.
This article is part one of a two part series. Read part two here.
The latter half of the 2010 decade brought with it the rise of various right-winged movements throughout the world. Henry Giroux, a McMaster professor in the department of English and cultural studies, felt a sense of urgency; that the public needed to be educated in order to advance our democracy and combat the right side of politics. We recently had the chance to catch up with Giroux after he published his newest book, The Terror of the Unforeseen, which includes a forward by Julian Casablancas, lead singer of The Strokes.
INTRODUCTION TO CASABLANCAS:
In 2016, Giroux received a phone call from an agent asking if he knew who Julian Casablancas was, to which he responded, “No, I don’t”. He then phoned his son to ask who the mysterious rock star was.
Casablancas brought a film crew to Giroux’s Hamilton home and interviewed the professor about his work. This was the start of the duo’s friendship. Giroux then asked Casablancas if he wanted to write a forward in The Terror of the Unforeseen to open up his narrative to a much-wider audience.
After the forward was written, Casablancas interviewed Giroux in front of a live audience at a McMaster Library event at The Westdale Theatre (1014 King St. W.) on Oct. 24, 2019. The event was entitled “The Looming Threat of Fascist Politics”.
EARLY YEARS:
Giroux was born in Providence, Rhode Island, living in a working-class neighbourhood. He obtained a basketball scholarship from the University of Southern Maine and graduated from the university to become a high school teacher. He received a scholarship to complete his schooling at Carnegie-Mellon University, graduating with a PhD in 1977.
After becoming a professor at Boston University, Giroux began researching what education looks like at universities; what does it mean to get a university education?
In 1981, Giroux’s research inspired his second book, Theory and Resistance in Education: a Pedagogy for the Opposition. In Theory and Resistance, he defends that education has become a privatized endeavour that does not prioritizes the public’s best interests, including the interests of students. This privatization has become apparent through the promotion of maths and sciences, and the undermining of social and behavioural teachings. Giroux concludes that universities are no longer producing public intellectuals, people who think and reason critically, with the absence of humanities and social sciences.
When Giroux went up for tenure at Boston University, everyone but the president of the University wanted to give him the teaching position.
“[The president] was the east coast equivalent of Ronald Reagan, and a really ruthless guy.. he was denying tenure to everybody on the left [side of the political spectrum],” said Giroux.
Giroux moved to Miami University where he started the first cultural studies centre in the United States. He was then offered an endowed chair at Pennsylvania State University. When the opportunity came to apply to McMaster University, Giroux leapt at the offer and was hired in 2004.
THE TERROR OF THE UNFORESEEN:
Casablancas joined Giroux’s project because he saw the value in Giroux’s ideology.
“The idea for the book came out of a certain sense of incredible urgency . . . motivated by the election of Donald Trump and the rise of right-winged movements throughout the world,” said Giroux.
The author coined the term “neoliberal fascism”: a cross between racist ideology and a ruling financial elite class that disregards lower classes. This term is the basis of Giroux’s book, which describes how neoliberal fascism affects universities and media, along with how it has contributed to the creation of alt-right culture.
“I tried to take seriously the notion that politics follows culture, meaning that, you can’t really talk about politics unless you talk about the way in which people are experiencing their everyday lives and the problems that confront them,” said Giroux.
He believes that fascism never goes away, that it will always manifest itself in some context. Giroux used the U.S. as an example. The wealth and power held by the governing financial elite has created a state that does not care about the inequalities faced by most of its citizens.
Giroux links the above issues to the war on youth that much of his work has focused on, with the belief that youth are a long-term investment that are being written out of democracy.
CAMPUS POLITICS:
Giroux sees elements of youth being written out of democracy on our own campus. He also recognized that neoliberal ideology could have been a contributing cause to the province’s financial cuts to universities.
“The [ideal] model for education is now patterned after a business culture and with that, it seems to me, comes with an enormous set of dangers and anxieties,” stated Giroux.
According to Giroux, universities used to operate as public good; however, this is no longer their priority. Instead, universities are constantly worried about their bottom line, due in part to neoliberalism. This is especially evident in the elimination of or lack of funding for programs and courses that bring in less money for universities. Giroux cites the example of liberal arts education, which he believes is vital for every student to obtain. He believes this field teaches students a general understanding of our interactions with the world and how to become a socially responsible citizen; however, Giroux believes that liberal arts are being neglected in favour of teaching science and math.
While he understands that universities run deficits, this need to meet the bottom line can open the door for them to become influenced to opt-in to privatization and corporate influence. Giroux believes the only type of influence major corporations should have on campus are in the forms of sponsorships to allow the university to carry out its business as students are neither clients nor products.
“We have an obligation as educators, not to prepare students for just the work, but to prepare them for the world and what it means.”
When asked about the Ford government’s stance on OSAP cuts, Giroux believes that the government has a limited notion of investment, likely stemming from neoliberalist ideals.
“You don’t invest in students, for them to return profits . . . you invest in students and do everything you can to make sure that they can distinguish between meaningful work and meaningless work; that they can have some vision of the future that’s rooted in democratic values, that has some sense of compassion for what it means to live in a world in which we’re completely interdependent.
The Terror of the Unforeseen is the 71st book by Henry Giroux.
“I write because I believe that writing matters, I believe that elevating ideas into the public realm may help change the way people view the world,” said Giroux.
Stay tuned for part two of this series featuring our interview with Julian Casablancas.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
By Sarun Balaranjan and Henry Challen, Contributors
CW: Sexual violence
If you have spent any time on Mac Confessions, Youtube, or any other college-focused media, it is impossible to miss the prevailing issue surrounding consent and the way we conceptualize sexual relationships in a university setting. Whether it be a frat party, a first date, or a meal at one of McMaster University’s fine dining institutions, the question of consent remains a topic of the utmost concern. While student-to-student relationships are culturally accepted, faculty-student relationships are generally frowned upon. However, there remains a grey area when it comes to relationships between teaching assistants and students. Ask anyone, and someone will know someone who has engaged in sexual acts with their TA. As both students and adults, we need to think more critically about how consent manifests within undergraduate-TA relationships.
We could recount examples of TAs making sexual advances on their students, but that is not the purpose of this article. Instigating a campus-wide persecution of TAs is not our goal, but rather to think critically about consent and potentially change the current practices surrounding TA-student relationships. Currently, students are theoretically allowed to engage in sexual relationships with their TAs, so long as the department head is notified, a conflict of interest is declared and all marking of that students work is transferred. However, it is pertinent to note that the conflict of interest policy has not been updated since 2001. There have been immense differences in how we conceptualize consent between 2001 and 2020 and it is atrocious that the policies have not been updated since then.
Left unchecked, the current power structures produce a wide range of results for students. While many TAs are respectful of their students and their roles as educators, this is not always the case. When relationships do occur, they often place the students in the awkward position of interacting with their TAs in two very different contexts. Even if a student wants to partake in sexual relations with their TA, it is difficult to extract this sexual relationship from the power structures of their academic lives.
When relationships do occur, they often place the students in the awkward position of interacting with their TAs in two very different contexts. Even if a student wants to partake in sexual relations with their TA, it is difficult to extract this sexual relationship from the power structures of their academic lives.
This calls for a serious revision of the policies in place surrounding the training and orientation of McMaster’s teaching assistants. It is asinine that Welcome Week representatives are trained for hours regarding sexual sensitivity orientation for merely ten days of interaction with students while TAs are not held to the same standards. It is clear that TAs are placed in a position of more power than a Welcome Week rep and spend significantly larger quantities of time interacting socially with students. At the bare minimum, TAs should be subject to the same training as Welcome Week reps. There is an appalling lack of accountability being placed on TAs by university administration and the faculty that hires them.
As we as a culture think more critically about consent, it is necessary that we apply this understanding to all relationships, especially those with potential power imbalances. It is ludicrous to think that this is an issue that can be dealt with at the discretion of the TA, who simply has to sign off on some forms. This is not only insufficient, but also contributes to creating a dangerous precedent for consent within the McMaster community.
We are not calling for a ban on consensual relationships between adults. However, to create a culture of consent on campus, a deeper awareness of the nuance surrounding consent should be incorporated into the TA employment contract. In addition, there should be a more robust training process to ensure that TAs are aware of the responsibilities that come alongside their position of authority.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
On Dec. 5, 2019, a video titled “Cockroaches at Centro (McMaster University)” was uploaded to YouTube. The video compiles several sightings of cockroaches at Centro cafeteria.
“McMaster University must decide when to address these issues and stop pretending that they don’t exist, like they have been for the last couple years. Just because health inspections are passed does not mean the facility is clean,” reads the description of the video.
On Dec. 9, 2019 another video, titled “More cockroaches at centro” was uploaded to Youtube. It shows a cockroach sitting on the metal lid of a grill while food was being prepared.
“Some people were questioning whether the pictures were not from Centro . . . As you can clearly see there is a cockroach at Centre Stage, one of the most popular locations within Centro itself. It doesn’t take that much imagination to foresee a scenario where a cockroach could fall into your food,” reads the description of the video.
More recently, additional sightings of cockroaches at La Piazza cafeteria were posted to Mac Confessions, one of McMaster’s student confessions Facebook pages.
On Feb. 4, 2020 Mac Confessions published a video titled “The cockroaches from La Piazza would like to say hello” that shows a cockroach sitting on a napkin near baked items at La Piazza.
https://www.facebook.com/spottedat.mac/videos/1726495940814335/
Director of McMaster Hospitality Services Chris Roberts cautions students against students accepting online posts as fact.
“We cannot control the posting of comments or photos on social media sites, whether they are actual or fictitious,” states Roberts in an email to the Silhouette.
Roberts explains McMaster Hospitality Services has a transparent relationship with the City of Hamilton health department.
“As soon as [student complaints were] brought to our attention, we notified the [City of Hamilton] health department in early December and asked them to come and inspect our locations and review our pest control plan. They determined that we had an aggressive pest control plan and no food safety/cleanliness issues were identified,” stated Roberts in the email.
“As soon as [student complaints were] brought to our attention, we notified the [City of Hamilton] health department in early December and asked them to come and inspect our locations and review our pest control plan. They determined that we had an aggressive pest control plan and no food safety/cleanliness issues were identified,” stated Roberts in the email.
Moreover, Roberts explains that McMaster Hospitality Services has already met with Orkin Canada, McMaster University’s pest control provider, to increase pest control efforts throughout the school year.
“As of December, we have increased our preventative maintenance service from once a month to twice a month and also now schedule ‘blasts’ of all public spaces during breaks when students are away (Christmas, Reading Week, Summer and Fall Break),” added Roberts.
According to Roberts, pests are not always indicative of food safety issues.
“As McMaster has many older buildings on campus, pests are not an uncommon site [sic] regardless of the use of the building (academic, administration, facility services or food service)” stated Roberts.
Cockroaches on campus may have additional impacts on students. According to the World Health Organization, cockroaches may carry germs that spread disease. Additionally, according to Orkin Canada’s website, cockroaches are known to trigger allergic responses in approximately 12 per cent of individuals with no other allergies.
Roberts adds that McMaster Hospitality Services is continuing to work with the CIty of Hamilton’s health department and Orkin Canada.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
Casey Rogan and Matthew Milne, two level III commerce students at McMaster University, are collecting knit hockey socks and repurposing them into toques that they’ve been handing out to help vulnerable community members, particulary those facing challenges of homelessness, stay warm this winter. The duo has co-founded Toques from the Heart, a Hamilton-based non-profit organization that provides an opportunity for hockey players to donate hockey socks to give back to their local communities. According to Rogan, he and Milne came up with the idea on July 30, 2019, while both of them were enrolled in summer school.
“[Milne] had the initial idea when he was younger, and got the idea to ask his mom to change knit hockey socks into toques just as a fun little thing . . . and his mom actively sews so she did it for him, [so] we’ve had some of the toques for a while,” explains Rogan.
Upon further discussion, Rogan and Milne decided to start donating toques by directly handing them out in Hamilton and Toronto and selling others to raise money to support hockey programming for children. “As McMaster students in our third year of commerce, [we] really felt that we wanted to get the most of our university experience . . . [we] wanted to make things happen for us, and not just wait around to get out of university without having any experience,” said Rogan.
A hat made from a hockey sock. Photo C/O Toques from the Heart website.
Four months later, Toques from the Heart officially launched on Nov. 15, 2019, with the goal of collecting 200 knit hockey socks by the end of the year. In 2019, the organization reported that they were able to achieve more than triple their intended goal, receiving approximately 700 knit hockey socks. Each sock donated can be repurposed into two toques. Rogan explains that he was overwhelmed by the amount of support and feedback the program received from the community.
“In just under two months, we were able to pass our goal and collect 700 knit hockey socks through donations, [this can make] approximately 1400 toques . . . and have donated many of them [to the] Downtown Hamilton and Toronto areas,” said Rogan.
Toques from the Heart also sells repurposed toques to community members for $20 to raise money to support children’s hockey programming.
“We have enough money to cover [the] initial costs and all the funds coming in now are going towards this initiative [of supporting hockey programming]. In the future we would love to sponsor our own Toques from the Heart team and have kids who don’t have these opportunities to be able to play hockey,” explains Rogan.
Hats made from a hockey sock with patches with the Toques from the Heart logo. Photo C/O Toques from the Heart website.
By the end of 2020, Toques from the Heart has set a goal of raising $5000 and help 500 Canadians stay warm this winter by collecting 2000 knit hockey socks. The organization is also looking for potential sponsors, partnerships and opportunities to expand within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas.
By the end of 2020, Toques from the Heart has set a goal of raising $5000 and help 500 Canadians stay warm this winter by collecting 2000 knit hockey socks. The organization is also looking for potential sponsors, partnerships and opportunities to expand within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas.
“We are actively contracting Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and Canadian Tire. We’re [also] trying to get donations in local arenas and bigger arenas and work with these bigger companies to get the word out there and get exposed in the hockey community,” Rogan added.
According to Rogan, the organization has also given them the opportunity to engage with seniors in the Hamilton community.
“[On Jan. 26], we went out to two retirement homes, and held a [toque-making] session . . . folks helped to make some toques and in the coming weeks they will take on the production of the toques. They were all super excited about [us] coming and happy that they had a chance to give back to their own communities,” Rogan explained.
Rogan adds that Toques from the Heart is always looking for additional volunteers. More information about the organization can be found on their website.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
This article has been edited as of Feb. 11, 2019
A previously published version of this article misquoted Ikram Farah. The quote has since been updated.
Students are often at a standoff with the MSU president. A commonly held belief is that the President cannot get things done, while presidents themselves often feel that they are misunderstood by the student body. Looking back at former presidents, we can see the difficult realities of their jobs. However, each MSU president has many opportunities to enact change, and it is their responsibility to work within their limitations.
It’s hard to keep all the eggs in one basket
“When someone is running for president they are running on 12-15 platform points, but that is not your only priority, you are a CEO, you are a manager of the whole institution,” said Ikram Farah, former MSU president for the 2018-2019 school year.
Every MSU president has and will continue to struggle with balancing priorities. Consulting past presidents and critically examining a previous year’s struggles is meant to help incoming presidents plan for the year ahead. New president-elects are given the opportunity to do this during their training period under the current MSU president, which lasts from February to April of each year.
Even with this transition process, neither Marando, Farah nor Monaco-Barnes were prepared for how much time would be taken up by priorities unrelated to their platform points.
“I didn’t realize how much of my time would be taken up with chairing various meetings, SRA, clubs, committees, events, and other things that you don’t really see the president do until you are in the role yourself,” said Marando.
During the transition period, outgoing presidents still have their own responsibilities and incoming presidents have their academics. It is unclear exactly how many hours are spent orienting.
“[After March] you’re out, and the new person’s in, and it’s up to them and their team to carry on their objectives but also carry on ongoing projects to full term,” said Justin Monaco-Barnes, former MSU president for the 2016-2017 school year.
Limitations of the transition period may negatively impact a president’s future ability to establish continuity, balance priorities and prepare for unpredictability. Farah faced the impact of the Ontario Student Assistance Program cuts and the Student Choice Initiative. Responding to these events took up much of her team’s time.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” said Farah.
Continuity is key
Longevity, according to Monaco-Barnes, can be an issue with a one-year term. A president must continue previous presidents’ work while attending to their own platform points and responsibilities. Marando, Farah and Monaco-Barnes highlighted the added pressure that comes from students wanting tangible results.
“. . . A lot of people probably don’t know I sit on groups that improve the university IT plan, or work on mental health support in classrooms. People don’t see all the time and energy that goes into working with our full-time staff and supporting business operations of the MSU. I think that if there isn’t a big promotion of something, people think nothing is happening. In reality things may span over a years — such as our new student space expansion — requiring a lot more resources than one might think,” said Marando.
The student space expansion came from Monaco-Barnes’ platform, whose Pulse expansion plans eventually evolved to include a new student center, the Student Activity Building.
“And then here we are, two years later, and it’s being built which is pretty cool,” said Monaco-Barnes.
Monaco-Barnes took an unpaid leave of absence to run two student-wide referenda and help secure funding for the expansion plans. During the second referendum, Ryan McDonald, the VP (Finance) at the time, also took an unpaid leave.
While the Student Activity and Pulse expansion are underway, future MSU presidents must see them through. Not all projects will survive this process.
At the end of Monaco-Barnes’s term, plastic water bottles were replaced with boxed water in Union Market. Union Market reverted back to plastic water bottles the following year.
“I don’t know how you control that. You hope that the continuity pieces that remain in the MSU leadership wise, you hope they will continue your original messages and ideas, but once you’re gone you can’t really control those things,” added Monaco-Barnes.
If this is a known problem, incoming and outgoing presidents should prevent it from happening as much as possible. Starting from scratch, as Monaco-Barnes noted, is a waste of time.
Who do you want in the room?
As Farah said, it can be easy to forget the significant impact that an MSU President can have in advocating for students. Advocacy could result in change that students may not link back to MSU, as such changes happen over the long-term.
“We need people with ideas and strategic vision. That’s where the Pulse expansion or student activity building becomes impactful. But we don’t always need that large action. Advocating for policies that enhance student life are incredibly important too; however, policy takes time though,” said Farah.
A president will have several opportunities to advocate for students. But it is not easy to get the job done. Monaco-Barnes said that higher-ups can wait out a president that they disagree with. There is also an intimidation factor at play, as the MSU president will interact with older and more experienced counterparts.
“It’d be very easy for a president to go in and do a lacklustre job if they are not motivated,” said Monaco-Barnes.
MSU presidents will make mistakes and struggle with their jobs. Their role is difficult to fully appreciate from an outside perspective. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t point out their mistakes and challenge them to work around limitations. If we do not hold them accountable, then we may see less work being done. Is being MSU president hard? Yes. Does that mean that they cannot accomplish anything? Absolutely not.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
On the night of Jan. 30, 2020, Giancarlo Da-Ré was in the basement of Togo Salmon Hall with a few members of his core campaign team when he learned that he was the new president-elect of the McMaster Students Union. As per tradition, the news was delivered to him by the current MSU president Josh Marando via phone call.
The ranked voting system requires over 50 per cent of the votes to elect a candidate. With 4810 students voting and 666 students abstaining, the threshold this year sat at 2073 votes. Da-Ré received 2504 votes, 431 votes over this requirement and approximately 52 per cent of the total votes that were cast.
The 2020 elections also saw a new low for the voter turnout, with only 19.1 per cent of eligible McMaster students voting this year. This marked a sharp decline from last year, especially when compared to 2014 to 2017, when voter turnout did not once dip below 40 per cent. This downward trend began in 2018, when voter turnout dropped to 28.8 per cent, and continued to 2019, when it dropped even further to 26.8 per cent.
“I was disappointed to see that the voter turnout this year had dropped again. I think this was the product of a few different factors, one of which being the low number of candidates, which would contribute to overall promotion of the election across our community of voting members,” said Da-Ré.
“I was disappointed to see that the voter turnout this year had dropped again. I think this was the product of a few different factors, one of which being the low number of candidates, which would contribute to overall promotion of the election across our community of voting members,” said Da-Ré.
Since all candidates are given five business days to contest any results and to appeal any fines, Da-Ré’s new position is still unofficial. Nevertheless, he is continuing conversations related to his platform, which highlighted accessibility, climate action and student experience.
One critique of Da-Ré’s platform is that while he claims that it was informed by 100 consultations, there were several key groups that he had not contacted by the time the campaign period began. Now, Da-Ré asserts that he has set up consultations with Maccess and the Academic Sustainability Programs Office in order to work towards accessibility and sustainability.
He also voices his desire to consult with people whose perspectives might differ from his own.
“If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from the campaign period, it is that there are many groups on campus trying to tackle different parts of the same puzzle, and that there is a lot of work I have to do to better understand those different pieces,” he says.
“If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from the campaign period, it is that there are many groups on campus trying to tackle different parts of the same puzzle, and that there is a lot of work I have to do to better understand those different pieces,” he says.
While he does not elaborate on any specific details, Da-Ré states that his consultations have helped him understand how offices and departments within McMaster interact with each other. He states that he has gained a sense of the work that has been done recently in this community, and, by extension, an idea of the work that still needs to be done.
With this in mind, Da-Ré wants to remind students at McMaster that they are foundational to the university’s community.
“Students are incredibly passionate and hard-working, and while some changes won’t be seen overnight, they have more power than they think in influencing change within our community,” he says.
Regarding what his first plans would be when he takes office, Da-Ré says, “It’s hard to say what my first plans will be a few months from now, but I look forward to getting up to speed on current initiatives and projects so that I can hit the ground running in May.”
For now, Da-Ré looks forward to the election results becoming official and to starting the transition process with Josh Marando.
He welcomes anyone interested in consulting to send an email to giancarlodare2020@gmail.com.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
