UPDATED WITH VIDEO AND PHOTOS
Audio/visual slideshow of the protest: http://bit.ly/d6lNZD
Video of Sam Heaton being escorted out of the Tory Building by police: http://bit.ly/9rhsCJ
Photos from the sit-in: http://bit.ly/bsMYwT
The hallway outside the office of Carleton president Roseann Runte on the fifth floor of the Tory Building was the scene of a sit-in organized by student activists April 14, calling for a repeal of the Carleton administration’s decision to take charge of Frosh Week.
The rally began at 12:30 p.m., with more than 250 students sporting t-shirts designed for the event and colourful past frosh team jerseys.
“I’m not going to tell everyone that orientation week is perfect, because it isn’t. But we’re all here to improve,” incoming Carleton University Students' Association (CUSA) president Alex Sirois said as the rally began.
Runte sent an e-mail April 13 to students detailing the changes the administration wished to make to orientation week. In the message, Runte said the decision to take control was a result of the administration’s desire to take accountability for the week, and to offer a mix of academic, cultural and social activities to provide a more balanced transition to university life for incoming students.
“We are always looking for new ways to enrich the student experience at Carleton,” said Suzanne Blanchard, associate vice-president (student support services) in a university press release issued April 13.
“Our research tells us that students want a mix of activities that will help them feel more comfortable in their new classrooms, make friends and get familiar with the Carleton campus,” Blanchard said.
Runte refused to comment.
Nick Curtis, the head of sponsorship and advertising for orientation week, said the administration finalized the decision during a closed door meeting of the board of governors, at which the student representatives were not present.
Within hours of the decision being announced April 9, several Facebook groups against the decision had been founded and the event "CUSA/RRRA Frosh Week support rally: show admin we have strength in numbers” was created. The event called for students to come to the Tory Building with letters addressed to Runte.
“It’s important to recognize that this protest was not organized by any of us at CUSA or [Rideau River Residence Association]," Anthony said. "This protest was organized by facils who are upset about the situation.”
As the megaphone talks and speeches subsided, Runte appeared to personally collect students' letters as they marched to the sit-in in the hallway outside her office. Many walked by without a second glance, while other offered comments; some more strongly worded than others.
“All we’re asking for are answers,” said one student.
“This is just complete shit,” said another as she passed Runte.
The Carleton president smiled and offered small words with each student as they piled papers and envelopes into her arms.
As students arrived in the hallway, Runte’s office doors were locked and campus security was called. Some students even took to guarding the office’s adjacent stairwells so Runte could not leave without facing the protesters.
“[Director of student affairs] Ryan Flannagan and [director of university communications] Jason MacDonald lied to us," said fourth-year public affairs and policy management student Ian Kaufman as he sat guard at the back stairwell.
"We were not told about this during facil training," Kaufman said. "We signed up for a CUSA frosh, not an administration frosh.”
Within the hour, campus security attempted to clear students out of the stairwells as their mass presence constituted a fire hazard. As the crowd grew, vice-president (student services)-elect Sam Heaton was forcibly escorted out of the building in handcuffs by Ottawa police, only to be released once outside.
“They gave conflicting reports as to why they were arresting him, quoting fire bylaws and legal things,” Anthony said.
“It was just a scare tactic. If they were going to arrest all of us, they would have done so by now,” said fourth-year criminology student Lucas Fox.
As students waited for the administration to respond more Ottawa police officers arrived on the scene. At 2:00 p.m., it was announced if students exited the building and returned to the quad area, Runte would agree to a closed meeting with Sirois and RRRA president Chris Infantry.
As the ralliers moved to sit on the grass, classic Frosh Week chants and sing-alongs could be heard from the crowd as they waited for their student leaders to return.