The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) should not be wasting its time “condemning” Carleton student Arün Smith for tearing down a free speech wall. CUSA is an organization that represents the interests of all undergraduate students at Carleton, and should therefore support, not condemn, its members.
CUSA does not have the authority to pass judgement on its members, and their condemnation serves no real purpose except to publicly shame Smith. At Carleton, there is a university director of student affairs. If he deemed Smith had broken the student code of conduct, he would have conducted a hearing. That is his job. Why does CUSA think it’s theirs?
Perhaps CUSA feels that if they do not condemn Smith’s actions, they are condoning them. This is simply not the case, as you do not have to condemn something in order to prove that you are not condoning it. Just because they didn’t publicly shame Zane Colt for his actions on social media earlier this month does not mean CUSA is in favour of them.
There is a middle ground, and CUSA should take it in this case.
To top it all off, calling an emergency meeting on a Sunday to decide whether or not to condone Smith’s actions is a waste of time and resources. Regardless of the intention, there was no need for the condemnation, and CUSA should re-consider these actions in the future.
