Declining voter turnout has plagued Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) elections year in and year out. The past 2014 election was no exception. Humanities councillor Roy Sengupta has challenged the executive and fellow councillors to strike an ad-hoc committee to investigate why the electorate is becoming less engaged with the organization.
As an alumnus and former Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) councillor for CUSA, I can speak to where CUSA continues to falter regarding engagement amongst its members.
Despite previous attempts to re-engage the electorate, the lack of participation truly cannot be turned around. The organization continues to alienate and polarize its own constituents, despite its “best intentions” to represent them.
CUSA’s vision states that it wishes to “enrich the experience of undergraduate students with a positive educational, social and cultural environment while attending Carleton University.” However, the organization continues to initiate policies and practices that inarguably go against this statement.
In 2008, CUSA made international headlines when it decided to drop its longstanding support of the annual Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) Shinerama campaign. As per the original motion, it was argued that “all orientees and volunteers should feel like their fundraising efforts will serve their diverse communities; and whereas cystic fibrosis has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men.”
When this debacle happened, I was so incredibly embarrassed that my students’ association was fighting to ensure that the fundraising I was doing was only going to support an “inclusive” disease. Thankfully, after intense backlash from the global community, the motion was reversed and CUSA returned to supporting the CCFF and Shinerama.
Fast-forward five years and the organization has not changed. Former vice-president (student issues) Gina Parker raised a contentious motion about lifting a decade-long ban that prevented Canadian Blood Services (CBS) from using CUSA space. A previous policy from 2003 stated CBS was banned from CUSA spaces due to “homophobic/gender-exclusive screening policies.”
I find it troublesome that such a contentious motion was raised during the summer months when students are away from campus, thus not paying attention. Parker and her colleagues found it more beneficial to pass the motion quietly without engaging the undergraduate community in an open discussion.
I find it important to note that in my opinion, CUSA should not have even entertained the idea of a ban in the first place, given its controversial nature.
I can assure you that introducing and supporting either side of a contentious issue as an organization that is meant to enhance the university experience is only going to lead to polarization, dissatisfaction and, ultimately, a distancing between the members and their elected officials. I too had a similar disinterest and apathy towards CUSA during my four years at Carleton, even when sitting as an elected councillor.
I have no issue with sharing that CUSA played a huge role in detracting from my experience while attending Carleton. That being said, I would strongly encourage current and future CUSA executives and councillors to learn from the mistakes that their predecessors have made.
