An expo showcasing Carleton’s academics as part of the university’s 75th anniversary celebrations has been postponed.
Set to take place on Oct. 14 at Ottawa City Hall, the CU75 Community Connects: Community-Academic Expo would have featured guest speakers discussing different academic advancements made at Carleton.
A statement on the Expo webpage states that “Carleton University regrets to announce the postponement of the Community-Academic Expo due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Carleton’s interim president Alastair Summerlee said he made the decision to cancel the Expo event due to insufficient preparation.
“The CU75 Community-Academic Expo was cancelled because there wasn’t sufficient time for consultation and preparation of the Expo, and one of our principal speakers had to cancel at the last minute due to a family emergency,” Summerlee stated via email.
However, The Charlatan received a tip from an anonymous source who alleged that the Expo was cancelled due to backlash resulting from a lack of consultation with Indigenous groups on campus. The Centre for Indigenous Initiatives and the Mawandoseg Centre did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
Summerlee said that Indigeneity was one of the event’s four planned themes, and conceded that concerns had been voiced “that there was not enough follow through by staff and support provided for the development of the [Indigeneity] theme.”
Due to these concerns and “challenges with staffing issues in the continuity of the support provided to all four themes,” he said it was determined that it was “premature” to launch the Expo.
He added that there was a “relatively minor” cost in postponing the event that will be “recouped” when the Expo is rescheduled for “sometime in the winter.”
Summerlee said it is “unlikely” that the rescheduled event will be any different than originally planned.
Photo by Anthony Walsh
