RE: “article,” date, 2009
This letter is written in response to the article featured in last week’s Charlatan linking Vice President (Academic) Brandon Wallingford of the Carleton Academic Student Government with the petition circulating calling for a referendum to challenge Carleton’s CFS membership.
As President of the Carleton Academic Student Government (CASG), a non-partisan campus-wide student organization, I always strive to ensure that the CASG maintains a neutral stance and an unaffiliated position with regards to non-academic issues, campaigns, causes, and political groups. Our mandate has always been to serve and represent Carleton students on academic issues affecting them, as well as serve on departmental boards, faculty boards, and the Carleton Senate. We fiercely maintain our neutrality not only to avoid unneeded controversy, but also to direct all of our resources
in a positive, localized, and academic function for the benefit of all undergraduate students. This being said, I believe students affiliated with the CASG have a right to their own beliefs and the right to participate in partisan activities on their own time and in their own capacity, so as long as they are not doing so in the name of the CASG. To reiterate the purpose of this letter, the CASG is not affiliated with the CFS referendum activities and our official position is to remain neutral. We will continue in our capacity to provide Carleton with the high quality representation that students deserve. To that end, the CASG is currently running elections for student representatives and is seeking nominations. Students can check their connect account for more details. CASG’s door is always open and seeking new, exciting, and motivated students to come out and volunteer to make Carleton a better place to live and learn. Together we will make sure that students have a say in our own education.