The president of the Student Society of McGill University (SSMU) almost lost his job earlier this month amid accusations of conflict of interest after he revealed his involvement in a student job website.
The trouble arose with an email president Zach Newburgh sent to the executive members of the society explaining his previously undisclosed business dealings with networking website Jobbook, founded by a former McGill lecturer, which aims to link graduates of elite universities with prestigious employers.
“I was approached in mid-September and required to sign a confidentiality agreement before learning about Jobbook,” Newburgh said. “I later became involved on a personal basis, as I was to work on this only during my personal time.”
“My personal involvement in Jobbook is not by nature a conflict of interest with my professional involvement with the SSMU,” he said.
“Having convinced Jobbook to provide SSMU with the opportunity to be involved, I followed my duty to uphold the Conflict of Interest Policy when the contract for involvement was presented by disclosing my potential conflict, deferring to an alternate chair, and abstaining from voting on the matter,” he said. “No one has pointed to any violation of the constitution, bylaws, or policies of the SSMU.”
According to the McGill Daily, Newburgh acknowledged missing one work day as a result of his work with Jobbook.
According to the Daily, general manager Pauline Gervais and vice-president (internal) Tom Fabian both spoke against Newburgh’s removal from the society in the council deliberations.
The council initially voted to force Newburgh to resign his position as president of the SSMU, but upon further deliberation the next morning, they decided to reduce the severity of their ruling and give him a public censure.
In statement to the Daily, councillor Eli Freedman said, “Council is probably not going to be able to accomplish anything for the rest of the year . . . I don’t think there will be any more trust.”
Both Myriam Zaidi, SSMU vice-president (external affairs), and council speaker Cathal Rooney-Cespedes declined an interview, stating the matter was confidential.
Newburgh said he does not regret this decision.
“I forfeited my financial stake in Jobbook on Feb. 3 — before the censure . . . because I believed that it was preventing the SSMU’s governance structures from considering this important student service that provides employment opportunities to students of our university,” he said.