When I ran for the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) council last year, I did so on the hopes of bringing change to CUSA. Change has come to CUSA, but sadly it is not positive. CUSA has gone past the point of being dysfunctional and serves no purpose to the student body.
I remember having conversations with students from first to fourth year early in the school year with lots of hope and optimism. When others said CUSA was a lost cause and an embarrassment to students, I told them there was still hope for change. However, there currently exists no evidence to support this hope. Instead, there are 26 councillors — myself included — who are now, themselves, an embarrassment to the students who elected them, and six executives who have failed to show leadership on almost each opportunity presented to them.
We all made promises to students. However, those promises have not been kept. We promised to work together after an unnecessary five-month delay caused by improper reading of the constitution, bylaws and policies of CUSA and unwillingness on both sides to compromise. Now that we are back on council, what do we have to show for it? Well, there’s finally a chief electoral officer. That’s about it. The same cycle of meetings being harangued by cyclical debates, the same shouting over each other instead of respectful dialogue, the same problems that led to the collapse of council the first time around, all still exist.
I cannot in good conscience affiliate myself with CUSA council any longer. I have been given a job by students; however, I do not feel I have been able to carry that out, and under the current conditions, I do not see any likelihood that students’ voices will be heard at council. Like many other students, I have other duties and commitments and I am part of the Carleton community in other ways besides CUSA council. I believe that my efforts are best focused elsewhere to help students enjoy their time at Carleton and to help issues they care about get the attention they deserve.
Effective immediately, I am tendering my resignation as a public affairs councillor with the Carleton University Students’ Association. I am of the belief that students will be better served elsewhere as there is no longer any hope of this council working together to achieve any positive results for students.
– Delroy Dyer,
fourth-year political science,
former CUSA public affairs councillor
