Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) vice-president (student life) Abdullah Jaber has been suspended from his position without pay for two weeks after posting a video involving other 2018 CUSA election candidates, The Charlatan was told by CUSA president Zameer Masjedee.
In the March 23 Snapchat video, Jaber is seen at the Sprott Gala with recently-elected fellow One Carleton slate members, president-elect David Oladejo and vice-president (finance) candidate Luke Taylor.
Jaber zooms in on Tristan Taylor, the Confidence slate vice-president (internal) candidate, who was playing music as the event’s DJ, before chanting “Ls” with Luke Taylor and Oladejo.
“We have no. Confidence in this Dj. #Ls,” Jaber captioned the video.
“Ls” is slang commonly used to refer to taking a loss.
The video was posted the day after the results of the CUSA byelection were released. Oladejo won the election for his position, while Tristan Taylor did not.
After the video was shared to Facebook, it quickly went viral. On Reddit, posts called for students to report the video incident to the university administration and for CUSA councillors to vote down Jaber’s motions on CUSA council.
Since the video was posted, Jaber, Luke Taylor and Oladejo have shared apology posts.
In an emailed statement to the Charlatan, Jaber said he takes full responsibility and said that Luke Taylor and Oladejo weren’t aware of the context or target of the video.
“It was simply a dumb move from me, and I am owning up to my mistake,” he said.
Jaber said he apologized to Tristan Taylor in person the night of the incident. He also said the suspension, which was decided on by the current executive team, is deserved, and said he welcomes discussion about further disciplinary action.
Masjedee told the Charlatan he will be making a statement about the incident and Jaber’s suspension at the next CUSA council meeting on March 28.
In a post to his Facebook page, Masjedee said the proceeds of Jaber’s salary for the next two weeks will be going to Kids Help Phone—an organization that offers immediate counselling online or over the phone.
“It was extremely disappointing to see three members of next year’s CUSA executive take part in the taunting of an opposing candidate on Friday night,” he wrote in the post.
To restore confidence in the student body, Jaber said he will be “working twice as hard.”
He said he plans to start a social media anti-bullying campaign with incoming vice-president (student issues) Lily Akajbosu, and promote safe drinking through the organization ‘drinksmart.’
“I think this is especially important because I have seen many people make hurtful and dumb mistakes while under the influence of alcohol.” Jaber continued, “I hope that by making tangible changes, I will be able to do what it takes to earn back the confidence of our student body.”
