The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is trying to make amends after a video posted by recently re-elected vice-president (student life) Abdullah Jaber ridiculing a byelection candidate sparked outrage.
In the March 23 Snapchat video, Jaber is on the dance floor 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.
On March 25, CUSA president Zameer Masjedee told the Charlatan that Jaber had been suspended from his position without pay for two weeks as punishment. In a Facebook post later that day, Masjedee said Jaber’s paycheque would be donated to Kids Help Phone, a youth counselling and anti-bullying organization.
The video was shared on Facebook, where it generated a strong reaction from students, before spreading to Reddit.
In a emailed statement to the Charlatan, Jaber said he regretted the video, and took sole responsibility for the incident.
“David and Luke didn’t know the context of the video. They did not know about the caption and didn’t know I had posted it. They didn’t know it was targeted at Tristan either. It was simply a dumb move from me, and I am owning up to my mistake,” he stated.
In interviews with the Charlatan, Oladejo and Luke Taylor provided the same details of the mishap, stating that they were unaware of the context of the video.
“From my perspective, what I saw was AJ taking a Snapchat of the three of us together, just dancing, and then unfortunately we started the “Ls” chant,” Oladejo said. “That’s just something that we’ve done with our team since the first campaign, just sort of an inside joke, not directed at anyone.”
Both Luke Taylor and Oladejo said they were “very angry” when they were alerted to the video and proceeded to confront Jaber, asking him to remove it from Snapchat.
“AJ came over and he’s like, ‘oh man, I’m really sorry guys, I really messed up . . . it’s on Facebook now,’ ” Luke Taylor said.
Jaber said he deserved the suspension due to his “immature” actions, adding that he feels bad that other CUSA executives are carrying his workload during his suspension.
“Throughout the very same night, I approached Tristan deeply apologizing for my behaviour. He said he will forgive me when he sees more positivity in my actions,” he said.
Oladejo and Luke Taylor both said that they approached Tristan Taylor to apologize to him at the gala, adding that they have reached out since in messages, but have not heard back. The Charlatan reached out to Tristan Taylor, but he declined to comment, citing a desire to focus on his studies and move on from the incident.
“I just want him to know that I am genuinely sorry, didn’t do anything with malicious intent, wasn’t trying to target him or anything,” Oladejo said. “It’s unfortunate that a joke got turned into that, but again, it’s just a lesson to be learned to be more aware in the future.”
Luke Taylor said the incident does not represent his character.
“I’m not a negative person, I’m not a mean-spirited person. I understand the spirit of competition and that things can get heated sometimes, but that was not what that was whatsoever, and it’s just unfortunate because I have always prided myself on my sportsmanship,” Luke Taylor said.
In three days, a Change.org petition calling for Jaber’s resignation has garnered close to 600 signatures as of publication, and students have called for Jaber to be impeached.
“Bullying is not a good quality from a ‘leader’ in our students’ association,” the petition states.
In an interview, Masjedee said removing Jaber from council would be an “extreme” measure to take, after consulting with Shannon Clarke, the university’s director of student affairs. According to him, Clarke defined harassment as repeated behaviour intending to put someone down, and said the video was just “poor sportsmanship and being mean.”
“Based on her recommendation, I don’t think that there’s any additional forms or any additional repercussions that need to be made for the individuals involved,” Masjedee said.
He added that since Oladejo and Luke Taylor have not yet assumed their new roles as CUSA executives, it is beyond his control as president to punish them. According to Masjedee, the current CUSA executives determined that the blame for the incident rested on Jaber.
At a March 28 CUSA council meeting, an emergency motion to begin the impeachment process for Jaber was proposed. It failed to pass by a vote of 20-3.
Jaber said he plans to make amends for the incident by introducing an anti-bullying campaign with recently-elected vice-president (student issues) Lily Akagbosu and promoting safe drinking.
“I welcome the discussion being undertaken about additional disciplinary measures that are currently being explored. 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,” he said.
Oladejo said he wants to combat misinformation about CUSA by having open discussions on Reddit throughout the year, in order to help students feel more confident in the association. Luke Taylor said regaining students’ trust might prove to be a long process.
“I hold my morals very strongly and it disappoints me that I put myself in this situation. I want to do better and I can do better,” he said.
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