Hesam Farahani, vice president (external) of the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA), resigned hours before the association’s meeting on Oct. 4.
In his resignation letter, which has been posted to Reddit, Farahani wrote he felt the association created a toxic work environment.
“Every meeting was just a torture for me,” Farahani wrote. “I found myself marginalized in various discussions from the offset.”
Farahani’s resignation comes as the association questioned his eligibility to hold office.
GSA executives must be graduate students and registered with the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs (FGPA) for at least two of three academic semesters during their term as an executive, according to section 5.1.6.1 of the GSA constitution.
Farahani, who successfully defended his thesis for his master’s degree in applied linguistics in January, submitted proof of registration showing he was not registered with the FGPA.
At the meeting, a vote on whether Farahani was still eligible to hold the position of GSA executive for the current academic year was the only item on the agenda. The motion to vote on Farahani’s employment stated his program did not pay fees to the GSA, making Farahani ineligible to be a member of GSA.
Faharani wrote in his resignation letter that he believed the motion to eliminate him from council was unfair and that his relationship with the association was unhealthy.
“Before even taking the time to talk to me, a motion is sent to councillors to disqualify the [vice president (external)],” Farahani said.
Bilan Arte, chair of GSA, announced Farahani’s resignation to the rest of the association and ruled the motion out of order.
Mackenzie Mumby, president of the School of Public Policy and Administration Society, said at the meeting he was surprised to read the contents of Farahani’s letter.
“I’m a bit concerned. The GSA is an advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion. From a societal level, we do see GSA as a leader in this regard,” Mumby said.
GSA president Chi-Chi Ayalogu said she was also extremely caught off guard by Farahani’s resignation. She added that GSA executives didn’t receive a copy of his letter.
In his letter, Farahani partially attributed his struggles to the fact he did not run on the Team Thrive slate, members of which hold three of five GSA executive positions.
“It appeared that some decisions were already made and there was no room for dissent,” Farahani wrote. “Some of this is in the nature of the slate campaigning which occurred, which resulted in some independents winning seats and the subsequent efforts to disqualify me.”
The statement comes as the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) has committed to electoral reform, partly based on criticism of their slate system. Executives have also claimed CUSA has been a toxic work environment in the past.
Ayalogu noted the executive team was not all elected from the same slate. Kimberley Keller, vice president (operations), ran as an independent in the GSA election last March. Ayalogu added there was room for debate within the association.
“There have been many times I have wanted something to go through that other executives have voted against me on,” Ayalogu said.
According to Ayalogu, elected executives agreed to submit proof of registration by August, which Farahani did not do. However, the agreement is not explicitly stated within the constitution or bylaws. Ayalogu admitted there was confusion.
“I cannot say concretely that he wasn’t a grad student in the summer because he did not provide proof back then,” Ayalogu said. “But with certainty with the information we do have now, he is not a full-time graduate student.”
Ayalogu added it is in the best interest of the GSA to ensure that protocols and bylaws are followed.
Mohammad Akbar, director of communications for the GSA, said the association needs to revise the constitution so that membership requirements are more clear.
“We’re going to continue to have a lot of hard feelings if we don’t look and see how to improve our structure. We are setting people up to fail,” Akbar said.
Keller said mistakes have been made by all parties involved.
“All of the executives and staff have [students’] best interest at heart. Sometimes, that doesn’t translate well,” Keller said. “We need to figure out how to get this organization running effectively and efficiently to serve graduate students.”
Farahani could not be reached for comment.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
