On Jan. 24, the exterior of OPIRG-Carleton’s office in the Unicentre was vandalized along with the words “Fuck You” scrawled on the door. It is important the Carleton community knows about this episode. It comes in a context of recent attacks on a student organization with a long history of social justice work on campus. The implications are unsettling.
We don’t know who the vandals are but have some idea of their motives. Lately, some people are saying that OPIRG is too political, partisan, and unaccountable.
Yes, OPIRG-Carleton is political. The organization works on social justice and environmental issues. That is politics. Life is political, but that does not mean OPIRG-Carleton is partisan. The organization has no affiliation with any political party, although it has been involved in student politics on campus for decades. Our critics often advocate for neutrality, but the very act of remaining “neutral” is, in fact, a political one.
OPIRG-Carleton’s history involves campaigning around once unpopular causes, including helping to spearhead recycling efforts on campus, or fighting against apartheid in South Africa, when Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan listed the African National Congress and Nelson Mandela as terrorists.
OPIRG-Carleton continues this legacy on the forefront of progressive campus politics. If it is political to push for fair-trade on campus, to send books to prisoners, to build community gardens, or to call for socially responsible and ethical investment policies, then OPIRG is political. If politics is challenging the status quo in an unfair and unjust world, then OPIRG embraces politics. This is what students concerned about social justice issues do. OPIRG-Carleton is proud of its past and excited for the future.
For over 30 years, OPIRG-Carleton has believed that research, education, and action enrich all students’ experiences—even those people who disagree with the organization’s environmental and social justice work. OPIRG creates healthy debate that enriches the university and community, and it believes that progress does not come from idleness, even though positive change always sparks discomfort.
Some people disagree with the organization’s work, and OPIRG-Carleton offers a fee refund — up to $6.84 per year for full-time undergraduate students. It is the only levy group on campus to do so, and a few students chose to opt out two weeks ago during the annual refund period. While most were polite, several individuals harassed OPIRG-Carleton’s volunteers and spread misinformation online about OPIRG’s work. Some individuals kept returning to the office after opting out, they refused to leave when asked politely to do so, and they brought video cameras to film OPIRG staff and volunteers without their consent. These acts are immature and destructive to this university’s sense of community, but it is also baffling behaviour because OPIRG-Carleton has never engaged in these types of actions with these students. OPIRG would rather use its time and resources in a productive way to focus on regular programming and events that both benefit and enrich the campus community.
Sometimes OPIRG is charged with being unaccountable. Although provincial legislation allows non-profit organizations to waive audit requirements, OPIRG-Carleton has a professional auditing firm review its finances every year. The findings are presented at the Annual General Meeting, and the auditor’s recommendations are followed. A board of directors, made up of undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni, governs the organization. It regularly supports events, speakers, workshops, and other programming. The Board makes decisions through consensus and keeps detailed records. A commitment to the principles of anti-oppression, anti-racism, environmentalism, and social justice work guide the projects of OPIRG’s 15 working groups, its programming and events, and the many services and resources it provides to students, including equipment loans, three bursaries, and a resource library.
While OPIRG encourages students who disagree with these principles to withdraw their membership and get a refund of their levy fee during the annual opt-out period, acts of vandalism, violence, and intimidation are worrisome.
OPIRG has reported the incident to Campus Safety and the Office of Student Affairs, and is working with them to identify those responsible. Meanwhile, OPIRG will continue to provide services and programming to Carleton students, maintaining a long tradition of social justice-based research, education, and action on campus.
— Daniel Tubb
OPIRG Carleton Board of Directors
