Jon Parker is a fourth-year political science student who says the university community needs to keep focused on learning and not scandal ( Photo Provided )
There they were when I opened the Ottawa Sun on July 29: two side-by-side articles that brought back that all-too familiar feeling of discontent. One was about the university’s shockingly quick reversal of the hiring of Hassan Diab amidst his criminal trial, and the other about the appointment of Donnie Northrup to a vacant Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) council position.
For those new to the university, Northrup introduced a motion last year to cancel Carleton’s yearly Shinerama charity drive for cystic fibrosis with a clause explaining the disease had been found “to only affect white people, and primarily men.” This is absurd and completely false. The motion caused a swarm of controversy that embarrassed the Carleton community.
Those who ran for this year’s CUSA council promised change. Yet their first order of business, carried out during the summer months with no one around to object, was to completely contradict that promise by appointing the man at the centre of last year’s controversy. In what fanciful dream did they think that the student population would endorse Northrup to represent their concerns after the display he put on last year? This new CUSA council seems destined to be the same as the rest. But in the end, these are just kids being kids, albeit with our money.
When it comes to our university’s handling of the Diab issue, there is no such excuse. It is not relevant to discuss whether Diab is guilty or innocent. That is something that will play out in the courts. But anyone could have seen that the decision to hire him would elicit anger and outrage both inside and outside the university community, and perhaps rightfully so.
If the university or a specific department wanted to make a statement about being innocent until proven guilty or some other self-serving political statement by hiring him, fine. I would be pissed about that too, but to make a statement and to stand by that statement is at least commendable. But the university should have taken a unified stance on this decision and braced itself for the inevitable backlash.
That the university reversed its decision so quickly in the face of opposition demonstrated an apparent lack of foresight and indicated that something is amiss among Carleton’s faculty and administration. In the aftermath of the dismissal, faculty members have sent editorials to various media outlets condemning Diab’s dismissal, which seems to reveal a divide among the faculty themselves.
As administration and faculty members wage this battle amongst each other, we the students suffer while the name of the institution that we attend is dragged through the mud yet again.
We all need to think about the consequences of our actions. Further, those who represent us – the administration, faculty and various student associations – need to remember that the mission of “Canada’s Capital University” is to provide top-notch education to its students.
The university, it seems, has veered off course. We would all be well served to take a step back and think about the impact that these sorts of actions are having on the reputation of our institution, the morale of the Carleton community, and the quality of education that the university environment is supposed to provide.
Controversy is something that is sure to be found at any university, but it should be productive controversy that stimulates the mind and aids in the process of personal development. The reason why we’re here at university is to open our minds and reach some sense of enlightenment.
We seem to be stuck in a cycle, with these habitual blunders from our administration, faculty and student representatives.
I am sick and tired of having to convince people that these scandals don’t reflect the quality of my education. Enough is enough. Quit embarrassing me. Quit embarrassing my peers. You undermine the quality of my education. It’s time for someone to steer this ship.