A poster with a graphic rendering of a planned pedestrian square at the University of Ottawa (U of O) is raising some eyebrows on campus.
Located outside of the Faculty of Social Science building, the sign shows a man sitting cross-legged on a stone ledge, smoking from what appears to be a bong in the bottom left corner of the image.
Students took note of the hidden bong user, as a photo of the rendering was posted on the Spotted at uOttawa Facebook page. The post had a caption reading, “So apparently you can do drugs at the new uOttawa Square.”
“The poster is a depiction that could be interpreted as something illegal, but the University of Ottawa does not condone any type of drug use,” said Néomie Duval, acting manager of media relations at U of O.
“People will see what they want to see . . . but it is difficult to see the character and his intentions.”
Joey Clavette, a third-year philosophy student at U of O, said he thinks the poster is funny.
“How the university could let it go by where the poster looks like someone is [smoking from a bong] I don’t know,” Clavette said.
“It doesn’t make me think any different of the university administration, since I already thought they were a little incompetent, and so it is not surprising or shocking.”
“Maybe he’s eating candy, maybe he’s smoking from a pipe. It is hard to tell… but he has a book there too, so at least he’s learning,” he said.
The rendering was created by Urban Strategies Inc., who were contracted by the university to design and build the square, as part of its campus master plan.
