Concordia Student Union
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The Concordia Student Union (usually referred to as the CSU) is the organization representing undergraduate students at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its membership totals more than 20,000.[citation needed]
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[edit] History
The CSU was founded in 1979 from the merger of the Sir George Williams Day Students’ Association (DSA), the SGW Part-Time Students’ Association (PTSA), the Loyola Evening Students’ Association Inc. (LESA) and the Loyola Students’ Association Inc. (LSA).[citation needed]
The impetus for the merger was the previous merger of Sir George William University with Loyola College, which had taken place at the initiative of the Quebec Government in 1974, that had resulted in the creation of Concordia University.[citation needed]
The CSU was originally named the Concordia University Students’ Association (CUSA).[citation needed] It was incorporated in 1982 as the Concordia University Students’ Association Inc. The name was changed to Concordia Student Union Inc. in 1994 and the “Inc.” was dropped from the name in 2002.[citation needed]
As the 1990s progressed, student activism became more militant, coming to a head in 1999 with the election of the first in a series of radical slates to the Concordia Student Union. Under the presidency of Rob Green, a referendum regarding of another strike garnered 2,284 votes of support.[citation needed] This was an unusually strong show of support, as student governments at Concordia are often elected on the basis of less than 1000 votes in their favor.[citation needed] The strike lasted from November 3 to 5th and targeted a range of issues, including student representation in the university senate, corporate presence and advertising on campus, and government cuts to education.[citation needed] There were several demonstrations in which both protesters and police were reported to be injured.[citation needed] In 2001, CSU undertook an accreditation drive, to legally represent all undergraduate students at Concordia, and was successful in its endeavour, though heavily opposed by the accredited faculty undergraduate student associations for Engineering and Commerce.[1] In Quebec, the Act respecting the accreditation and financing of students' associations provides for the accreditation of student governments by way of referendum, which requires the educational institution to recognize the association as representative of the students and to collect the membership fee from all students.[citation needed] The Act allows for separate accreditations at different levels in an educational establishment (e.g. departments, faculties or institution wide).[citation needed] At Concordia University, the CSU is the university-wide association.[citation needed] There are both accredited and un-accredited faculty associations on campus.[citation needed]
On September 9, 2002, a scheduled visit from former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was cancelled after protesters supported and organized by members of the CSU clashed with police inside the building.[citation needed]
There were indications prior to September 9 that the speech would face opposition.[citation needed] Organizers were warned by campus security against allowing the talk to proceed. A security assessment done for the university administration deemed the event an unmanageable risk and recommended it not be held.[citation needed] However, a second assessment was later performed and the event was allowed to proceed, albeit with extraordinary security measures.[citation needed]
Before the speech was to take place, protesters inside the building stormed barricades which had been set up to block access to the building's lobby from the inside and were stopped at the escalator leading to the lobby by police in riot gear.[citation needed] Protesters outside the building began banging on the windows.[citation needed] For the duration of the standoff, ticket-holders pushed their way through a thick crowd of protesters outside the building and entered through a secured access point complete with metal detectors, and were then escorted to the auditorium where the lecture was to take place.[citation needed]
Approximately one hour later, a large exterior window separating the protesters from the police inside shattered, prompting a police officer to immediately discharge pepper spray through the window.[citation needed] The spray entered the building's ventilation system forcing an evacuation.[citation needed] At approximately the same time, a second window on the building's first floor, on the western side and away from police was broken when protesters threw a metal barricade into it.[citation needed]
The immediate result of the protest and subsequent evacuation was the cancellation of the lecture.[citation needed] The university instituted additional measures to avert future incidents, including the banning of any events related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as enabling the use of new student disciplinary rules in case of emergency.[citation needed]
Five demonstrators were arrested and an additional 12 faced internal disciplinary hearings under the University's Code of Rights and Responsibilities[citation needed]
Following this in November of the same year after accusing Jewish group Hillel of violating policy by handing out flyers that recruiting for the Israeli Defense Force on campus the CSU took the unprecedented step of suspending the clubs activities.[citation needed]
Following the Netanyahu protest and banning of Hillel students on campus were fed up with the current administration and in March of 2003 voted overwhelmingly to elect Evolution Not Revolution, a team that ran on a platform of putting students first and activism second.[citation needed]
During that year the CSU focused on creating more accountable and transparent financial practices, providing new services and rebuilding the Union.[citation needed]
[edit] Governance
The CSU is governed by its Council of Representatives (its board of directors).[citation needed] Voting members of the Council are elected annually by the undergraduate students of Concordia University, with seats reserved for representatives of the four faculties at Concordia University and for representatives of independent students.[citation needed]
Each year the total number of seats is set by Council and the distribution is adjusted to match enrollment.[citation needed] There are currently 27 seats for voting members of Council: Thirteen from the Faculty of Arts & Science, six from the John Molson School of Business, three from the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, three for the Faculty of Fine Arts and two for Independent students.[citation needed]
The Council elects its non-voting Chair and secretary from the members of the CSU.[citation needed] The members of the Executive are ex-officio members and can present and move resolutions and speak, but cannot vote.[citation needed]
The CSU is managed on a day-to-day basis by the Executive, composed of the President and a between 3 - 7 Vice-Presidents. The Executive is elected by the membership as a slate in an annual election held in March concurrently with the elections for Council.[citation needed]
The Judicial Board is appointed by the Council to act as a domestic tribunal to resolve internal disputes but can be overruled if Council overrules the decision by a four-fifth majority, if the board's decision was racist, sexist, homophobic, exhibiting a conflict of interest, or manifestly unreasonable.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ [http://ctr.concordia.ca/2000-01/Mar_15/18-CSU_Election/index.shtml Concordia's Thursday Report
[edit] External links
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