Photo C/O Catherine Goce
On Sept. 22, the Student Representative Assembly voted to de-ratify the McMaster Chinese Students and Scholars Association due to concerns that the club’s actions had endangered members of the community. An investigation by the Silhouette has found that there had been several instances of miscommunication in the months leading up to the de-ratification.
During the summer, the Student Representative Assembly were under the impression that MAC CSSA would be under probation during the 2019-2020 academic year. However, this was not the case. Miscommunication between members of the SRA and some MSU staff members led to MAC CSSA being ratified as an MSU club on July 21 without first being placed on probation. On Sept. 22, MAC CSSA was de-ratified due to reasons unrelated to this miscommunication.
Every summer, the Clubs Administrator provides the SRA with a list of groups to recommend for MSU club status, highlighting any groups that require additional monitoring. On June 18, Clubs Administrator Aditi Sharma released a memo that recommended 327 student groups for MSU club status. The memo drew attention to two McMaster clubs: MAC CSSA and LifeLine.
“Two returning clubs (CSSA & Lifeline) are marked with a double asterisk (**) which indicates certain issues that came up during the year and supplemental details for those issues,” Sharma states in the memo.
The supplemental details that Sharma was referring to, titled “Clubs Ratification Supplemental Info #2 - CSSA and Lifeline”, provides some background on the clubs. It highlights concerns that members of MAC CSSA had endangered an activist who spoke on campus about human rights issues for Uighur Muslims in China on Feb. 11. The document gives no indication that MAC CSSA was to be put on probation.
Putting a club on probation allows the MSU to monitor the group’s activities and evaluate the need for further disciplinary action. According to the MSU Clubs Operating Policy, if clubs are found guilty of certain offenses, they may be placed on a period of probation. During this period, the club is required to report all future events and meetings to the Clubs Administrator. If the club is found to violate the rules again, it is subject to disciplinary action.
During the June 23 SRA meeting, a motion was put forward to ratify new and returning MSU clubs as recommended by the Clubs Administrator for the 2019-2020 academic year. An amendment to this motion was put forward to ratify all clubs with the exception of MAC CSSA, McMaster Chinese News Network, McMaster Chinese Graduate Students Society and McMaster Chinese Professional Association. A motion to postpone this discussion to the July 21 SRA meeting was passed 19-1, citing the need for more information.
On July 21, the SRA voted 17-1 to ratify all new and returning MSU clubs as recommended by the Clubs Administrator for the 2019-2020 academic year. MAC CSSA was ratified without any probationary period, since the Clubs Administrator had not recommended that they be placed on probation.
Email correspondence in preparation for an SRA meeting almost two weeks later indicated that there was an assumption that MAC CSSA had been placed on probation. In reality, however, nowhere do the meeting minutes state that MAC CSSA had been placed on probation.
On Aug. 12, Administrative Services Coordinator Victoria Scott sent an email to an SRA member in which she mistakenly stated that MAC CSSA was on probation.
“. . .I can tell you now that the Chinese Students and Scholars Association’s ratification was contingent on providing outstanding information, plus they are on probation for six months,” said Scott in her email.
“One more clarification! They are on probation, but there wasn’t a time set,” Scott clarified through a second email that she sent the same day.
Both clarifications were incorrect.
“In my August 12 email to [an SRA member], I incorrectly referenced a memo from the Clubs Department that was circulated in June to the SRA,” said Scott, when asked by the Silhouette on Nov. 5 where she obtained the information on CSSA’s probation.
Neither MAC CSSA’s probation nor the length of time for a probationary period are mentioned in the Clubs Department’s June memo.
On Aug. 14, an SRA member, who asked to remain anonymous, sent an email to MSU President Josh Marando to clarify MAC CSSA’s privileges including their access to MSU resources and the club’s ability to attend ClubsFest.
“Towards the end of our meeting [on Aug. 13], I believe [one SRA member] had asked about the BoD [Board of Directors] about the current situation with [MAC] CSSA, to which they replied that as of now, the CSSA does not have access to MSU resources . . .” said the SRA member in the email.
“I know the end of the SRA meeting got quite confusing, I was confused as well so I apologize for that. [MAC] CSSA is currently under probation this year, which means they must keep clubs admin informed of all events they hold, are watched more closely, and will face serious consequences in the instance of another infraction,” replied Marando over email.
It is unclear whether both the SRA member and Marando are referring to an informal meeting, or whether records of this meeting are missing from the August 13 SRA meeting minutes, as this was an emergency meeting called to revoke the Dominion’s Society club status.
Almost three weeks later, on Sept. 3, the same SRA member sent a follow-up email regarding MAC CSSA’s supposed probation, which both Scott and Marando had confirmed earlier via email.
“I wanted to ask — why exactly was the CSSA put on probation? I’m not sure if I missed it, but I don’t think it was ever clear about the reason behind this [decision],” asked the SRA member. “In addition, I don’t believe that there is actually any explicit record of the CSSA being disciplined.”
“I believe the terms this year are that all events go through the Clubs Administrator as well as conditions surrounding ratification should they breach policy this year. That said, I don’t fully know,” replied Marando, offering to check and meet with the Clubs Department after ClubsFest.
After at least one month of miscommunication, on Sept. 13, Marando clarified that the Clubs Department had recommended LifeLine to be ratified contingent on a probationary period, but had not recommended this for MAC CSSA.
“I am still following up with the minutes of the meeting as they haven’t been released yet, so I would interpret it as LifeLine’s probation still stands, but the CSSA one should be put forward again [...] Again, I’m still confirming to be 100%, but I would say it’s probably best to go ahead and put forward the CSSA probation motion again at the September 22 [SRA] meeting,” clarified Marando in his email on Sept. 13.
In an SRA Facebook group message following the Sept. 22 SRA meeting, Marando acknowledged the miscommunication surrounding MAC CSSA’s probation and apologized for the confusion.
“Regarding the confusion and mistakes made regarding the CSSA not being informed at the meeting and the initial probation. Overall, both are big oversites [sic], but please understand that they were not intentional by any means and we have put plans to ensure they do not happen again,” said Marando in the Facebook chat.
When asked about this miscommunication at the Nov. 3 SRA meeting, Marando stated that he believed everyone on the SRA was under the impression that the Club Department’s recommendation of probation applied to MAC CSSA, as well as LifeLine.
“It was really a procedural error,” said Marando.
This was the first time that he publicly acknowledged the issue of miscommunication pertaining to the CSSA’s supposed probation.
“Trying to rectify moving forward in terms of making sure that motions are more specific when it comes to ratifying clubs also, we are doing a full review of the clubs application process through our Internal Governance committee,” said Marando.
In the President’s Report, Marando states that club policy review is ongoing.
“Overall, I am hoping to have a bulk of the policy writing time in December, with conversations happening during November. We are looking at how funding works, improvements to [re-ratifications], how and who ratifies clubs, the Club Executive Council, and what qualifies a recognized club,” stated Marando in the report.
Time will tell the impact any changes made to club policies will have on future communication within the MSU.
Frost Weeks in the past have traditionally been about events welcoming students back to the university after a long break, complete with concerts, parties and other social events. Of Gentleman and Cowards, residence parties with unlimited pizzas, outdoor skating, Arkells, Frost Fest and Alessia Cara were just a few examples of what was featured over the years.
2017’s Frost Week had a notable change in priority. Shaarujaa Nadarajah, vice-president (Administration) at the time, noted, “We will fill the week with a variety of events so there is something for every type of student to enjoy”. Frost Fest and outdoor skating continued. Events like Faculty Nights, RepFest, the Student Wellness Centre and the McMaster Student Leadership Conference were given increased priority.
This year’s complete rebrand to Life After Mac is self-explanatory as it focuses on students thinking about life after McMaster. A toast to your final semester at McMaster, a showcase of the Student Success Centre and information about grad school, the Mac Alumni services and career opportunities are all part of the events and programs.
While the focus on an underrepresented section of students is appreciated, especially given Welcome Week’s focus on new students and the introduction of Light Up the Night in 2015 as a social event later in the year, a few things should be tuned up for next time.
This pivot to graduating students has left a large number of clubs and services in an odd position with the lack of ClubsFest II that typically takes place during the week. An opportunity to engage the student body, show off what people are doing around campus and get interest for new volunteers during the second semester is gone.
While its removal makes sense with the focus of the week, ClubsFest II does not necessarily need to be during Frost Week. The scheduling in 2013 put Frost Week from Jan. 9 to Jan. 13 and ClubsFest II on Jan. 28, though this had some interference with the McMaster Students Union presidential election that ended on Jan. 31. At the time of writing, it is currently not scheduled to take place at all this year.
The absence of events for a significant portion of the student population leaves a similar issue that some of the previous years had. Life After Mac itself caters to a very narrow audience.
There is little provided for students who are not yet thinking about their lives after McMaster, students who simply are not interested in social events or comedy by Hasan Minhaj and students who have already considered their lives after McMaster. Being so relatively late in the year also means that a good portion of students who are graduating simply will not find the resources useful as they have likely thought extensively about their lives after McMaster already.
That being said, other events running independently of this such as Diversity Week and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance’s #TextbookBroke campaign do not appear to be splitting the focus of the McMaster Students Union enough to detract from each. Both are good causes, and both would likely be less effective if done during presidentials.
The Life After Mac rebrand is a good idea given how few events are given nearly as much emphasis for graduating students. It is questionable to do this late in the year and as a niche replacement to the old Frost Week that catered to more of the student body. It is a good first step that needs a bit of adjusting to actually be effective.
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Once per term, ClubsFest takes over campus and represents a near perfect way to filter thousands of students into as many diverse organizations and email lists as possible. With over 300 clubs in five categories, McMaster has an incredibly large breadth of opportunities for students to get involved with.
However, the scheduling of the two ClubsFests still causes complications for students. If you happen to fall sick and need to stay home, tough luck. What if you have a lot of classes on Wednesday? See you next term.
Whatever reason you have, the ability to put names and faces to clubs could pass you by with few alternatives available. Even if you didn’t know what you wanted to be a part of, the ability to browse what’s available and see what interests you could eventually lead to big changes in your university experience. Your best opportunity for finding clubs in the next four months was five hours in the middle of the week.
These wouldn’t be issues if the clubs directory and Clubza did a good job of allowing students to browse clubs, but the system remains inefficient. Some don’t have sufficient or specific enough tags to search, so finding one that fits your interests might be difficult. Even the subtle change from “gaming” to “games,” for example, leads to eight different clubs with only one appearing on both, and fails to include any poorly tagged clubs that might fit in these categories.
There is insufficient contact detail on each page, often with only an email and no website or social media for clubs that have them. While the MSU Clubs Operating Policy states that clubs must respond to any correspondence with the Clubs Administrator within six days, this rule doesn’t apply for any students attempting to contact them.
A select few in the clubs directory aren’t even a part of the five broad categories the system uses to group general interests together. If ClubsFest can organize all of its participants into an eight-colour legend based on location, then why can’t they do it for their online service?
The best courses of action would be to either fix up Clubza, a good online presence for such a large amount of clubs should be a priority in any case, or extend the presence of ClubsFest.
An extra day, either tacked onto the first or later on in the term, would help alleviate issues that student have with the currently restrictive schedule. Even “Mini-ClubsFests” could highlight a specific few every once in a while.
It would allow the extensive number of clubs increased opportunity to appeal to students and give clubs that want additional members the attention they deserve. As an added benefit, the additional hours would help cut down the density of students if the pressure of “now or never” is alleviated.
While there are financials involved, the final proposed Budget for 2016-17 having an expense of $6,000 compared to a $5,400 revenue, the ClubsFest events have also made money for the MSU in the past. The original Proposed Budget for 2015-16 shows a net gain of $2,571.64 in the 2012-13 year end and $1,025.63 in the 2013-14 year end.
The only real issue is the time spent setting up and cleaning with clubs taking on the work of manning the tables. The extra time spent on more ClubsFest hours and improving Clubza will have a positive influence on a significant portion of the McMaster experience. No one should feel like they’re being left out for a term by missing five hours.
Spencer Nestico-Semianiw / The Silhouette
McMaster's ImMACculate dance team came away with a first-place finish at last weekend's North American Culture Show (NACS) competition in Brampton, ON.
On Mar. 9, dance teams from ten universities and six colleges across Ontario competed at the NACS. The show featured four types of South Asian dance forms: Bollywood, Classical, Bhangra and Western Fusion. McMaster’s team, consisting of 30 undergraduate students and 10 executive members, travelled to Brampton’s Powerade Centre. The team ended up receiving the competition's top award, beating out last year’s winners, Waterloo-Laurier.
McMaster’s team has been practicing since November 2012 for the NACS competition. After winning the competition two years ago, the team hoped to reclaim their position as Ontario’s best NACS team.
Jasleen Singh, one of McMaster’s dance team coordinators, attributed the success of the team to specializing in all four styles of dance.
“We do everything across the board, all the way from South-East Asian to Western dance styles, so we offer a competitive dance team that provides you with the opportunity of learning different styles of dance," said Singh.
Because of low funding, many NACS team students needed to purchase their own costumes this year, costs that rose to more than $100 per person. Due to community sponsorship and receiving a $5,000 prize for their performance, however, the team’s financial status remains stable.
On the morning of the competition, Brampton’s Powerade Centre, which has a capacity of 5,000 people, began to fill up as students, parents and friends from all over Ontario filtered in. The competition opened with Western University’s performance, followed by Brock University's and then McMaster's.
Despite the size of the arena and turnout from fans, McMaster choreographer Avani Dave explained how McMasters’s team, especially its new members, retained their composure.
“You’re never alone, and that motivation and enthusiasm that we all have pushes anybody who is in first year into doing it for their first time as well," said Dave.
Aside from the competing dance teams, performances by Canadian singers Jonita, Joti Dhillon and Karl Wolf were included, in addition to a dance performance by Canada’s Got Talent finalists, Broken Dance.
The announcement of McMaster’s first-place finish was met with ecstatic relief from ImMACculate team members and the over 200 fans who came out to support them. Both Singh and Avani attribute their success to past dance members returning to the school to provide advice and wisdom. As they both graduate this coming spring, there's no doubt they will do the same.
