U of G’s Board of Governors has made real progress in the continuation of the status quo
Once again, the top governing body at the University of Guelph has committed to listening to students’ voices. For the fourth time over the course of many years, a subcommittee has been formed to collect input from the student population.
“We know everyone wants to have a say in how this university is run so we like to give all stakeholders a chance to express their opinions,” said President Franco Vaccarino. “About once a year we put out the call for feedback on issues such as student space in the UC, fossil fuel divestment, constantly rising tuition fees, and the banning of plastic water bottles on campus.” When asked what will be done after all this information was collected, Vaccarino responded that it will be considered during a closed-door meeting at a later date. Some students have been critical of this approach, saying that their opinions aren’t really taken into account by the decision makers on the Board of Governors. Many students believe that no matter what they say, they won’t have any influence on the final outcome since all the power rests in the hands of a select few business people and former CEOs.
One student, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of criticism, outlined the trend for us:
“This is what happens every time. Students become passionate about an issue, they gain broad public support for their cause, they pass motions of support at the CSA Annual General Meeting, a clear majority of students support them in referendum votes, working groups and subcommittees are formed by university administration, and then finally, regardless of the feedback, the Board of Governors finds some way to dismiss the demand.” In response to this statement, Vaccarino said, “Of course what the students say doesn’t matter to us. Do you think we’d let some immature, barely-adults tell us how to run this university? Listen, I get paid over $400,000 per year and some student activists think they can do better than me, pfft, get real. They should be happy we’re even letting them feel involved in the decision-making process.”
An administration insider shared this explanation with The Contrarion in an exclusive interview:
“As long as we can divert and deflect for four years, the old students will graduate and the movement will die out. It’s too easy: just delay the issue for a few years and all the experienced and passionate people will leave the school and new students will be left trying to make change in the same endless loop. I’m honestly kind of surprised no one has caught on yet.”
When confronted with some of the negative comments students had about how the administration was handling complaints, Vaccarino quickly responded, “We will definitely take that into consideration.”
Photo by Alora Griffiths/The Ontarion