We welcome your letters, opinions and comments at BC-119, 1463 Bishop St., by fax (514-848-2814), or e-mail (barblak@alcor.concordia.ca) by 9 a.m. on the Friday prior to publication.

Administration silent on petition

Thus far, Concordia’s administration is stalling on discussion about the issue of an independent inquiry into racism and discrimination on campus, as has been requested by students. The CSU, however, is trying to move forward and we’ve outlined a proposal for how we would like to see the inquiry unfold.

There are six areas where we feel the panel of inquiry should have the power to investigate and issue directives:
1. Procedural standards (including but not limited to the university’s Academic Code and the Code of Rights and Responsibilities, and the CSU’s club policies).
2. Training of administrators, staff, faculty and students to promote awareness of institutional racism and discrimination.
3. Curricular issues.
4. Employment equity and retention issues (with the proviso that any changes to collective agreements must be acceptable to the bargaining units in question).
5. Campus support networks (both student-run and university-run support networks).
6. Campus promotional materials.
The preceding six points are open to discussion, and refinement will undoubtedly be necessary.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to move forward with discussions on the inquiry when one partner is unwilling to do so.

Yves Engler,
VP communications, Concordia Student Union