If you stop and ask upper year students what they think of the Vari Hall Kiosk, you'll hear one outlandish conspiracy theory after another. To be honest, I was one of those students who took one look at the booth after it was built and thought, "dang that's gonna make traffic through campus even worse!" But, unlike other students I took the time to go and talk to the folks working in the new booth and learned about all the valuable work they were able to do thanks to this central location.
I'd like to take this opportunity to set the record straight regarding the Vari Hall Kiosk. I am speaking now as Nicole the PERSON and NOT Nicole the RSA.
As Nicole (the person) I like to pick up the Excalibur whenever there's a new issue usually just to check out the sudoku and maybe flip through the articles. This week I noticed that the Excalibur wrote an article on the protest that The Student Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) group held against the booth on March 13th.
I was deeply disappointed to read that the Staff Writer did not take the opportunity to interview any of RSA's present at the time of the protest. One would assume that a responsible journalist would want to get both sides of the issue before printing an article. One could argue that perhaps no RSA was present or willing to talk to the reporter, I would have to disagree since I was there and I know that I personally would have enjoyed the opportunity to have the RSA perspective acknowledged.
In any event the article was written and published.
There were several simple errors that were made right off the bat that I'd like to correct at this time.
-Firstly the booth that was being protested is NOT "the Red Zone Kiosk in Vari Hall." The booth that was protested was in fact the Vari Hall Kiosk, out of which the RED Zone operates. I know it might seem like a small distinction but I assure you, it is a significant one. After all you wouldn't say that
-Secondly we are not the Red Zone, that is we are not the color "red" zone. We are the RED Zone, which is an acronym that stands for The Ready. Engage. Discover Zone. We operate throughout the entire calendar year. During the summer we help incoming student get READY for their time at York, we help get them ENGAGED in student life so they can make the most of their time here, and we help them to DISCOVER all that York can offer them over the 4 years they'll be here. During the School Year we shift focus and provide services for the entire York population, that includes answering questions, giving directions, offering advice and of course interacting with students via social media. So we're MUCH more than just the color red, not that there's anything wrong with the color red!
-Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the Vari Hall Kiosk was not designed to quell student voice (despite what you may have heard or read). The development of the kiosk is actually a very interesting story!!
Way back in early 2009 York was plagued with a series of disturbing events that resulted in series conflicts occurring on campus. As a result of these events The President decided to create "The Presidential Task Force on Student Life, Learning and Community." The purpose of this Task Force was to "review the University's polices, procedure and practices and recommend ways in which the commitment to the free exchange of ideas in an environment free of harassment, discrimination or intimidation could be strengthened." The Task Force was made up of 7 Staff Members and 7 students (selected via an application process). Other active participants in the process were: The York Federation of Students, The Muslim Students Association, the York University Black Students Alliance, Hillel at York University and Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA).
So what is York's Position on Student Protest and Freedom of Expression??
-Throughout the 2009 report York reaffirms it's position as an advocate for free speech, explaining that the most serious of conflicts occurred on campus when "rival groups attempted to 'shut down' one another. Part of the protection of freedom of expression is the prevention of its abuse. Expression used to silence others is not defensible," (p9). This demonstrates the need for York to institute stricter policies regarding permission for protests to occur. Without the TUUS policies in place to ensure everyone has the space, time and opportunity to speak without being "shut down" by people opposed their position how can any meaningful protest occur?
-York actively encourages the expression of controversial ideas and opinions explaining that "all members of the community must remain open to dissenting views and it would be inappropriate and wrong in a university to prevent those with view different from our own from expressing themselves freely and openly, our primary focus is on promoting MORE SPEECH AND EXPRESSION, rather than less. We believe there needs to be more and better opportunities for dialogue, debate and discussion on the York Campus.
How does the RED Zone fit into this debate??-The Task Force wanted to determine how to go about creating more effective communication with and between students. One of the recommendations was "a more visible and enhanced information booth IN or near VARI HALL, IN PLACE OF THE CURRENT OPERATION in the Vari Hall/ Ross Building Link, to provide information of interest to members of the community as well as visitors," (p16). This change was implemented in the form of the RED Zone, operating out of the newly constructed Vari Hall booth. The RED Zone fulfills the mandate of providing more information to students about "matters of interest to them at York in way that were
easily accessible [by using] online media/ to communicate with students.
If you want to read up on the FACTS behind the creation of this booth I invite you to READ the report published in 2009, click on the link at the bottom of the page.
If you wanna chat about anything that you've read here please feel free to comment below!
As always remember to take it one day at a time and catch me in the Zone!
Nicole
20 comments:
I loved your blog post, it was very informative and definitely opened my eyes.
Because referencing the administration on why the administration decided to build the kiosk is very credible.
"in early 2009 York was plagued with a series of disturbing events that resulted in series conflicts occurring on campus."? really? what were they? You criticize Excalibur for irresponsible journalism and then pull the same crap, hypocrite. Without the proper context, how can we really understand what the true motives behind creating the kiosk were?
"Rival groups attempted to 'shut down' one another." - this is a false statement. Rival groups both used the space to make sure the message and the counter message was heard. This does not mean that one tried to 'shut down' the other. It's a violation of our democratic rights to stop protests and counter protests. Having the presence of both is a valued component of democracy!
Secondly, the RED Zone was set up and operates under the administration. We see that with the presence of SC&LD folks like Ross McMillan. It should be handed over to the YFS to truly increase the student voice.
Finally, there would have been no objections if the kiosk was built NEAR Vari Hall rather than IN it.
"This demonstrates the need for York to institute stricter policies regarding permission for protests to occur. Without the TUUS policies in place to ensure everyone has the space, time and opportunity to speak without being "shut down" by people opposed their position how can any meaningful protest occur?"
this is a joke. yes, how can meaningful protests occur when TUUS is policing student activity/shutting it down?
Thank you all for your comments!!
@Dshamz I tried to provide as much evidence as I could so that my post was not based solely on personal opinion.
@YUtalkshit I invite you to read the first three pages of the 2009 report which I have posted in my blog for more information as the incidents I was referring to. Hopefully that helps to clear up any questions you might have. (Here's a direct link http://www.yorku.ca/vpstdnts/initiatives/taskforce/report/index.html )
@HumHumI think we can all agree that when protests occur at the same time tensions can be a little high for all those involved. Sometimes resulting in escalation of otherwise peaceful protest and could result in injury which of course no one wants. If you take a closer look at the 2009 report you'll notice that it recommended that the kiosk be moved from the Vari/Ross link to a more central location.
@Aysha What I meant by that comment was that if we want to ensure that all protests have equal opportunity to occur and that all persons engaged in protests are safe there needs to be policies in place to ensure equity of space, time and safety. I honestly did not mean to suggest that protests should be shut down. I am strong advocate of student voice and the right to freedom of expression.
Folks, true freedom of expression is when everyone feels safe to express differences of opinion, to share and debate without personal insult, to be vehement and strong about your views, without destroying the other person in the process.
There is plenty of room in there for freedom of expression, which has a legitimate purpose, and is not humiliating or intimidating, however, as a community, and as individuals, you are called upon to use your freedom of expression respectfully with one another.
Exercise your rights with respect to the rights of others!
High tensions isn't a bad thing, Nicole. It's a component of democratic expression.
The only injury that I'm aware of during a protest at York in the past decade was when the York admin had police officers beat up students in Vari Hall.
Activist groups coordinate with security to avoid injury. But nothing else justifies "stricter" policies in a liberal democratic society.
According to the TUUS office itself, Vari Hall isn't the only central location. That's what they told SAIA when they tried to get the group to move the protest somewhere else. The report's recommendation to move the kiosk to "a more central location" doesn't necessarily mean Vari Hall. And if it did, then clearly, it was wrong to suggest something that has clearly upset many students.
I encourage you to familiarize yourself with liberal democratic principles of this country by reading material from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
I think it's worth pointing out that in recent weeks there have been a number of protests in Vari Hall which have been either harassed or outright shut down by York security.
There was a small silent protest against Islamophobia. Security was gathered around the kiosk and immediately began to harass them when they entered the hall, demanding that they show permits and student IDs, threatening to call the police on them. They were forced to move to the Student Centre.
Soon after, Tamil students held a 1-day solidarity hunger strike around the kiosk. They were harassed by security multiple times and asked to leave, and were misled about the legal nature of university space (security claimed that it was 'private property', which is heavily contested if not outright false).
And then there is the SAIA rally which occurred several days ago, for which the group submitted an application for the use of the space a number of weeks ago. Shortly before the rally, the university told them that no application was submitted, which is untrue.
Look, to try and deny that the administration has been attempting to prevent oppositional and political student speech in Vari Hall is not 'conspiratorial', it's been an established fact for quite some time. This is again becoming increasingly evident... The reason that upper-year students know what's up is because they were around before the administration started feeding it's bullshit to students through its massive PR campaigns in which student-admin partnerships like the REDzone and York is U play an important ideological role in getting students to identify with them.
@HumHum I think it’s a little unfair to say that the York admin had police offers beat up students, since York has no control over the actions of the Toronto Police. This incident, which you are referring to, was one of the reasons that York created the Task Force mentioned in the 2009 report. In an effort to keep everyone safe TUUS created it’s policies regarding protests. I know that Vari Hall is easy to locate and it does have a great deal of space for students to meet however, the reason that it is not an ideal space for protests is because there are many classrooms, seminar rooms and offices within it. Every time there is a loud protest classes are disturbed and that robs students of the education they paid for. Thank you for recommending the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to me I will definitely take a look at their materials regarding liberal democratic priniciples.
@Dshamz I’m not sure I understand what you mean by York Security harassing protesters? If you mean that the Security officers were doing their job and asking students for their protest permits and ID’s to verify their permission to be there I don’t know if that rises to the level of harassment? But I wasn’t there so I can’t say definitively one way or the other. Plus I feel like I am not informed enough to comment on the procedures of York Security since I haven’t done any research into their operations.
As far as the SAIA rally is concerned, I cannot comment on how the TUUS office operates on a daily basis or on the efficiency of the office. But I will say that I also get frustrated when paperwork is misplaced or goes missing, so I completely understand your frustration with that incident.
I agree that the university does have specific goals with their PR campaigns, I mean of course! What I’m suggesting is that sometimes a help desk is just a help desk. I cannot speak for YorkisU but as far as the REDZone is concerned, we are just a group of students that want to help other students. The work that we do on a daily basis is our own, no one tells us what to write in our blogs or what we should be tweeting, it’s all up to us. From one student to another I hope you can understand my perspective, as I’m trying to understand yours.
I think this blog is brilliant! Its was a fair and respectful way to educate people on the other side of things. I am all for people having a voice, but I don't appreciate when people use it to belittle others around them. If people are so concerned about student voice being silenced then they should take a look at the fact that YOU, Nicole are a STUDENT. Everyone who works at the RED Zone is a student. Its not fair for people to attack what you are saying when all in all they're doing it because they want to be heard. That is hypocritical is anything. You are just looking for the same respect they seem to be searching for, to be giving the chance to be heard.
Well done!
The York admin called police officers from a particularly notorious division, nonetheless, to stop a protest of no more than 10 students in Vari Hall. The admin also provided the cops with a room to use for detaining students. One of the students was dragged into the room and given a black eye. He was hospitalized. The admin didn't issue a formal apology, either.
No, loud protests do not "rob" students of the education they paid for anymore than when classes are cancelled due to a snow storm. York can, and should, tolerate and handle that in the same way.
Many of us are also students who want to help other students, but we focus on much more pressing matters, such as shedding light on how the York admin gets its scholarship funds from investing in military companies that are murdering fellow students' families in other parts of the world.
To aid you in finding relevant Canadian Civil Liberties Association material, here is the link to the letter they sent to VP Janet Morrison and Chief of Security Rob Kilfoyle: http://www.scribd.com/doc/119779231/2013-01-10-Letter-to-York-U-Re-Demonstrations
What I don't understand is why we can't all co-exist and participate in activities in Vari Hall. I realize that some of you don't appreciate the kiosk where it is. However, I didn't appreciate the protest/rally related activities that happened this past Wednesday. It disrupted the student outreach that I was trying to do with the Health Education and Promotion department. In the one hour that our activities overlapped not one person came to speak to us or see our display. Members of your activity crowded where we were located at the kiosk and there was no space for students to approach us even if they wanted to.
You did not see me take to various social media sites to aggressively disagree with your cause, your location of activities, or message. How is it fair that you do that to that to the students of SCLD? You complain about the kiosk silencing you, but leave comments saying that our departments don't deserve to exist.
The work that I do in promoting student health and wellness is extremely important to me. I believe in it as passionately as I assume that your organizations believe in the messages that you are spreading. Unfortunately I see your behaviour as entirely hypocritical. It is my hope that you find a kinder way to interact with the students of SCLD in the future. And o those of you who have respectfully engaged in dialogue (both on social media and in person), thank you.
- Morgan
Morgan, SC&LD is not a student friendly body. It fined students and student clubs in the past for protesting and for "unauthorized" tabling; it fired a "student of SC&LD" for simply sharing an event of a protest online!; It calls security who yells at student activists at their information table; and it promotes the TUUS policy, which is a violation of our freedom of expression and assembly in this liberal democratic country. If you are a "student of SC&LD", then pull out of that anti-student administrative body. You've been completely misled. Some of us have been around before the creation of that office, so there is a history here they didn't tell you about. They built that kiosk in the middle of Vari Hall precisely so you can now post this kind of opposition.
It's fair for us to take to social media sites to disagree with the location of the kiosk because the kiosk is there EVERYDAY. Our activities and protests are NOT. We don't have a PERMANENT presence in Vari Hall like the RED Zone does with its privilege.
"Every time there is a loud protest classes are disturbed and that robs students of the education they paid for."
There are other ways of thinking about this issue. Protest and political engagement is part of student life and education and a crucial way we interact with society. Students should not be herded through school into one-track careers for exorbitant fees, they should have a chance to develop themselves and should be exposed to a variety of different perspectives and methods so that we are capable of being critical and engaged human beings about important issues (i.e. high tuition fees, investments in weapons manufacturers, repression of activism on campus, etc.).
If we want to talk about 'robbing' students, we shouldn't be talking about protests lol, we should be talking about tuition fees and enclosure of student space.
As for security 'doing their job' - yes, this is correct. But it's precisely the enforcement of the TUUS (and selective enforcement, at that...) that constitutes harassment. Never mind the fact that ACTUAL rather than HYPOTHETICAL complaints about 'disruption' have been few and far between even when loud protests are held (and never mind that York has persistently ignored suggestions to soundproof classrooms if this is REALLY is a legitimate concern...), it's even the case that small, non-disruptive, even SILENT protests are targeted by security and the TUUS policy. It's totally absurd.
As for disruptions: I quote from the Canadian Civil Liberties letter to Janet Morrison and Rob Kilfoyle:
“York University is a well-respected institution of higher learning and, as such, is well placed to encourage critical thinking and questioning, even when this takes a form that may result in some level of inconvenience or interference with the everyday workings of the University. Events that are simply noisy, disruptive or cause some inconvenience are often still peaceful and, in many cases, such disruption is a core component of the nature of the protest or the message being conveyed.”
In other words, York has a responsibility to tolerate the disruption. And frankly, so do students who may be inconvenienced. The administration is investing in the murder of your fellow students' families. Business as usual can't continue uninterrupted in such dire circumstances. We have nothing against the students who work for SC&LD, but we do take issue with the LOCATION of the kiosk, NOT its existence. And we reserve our right to protest and dissent in Vari Hall.
Once again I'd like to thank everyone that has commented so far. I believe that we have had a lively debate.
However the current line of comments appear to be moving further and further away from the spirit of the post and I feel that this will only escalate resulting in hurt feelings which was not the intention of my post. I simply wanted to provide more information on the construction of the Vari Hall Kiosk.
Therefore I ask that should you want to comment further please be respectful, if your comments are not respectful they will be removed.
HumHum
Can you please state your association and where I can find information about it elsewhere online. As you come to our spaces to discuss I would like to both educate myself further on your organization(s) as well as perhaps add discussion to your spaces.
Although I very much disagree with many of the opinions you've written in your comments above (and yes, much of what you have written IS opinion), I am interested in more fact-based information to support the statements you are making.
- Morgan
My association is with SAIA and OPIRG:
https://www.facebook.com/SAIA.York
Most of what I have stated were facts. The opinions I stated are not merely my own or SAIA's.
Here is some further reading by the late York professor, David Noble:
http://canadiandimension.com/articles/1901
"If you want to read up on the FACTS behind the creation of this booth I invite you to READ the report published in 2009, click on the link at the bottom of the page."
I don't see the link at the bottom of the page.
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