UTSU Responds to Tuesday's Rally

Movingthrowawayuw · 11時間前

Campus Police refused to intervene when they knew of and saw trans folks being assaulted.

In the face of violence, hate speech, and threats, trans students are not safe on campus and similarly, in the face of hateful and racist remarks, black students are not safe on campus either.

Exactly zero trans or black students were assaulted or had their free speech obstructed, on the contrary, the only act of violence was from a trans student who physically assaulted a non-trans individual. To make matters worse and shed more light on this hypocrisy and disgusting bias (even when physical assault and violence is involved, they manage to introduce their radical political bias by alienating non-trans students and specific groups of students who were the actual victims, how pathetic/sad and ironically, discriminatory) black students from BLC and our very own UTSU Vice-President University Affairs, Cassandra Williams, were the only ones who obstructed free speech on campus through their childish behaviour, white noise machines, and megaphones, while shouting foul and abhorrent language.

Fuck UTSU and their ironic discrimination, hypocrisy, radical political agenda, and bias even during instances (with documented video evidence) of physical assault,violence, and blatant obstruction of free speech on campus, how sad and pathetic.

heyworl · 12時間前

UTSU General Meeting on October 27th http://www.utsu.ca/agm

Give them your opinion.

SollyWolly92 · 11時間前

Cracks knuckles Let's do this.

Last week, we saw our community at its worst

I agree entirely. There are dozens, if not hundreds of people saying they witnessed hate speech, violence, hostility and uncivil conduct by protesters at the rally.

Tuesday’s rally was marred by bigotry and violence

Oh, it looks like we agree on that.

and the Campus Police refused to intervene

Their action in mitigating the violence (verbal and physical) by the protesters were, indeed, limited.

when they knew of and saw trans folks being assaulted.

Alrighty, bucko. This is some A+ unsubstantiated claim stuff here. There are hours of video, from many view points, and yet there is somehow nothing to support this claim, where as there are videos and photographs of these same people who were "victimized" being the actual aggressors.

This is intolerable

No, you are intolerable. All violence is bad, including anti-(insert group here) violence. That being said, that same group being violent should be actively condemned by the university, and by extension, the UTSU

Even now, the University has done nothing to ensure that all students are safe on campus.

I agree with that. I have heard no statement about whether or not the person who assaulted Lauren Southern is being condemned by the University or UTSU. I heard there's a criminal charge against them. That's a start, but no word from the admin or UTSU. I'd SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! you, but we here at r/UofT knows that doesn't create the most open environment for solving problems.

In the face of violence, hate speech, and threats, trans students are not safe on campus and similarly, in the face of hateful and racist remarks, black students are not safe on campus either.

I wouldn't say they're more at risk today than they were last year. As a minority student, the only hostility I feel on campus is from groups like the protesters.

It is unacceptable for the Campus Police to fail in their responsibility to keep students safe from violence on campus, and specifically against trans students.

I agree with this statement. You don't need to specify trans students. You don't. You're making things worse if you do. Stop. Please. Stop. Nobody should feel unsafe. But I do, and I know the campus police won't stop these groups because they apparently get away with it with impunity and support from the UTSU.

We are, therefore, calling for a full, public inquiry into the University of Toronto Campus Community Police.

It really sounds like you're pointing the finger away from you. Do you think that the white noise provided by /u/FLXGRPHY (VP UA Cassandra Williams) through the UTSU didn't create a hostile environment? I think that Campus Police should've done better, but the question is what can they do? It seems like they're restricted in their action, and I think it's because they're afraid that the same people who were hostile and are now crying victim now, would target them.

An investigation by the administration—to which students have no access—will not be sufficient, an investigation must be public and done by an unbiased party.

Alright, I can agree with that. Can we do the same with the UTSU, though? Pretty ^please ?

Let's take a break and watch a funny cat video

Alright, onwards to 2nd paragraph.

If free speech is to mean anything at all, students must be free to express themselves and their identities without fear of reprisal.

I agree. I don't think anyone should face reprisal for their identities. This means that people who shout hate speech should be condemned by admin, UTSU, and all individuals in society. Nobody exempt.

The University has a responsibility to secure this freedom from fear, and it is failing--through deliberate inaction.

I agree. But it seems we're on two different sides of who is spreading fear, violence, hate speech, and hostility, and it happens that my side has The Varsity spreading inaccurate information about Nazi sightings and videos of protesters shouting racial slurs.

We condemn this failure.

Good job. You're making a big difference in the world by pointing the finger away from you.

That being said, I, too, am disappointed by Campus Police officials that were there, but I understand their reluctance to participate in something that would be so obviously skewered after the fact.

We affirm the value of freedom of expression,

There's a but coming, let's postpone it though, because clauses on fundamental freedoms are a bit of a no-no.

but there can be no freedom of expression without dignity for all,

Actually, I agree with this. ~~Let's be decent humans.~~ SHAME!! SHAME!! SHAME!! SHAME!! SHAME!! SHAME!! SHAME!! SHAME!! White noise and UTSU supporting hostile environments

Well, that got out of hand. Seems some people have more trouble being decent than others.

and trans students cannot truly enjoy freedom expression, let alone participate in debate, when they are not treated with dignity, especially by those in positions of power.

This is a great point, I know for sure that their voices were not encouraged by the rally attendees (see first 40 seconds) and the mic certainly was not open to them for debate. Also, did I forget to mention they were the ones not treating others with dignity?

While many of our interactions with some individual people in the University Administration have been positive and encouraging, it is the institution that must be moved and it currently is unwilling.

Yeah, and it seems to be unwilling to move either way.

Only a public inquiry will begin to restore confidence in the ability of the University, and of the Campus Police in particular, to guarantee the safety of students on campus. It will not solve the problem, but will help.

I don't know who you're asking, but I hear TONS of other actions possible to begin to restore confidence in the ability of the university.

The UTSU condemns all forms of violence and hateful speech.

It sure doesn't look like it, and the UTSU knows that.

The UTSU stands in solidarity with trans students, with Black students, and with everyone else who has been forced to endure violence, threats, and hateful speech.

The UTSU stands in solidarity with the Free Speech attendees. You heard it here first, folks.

Yours in service, The UTSU Executive

5 days late

And much too little.

Semen-Thrower · 11時間前

I actually expected them to condemn Cassandra Williams, not for them to further the bullshit narrative the SJWs are trying to spin. Jokes on me, I guess.

atred3 · 13時間前

Campus Police refused to intervene when they knew of and saw trans folks being assaulted.

In the face of violence, hate speech, and threats, trans students are not safe on campus and similarly, in the face of hateful and racist remarks, black students are not safe on campus either.

It is unacceptable for the Campus Police to fail in their responsibility to keep students safe from violence on campus, and specifically against trans students.

trans students cannot truly enjoy freedom expression, let alone participate in debate, when they are not treated with dignity, especially by those in positions of power

What a joke of an organization.

doritopope · 12時間前

Speaking as someone who was fucking there, the spin on what actually happened at the rally is frankly hilarious.

babydollkilla · 13時間前

If free speech is to mean anything at all, students must be free to express themselves and their identities without fear of reprisal.

Yeah, that's why a UTSU member went to the rally and yelled "SHAME" at people who were trying to express themselves and their ideas. Right?

To be fair, a lot of people at the rally WERE acting like assholes and saying nasty things towards transgender and nonbinary people. That's not okay. That said, I still can't help but feel there is a twinge of hypocrisy to be found here.

readysteadythrowa · 13時間前

If I ever saw an extreme case victim complex, this is the one.

Edit: ITT: UTSU ignores existence of Cassandra Williams or any aggressive SJW's even though they promised to answer questions.

rjtalks · 12時間前

This is an outrage. Honestly, it is beyond the extent that even I expected from the UTSU to distribute such a deeply partisan statement. The addition towards the end to hedge their clear agenda is not enough. This is disgusting. I think this shows how complacent the UTSU is with the violence shown towards its own members who do not conform to its own agenda.

Disgusting. Shame on the UTSU. I have spoken in defence of them against the BLC, but this is pushing things further away from any kind of sanity they had.

TotesMessenger · 10時間前

I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:

[/r/uwaterloo] More Juicy UofT Drama: Remember that trans student that physically assaulted someone for smiling,and the Black Liberation Collective and UTSU VP that ironically obstructed a free speech rally. This is our student union's vile,clear victim-complex,shamefully biased,and radically political response.

^{If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads.} ^(Info ^/ ^Contact)

AnAverageWhiteGuy · 13時間前

You gotta be kidding me

Though on second thought I am not that surprised smh

Movingthrowawayuw · 12時間前

I always think it can't get any worse, but UofT's administration and UofT's student unions somehow manage to prove me wrong through their evident,appalling, and shameful radical political bias. Despite all the letters we've sent and time we've wasted, this is the response we get, a disappointment and depiction of how they handle these matters through turning a blind eye on certain students, is the understatement of the century.

They somehow manage to completely leave out that the only actual physical assault with documented video evidence and silencing attempts on freedom of speech were from those on the trans and BLC opposition. Another disappointment UofT.

Woah_Moses · 9時間前

so they assault reporters, lie to police, and censor speech (all of which there is video evidence of) then complain about violence being done to them......

heyworl · 8時間前

Just to give this visibility as it was downvoted and thus may be hidden: https://www.reddit.com/r/UofT/comments/57u917/utsu_responds_to_tuesdays_rally/d8v8np8

UTSUVPInternal · 13時間前

For whatever it's worth, I'll be around later to respond to people.

sorryimachampion · 7時間前

SHAME

ZohanDvir · 8時間前

Mods should tag this as a shitpost, that's what it really is.

UTSUVPInternal · 10時間前

/u/rjtalks, /u/infernvs666, /u/atred3, /u/tomato_not_tomato and others:

We said that we condemn "all forms of violence and hateful speech." That was intentional, and sincere. We didn’t want to get into a play-by-play of the rally. There was violence (including against trans people) at the rally. Campus Police did nothing, and now we’re calling for a public inquiry (and, no, we’re not suggesting that the UTSU should conduct the inquiry). We talk about marginalized people so much because we have a special responsibility to look out for them. As for the BLC, they’re very angry at us, but, when you hold elected office, you don’t get to condemn and ignore everyone who doesn’t like you. That’s why I’ve made a point of being active on this sub.

Oh, someone mentioned elections—we’ve spent the last week getting torn apart by both the left and the right, which is actually kind of impressive, so I really couldn’t give less of a fuck about elections.

ryanthelombax · 13時間前

The UTSU condemns all forms of violence and hateful speech. The UTSU stands in solidarity with trans students, with Black students, and with everyone else who has been forced to endure violence, threats, and hateful speech.

Just gonna leave that quote from the end here

sudow00do · 13時間前

13 minutes and the alt-right shit posters have already gotten to this, nice.

fegasaurus · 10時間前

Can someone give a TDLR please

UofT

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