At a board meeting held just after vandals burned the bulletin board outside of Scarborough campus LGBTQ’s Positive Space office, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union announced that SCSU directors would undergo mandatory equity training. The only problem is that the training date, April 11, is the last day of SCSU’s term.
Poor scheduling aside, this isn’t the student union’s first brush with equity problems. Throughout the year, numerous public complaints have been lodged about the union’s VP students and equity, Ahmad Jaballah. Much of Jaballah’s work has focused on faith, and critics say he has failed to address issues like accessibility, campus safety and LGBTQ issues.
The aforementioned arson was the most recent instance when Jaballah’s reaction was criticized. The incident happened on March 29, when an unknown individual lit the indoor bulletin board on fire. News of the incident went out within minutes, and while letters of support came in to the understandably alarmed LGBTQ group over the next few days, Jaballah made little response. His name appeared at the bottom of a letter from SCSU president Rob Wulkan that was sent to all students on March 31, but only as contact information.
During the emergency board meeting the Monday immediately following the arson, Jaballah was absent attending to other SCSU-related business. SCSU chair Zuhair Syed explained that Jaballah was occupied at the time, photocopying posters for an interfaith event later that week.
“Couldn’t he have done that some other time?” remarked Chris Smith, SCSU’s VP internal.
Wulkan expressed similar sentiments. “It was a pretty lame excuse for missing the board meeting,” he said. “He should have been there. He’s paid to be there.”
Jaballah receives a $14,000 salary for his position. He has already been issued strong censures by the SCSU for failing to complete his duties. Unsatisfied by these measures, several campus groups brought forth a petition in mid-March, calling for his resignation. The SCSU ultimately voted against Jaballah’s removal, but nearly half the board was absent.
On March 31, the board passed two motions responding to the arson, decrying the actions as hateful and homophobic. Also present at that meeting was LGBTQ coordinator David Leaman, one of the students who petitioned to fire Jaballah, and the creator of the Facebook group “Stop Homophobia at UTSC.” Leaman had been upset by SCSU’s earlier decision to keep Jaballah on staff, and had mixed feelings of their handling of the matter.
“It’s depressing,” he said of Jaballah’s absence at that meeting. “But at least this time the rest of the board didn’t give us the finger.”
