The window of an office in the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) building was smashed on the morning of Tuesday, January 6.
Najiba Ali Sardar, UTSU vice-president, equity, shares the office with Cameron Wathey, vice-president, internal affairs.
Sardar says that neither she nor Wathey were in the office at the time of the incident.
The UTSU building, located at 12 Hart House Circle, has been targeted several times in recent years, with incidents ranging from egging to a dead pig being dragged inside the office.
At this time, while Sardar says that she cannot be sure, she believes the act was politically motivated, citing past incidents of vandalism at the UTSU office. “This has gone too far,” she said in a Facebook post, calling it “an example of the extremely problematic climate at UofT.”
Wathey says that the most recent incident is nothing new. “We have sent complaints after complaints to the university [administration],” he says. “They have told us they will look into it in person but they have not followed up with it.”
Munib Sajjad, former UTSU president, shared similar concerns when asked about acts of vandalism that occurred while he was in office last year. “We have always reported these concerns with the Vice-Provost Students Office, which is what we are told to do by central administration. We even offered to try to support anti-bullying support workshops prior to Orientation with the administration. There was no response,” says Sajjad.
Both Sardar and Wathey say they are hopeful that the issue will be solved sooner rather than later. “We will continue working hard, and I hope to have a strong last term serving on the UTSU and ensuring I do whatever I can to improve the student experience at UofT,” said Sardar in the Facebook post.
