To the editors of The Varsity,

Contrary to allegations in a recent story in The Varsity (“Campus radio station faces criticism for ‘undemocratic’ elections process,” March 5, 2018), CIUT meets the University of Toronto’s expectation of student societies in both our bylaws and our operations.

First of all, the election of the Executive of the board of CIUT is transparent, and follows due process as it’s stipulated in the bylaws of the University of Toronto Campus Radio, Inc.

Secondly, and also counter to what was printed, student societies are not required to appoint Chief Returning Officers for the administration of their elections. The Policy on Open, Accessible and Democratic Autonomous Student Organizations does not regulate student societies with this degree of specificity. The Policy allows that “[t]here is no single definition of what constitutes an open organization, an accessible one, or a democratic one,” and “acknowledges that unique, autonomous organizations will choose various means to act in an open, accessible and democratic way, and that differences in the application of these principles are to be expected.”

That said, when it was first suggested that the station’s bylaws might not meet the requirements of the students’ union, at our most recent board meeting on February 26, 2018, we committed to identifying areas of misalignment between UTSU’s bylaws and the station’s, and to proposing, at our next Annual General Meeting, any correcting amendments to our bylaws that are found to be necessary.

CIUT is grateful for the funding we receive from the UTSU, and we are diligent in responsibly managing it. This funding, and the interests of the UTSU, are represented on CIUT’s board by three student delegates who are selected by the executive of the students’ union. The station and its board are tenacious in holding the student’s union to fulfill this responsibility to their members, and we’re disappointed that this year’s delegates chose to resign from their duties at a point where we were making good progress in the governance and management of the station, for all our members.

 

Steve Fruitman

President, University of Toronto Campus Radio, Inc.