An uncensored recording of a risque election forum at Trinity College on March 2 suggested that The Lit, Trinity’s satirical debating society, considered using funds for allegedly purchasing drugs, and exposed lewd questions that candidates chose to answer.
During the forum, the candidates, who were running for the Heads of College student positions, were asked to name a time that they had to make an unpopular decision or take a stand against their friends to ‘do the right thing.’ An answer to this question revealed the use of student funds for potentially purchasing marijuana for students in executive positions.
Jason Patrick Moore, who won the election for Male Head of College, answered the question by describing having to balance the budget for the Lit, Trinity’s satirical debating society.
“There was an item on the budget called ‘Food Committee’ which was used for a particular debate at the end of the year that purchased ‘substances’ for the executive. This was at the cost of a large chunk of that week,” Moore said.
“I still get flak for it today — I basically said you have to cut this out because a) alcohol is more accepted than marijuana, so you can’t really conflate the two — way fewer people smoke marijuana than drink, so it’s even less acceptable. And, two, it’s only for the executive — there wasn’t enough money to purchase it for everyone.”
Moore said he “took a stance and said ‘no, we can’t have this item on here. This is ridiculous, the Lit will not fund organized crime.”
Moore denied having knowledge of marijuana being purchased with student fees when asked by The Varsity.
“The TCLI undergoes a rigorous and independent audit each year, which it has consistently passed. I can assure the student body that no marijuana was purchased this year, nor would I allow such a thing to happen now or in the future,” said Moore.
Another question close to the end of the debate — this one anonymous — asked the candidates to play a game of “fuck, marry, kill” with three of the six current male and female Student Heads.
Moore said he’d “marry all three.”
“I would probably marry Lukas [Weese], because he’s a lot of fun to be around, and I’d love to spend the rest of my life with you buddy. I’d probably fuck Bardia [Monavari] because he has a bitchin’ beard. I’d probably kill Mitch [Nader] — but I’d have to find him first,” Moore continued.
Arunoshi Singh, the Female Head of College-elect, said she’d “marry [Victoria Lin], I would fuck [Katrina Li], and I would kill Julianne [de Gara].”
Moore said the game is part of “a joke question traditionally asked at all Trinity Head’s forums, [that] is done so with the consent of both the subjects of the question and the candidates to whom it is asked.”
Singh called it “an innocent reprieve during an otherwise serious forum.”
The Head of College is a prestigious and important position among Trinity students. The Head is expected to represent the college to the broader U of T community, oversee an annual operating budget, and act as a bridge between the college administration and its students. Two are elected every year — one male, and one female.
Editor’s Note (March 16): This article has been updated to include comment from Singh and Moore.
Editor’s Note (March 20): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Moore suggested that student funds were used to purchase marijuana. This error occurred due to a discrepancy between the phrasing of Moore’s statements as recorded in the meeting minutes, versus the actual recording itself. The actual recording does not clearly imply that student funds have previously been used to purchase marijuana, but rather that the Lit planned to use student funds to purchase marijuana before Moore intervened. The Varsity regrets the error.
