council(report(of(the(aus(equity(committee( october29...

Arts Undergraduate Society of McGill University Tel: (514) 398-1993 855 Sherbrooke Street West www.ausmcgill.com Leacock B-12 Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T7

Council Report of the AUS Equity Committee

October 29th, 2014

Consent Campaign

This past week was the Consent Campaign organized by Bianca Tetrault, our

Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, and various other groups on campus. We held a

Grey Areas & Consent Workshop on Tuesday, October 21st. It went very well and a

diversity of people showed up, which was great! Although the Consent Campaign itself

was a bit disorganized because of so many different people working on it together,

we’re very glad that it was met with enthusiasm. We hope that this campaign becomes

institutionalized and is a week-‐long event that is put on every year from here on out. It’s

important to make knowledge accessible and this campaign did exactly that by having

fun events, light and colourful graphic design, and free consent kits that included a

condom, pen, pin (don’t worry! -‐ the condom had a paper wrapper to protect it), a

resource list of support groups, and information on how to give and ask for consent

(without being awkward of course!).

LLC Apartment Crawl

Isabel attended the Language, Literature, and Cultures Apartment Crawl on

Saturday, October 18th. There were 6 stops hosted by different LLC faculties following

the theme of their stop. For example, the Classics Students’ Association had an Ancient

Greek-‐themed stop with decorations (pictures of Disney’s Hercules, the Parthenon,

Obelix cartoons, etc.), spanakopita, and red wine and soda. The Department of English

Student Association had gin and tonics (with slices of cucumber in each cup!) and fries

to stick to a UK theme. Each stop had its own unique theme and the games that were

played were very creative. Isabel was only able to attend 4 stops, but she saw that half

the stops had games that were not related to drinking, and the other 2 that did offered


alternative beverages that people felt comfortable consuming. Overall, it was a great

event that promoted an environment of inclusivity and friendliness that did not focus on

drinking. Each stop worked to promote its own culture and educate people about its

faculty, rather than be a guise for drinking. The non-‐alcoholic beverages were very

accessible and the creative food choices helped create a focus on socializing, rather than

getting drunk.

The stops were also spaced in a way that the apartments were all fairly close to

each other even though different groups went to the apartments in different orders

(apparently a formula was used to figure this out and I commend Valerie from RUSS!).

This was one of the best apartment crawls that Isabel has attended! It was a very good

model for how fun, accessible events should be run that offer people different options;

whether they want to drink, socialize, or just learn something new. The admission was

also very cheap as it was only $10. Good job LLC!

CSA, HSA, PSA Toga Party

Isabel attended the Menage a Toga party put on by the Classics Students’

Association, the History Students’ Association, and the Philosophy Students’ Association

on Friday, October 24th. It was held at Thomson House (classy venue!) and had free

admission. The organizers provided heaps of delicious authentic Greek food from a local

restaurant and provided 2 drink tickets for each attendee. One had the option of getting

a beer, wine, soda, or juice with a drink ticket. Firstly, it sets the mood if the

consumption of hard liquor is not encouraged and secondly, if the drinks that are

provided by the bar come in small regular glasses, as opposed to pints. Water was also

free and very accessible as there were pitchers right on the bar. Everyone dressed up in

a toga or ancient Greek-‐themed outfit and the focus of the event was on enjoying

everyone’s costumes and the great food that was actually filling (free dinner!) that

balanced any alcohol intake. Overall, the event was very fun and Isabel was impressed

that the admission was free even though attendees were provided with many


amenities. It was also nice to attend a toga party that actively fought the stereotype of

the wild toga party put on by a fraternity.

The only thing that was problematic was the lack of utensils at the food table.

People had to scoop up food from the trays and eat with their hands, which was quite

unsanitary (and messy!). If cost was an issue, a recommendation would be to borrow

utensils from the Plate Club in SSMU as this service is virtually free and environmentally

friendly. Good job CSA, HSA, and PSA!

Equity Complaints

This past week we received an equity complaint regarding the way that

stipended positions are run within the AUS. After a successful mediation process, all the

involved parties realized that the way to improve the current HR practice is to create

more communication and transparency between those who become employed by the

AUS and those who are responsible for these positions. As accountability is an issue that

has been widely discussed amongst AUS Councillors, we will seek to ameliorate this

problem this year. Now that we are aware of this problem surrounding the clarity, or

lack thereof, of the roles and responsibilities of AUS employees, we are working to

create a policy for stipended positions within the AUS. A lack of communication can lead

to all kinds of problems and creates a power disparity between the party that holds all

the information and the party that is dependent on the latter. We must also look more

critically into how we create pay scales and how to measure the amount of work

someone contributes when the form of payment is through a one-‐time stipend and not

an hourly position. Please feel free to contact us or President Ava Liu if you have

suggestions!

Respectfully submitted,

Vareesha Khan and Isabel Lee

AUS Equity Commissioners

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