Vol. CXXXVII, No. 12 December 5, 2016 thevarsity.ca —— The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
This holiday season try one of these family favourites from the homes of our contributors FEATURE — page 12
U of T Ombudsperson’s report released Report raises “disturbing” mental health accommodation concerns Tom Yun News Editor
The Office of the Ombudsperson’s annual report has been released, with a particular focus on the complaints it received surrounding mental health accommodations. Of the 316 complaints received by the Ombudsperson in the 2015–2016 academic year, 26 of the complainants were registered with accessibility services for mental health reasons; some complaints related to accommodations.
SMCSU under fire after videos leaked Behaviour of union reps at private party called Islamophobic Helena Najm and Tom Yun Varsity Staff & News Editor
Vice-President Kevin Vando of the St. Michael’s College Student Union (SMCSU) has announced his imminent resignation. The union is facing criticism after two Snapchat videos involving Vando and former SMCSU Councillor Sara Gonsalves that are making the rounds on social media have been called Islamophobic. In one of the videos, Gonsalves is seen reading from the book Islam for Dummies, and in another, she can be heard singing, “would you be my Muslim boy” to the tune of Estelle’s “American Boy.” The videos were reportedly recorded by Vando at the house of Joseph Crimi, who served as SMCSU’s Vice-President last year and was celebrating his birthday on November 19. Current and former SMCSU councillors and executives were among the attendees.
The Snapchat filter on the video reads, “SMCSU PRESENTS: JOSEPH CRIMI’S 22ND BIRTHDAY.” Crimi has denied any direct involvement with the behaviour shown in the videos, insisting that his ties to the actions do not go beyond his name being on the Snapchat filter used. “I am very upset about this video and the things being portrayed,” Crimi told The Varsity. “Although this was my birthday, I definitely do not condone the actions of these guests, and having served as a student leader for four years I am very upset (as are my parents) that I am being portrayed in such a discriminatory and hateful light, which in reality I am not.” Crimi urged students to be more vigilant with what is posted on social media and apologized for the incident: “Today, people need to be more aware of what they post on Snapchat and Facebook, and should be very concerned and careful in how they act. We life [sic] in a world and go to a university in which discrimination is absolutely intoler-
Ombudsperson, page 3
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able. I am sorry to all those offended by the content in the videos.” The videos were originally posted to Twitter on December 2 by an anonymous account with the handle @Utsgstudent. It was subsequently shared on Facebook by Zeinab Aidid, a fourthyear student at U of T. Aidid’s post has over 1,300 reactions and over 800 shares. When asked of her motivation for sharing the video, Aidid replied that she wanted to create a dialogue and hoped that the video would incite change. “We want the University of Toronto to actively be trying to be a safe space for Muslim students,” she said. “We the Muslim students on this campus demand that these changes be made.” The Muslim Students’ Association at UTSG issued a statement on Facebook condemning the video. The group says that it has spoken with the St. Michael’s College administration, the Multi-faith Centre, and the Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office. SMCSU, page 3