Carleton student union head now wants to reverse decision to kill fundraising event
Carleton University’s student union will be asked to reverse a controversial decision to scrap its annual Shinerama fundraiser.
The union had voted 22-2 in favour of dropping the popular Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser because the disease “has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men,” according to the motion brought forward by student representative Donnie Northrup.
The motion suggests “all orientees and volunteers should feel like their fundraising efforts will serve the their diverse communities.”
Cathleen Morrison, CEO of the Canadian CF Foundation, told reporters on Tuesday the decision was based on false information. She said CF affects men and women equally, and while more common among Caucasians, it afflicts all races.
Brittany Smyth, president of the Carleton University Students’ Association, defended CUSA’s intentions, saying members simply wanted to explore other charities to donate to after actively supporting CF for years.
“I both respect and admire the students’ commitment to the cause of raising funds for cystic fibrosis,” said Smyth in a statement. “I believe this issue has been blown out of proportion but the motion was never meant to imply that raising funds for Cystic Fibrosis research was not a worthwhile cause.”
Smyth apologized for the negative media attention the story garnered, and said “the responsible thing to do is reverse the decision.”
Students had planned to protest the motion in a rally on campus tomorrow (Thursday).
Carleton University president Roseann O’Reilly Runte issued a statement on Wednesday to express her “personal regret” over the original decision, and criticized language contained within the motion “which was not appropriate
and which has raised considerable concern.”
Runte said Carleton students have donated nearly $1 million to CCFF through the Shinerama program.
“It is, however, the students’ right to donate their time and funds to the charity of their choice,” said Runte in a statement.
Several media outlets said the CUSA decision was racially-motivated, while one student union member called the decision “political correctness gone horribly wrong.”
Smyth told reporters the union’s intentions were simply to spread the wealth to other deserving charities, and said she was shocked at the national response the story garnered.
“I know that Carleton students are fine young scholars who wish to be responsible and considerate,” said Runte. “I am sure that they did not intend to offend by the preamble to their motion, but I am also sure that they now understand the effects of that language... I am convinced that our students will do the right thing and take the appropriate course of action.”
-with files from The Canadian Press
Uggh, this misses the point. Should I not donate to sickle cell charities because it afflicts mostly blacks? Maybe I should avoid Tay Sachs charities because I'd just be helping the Joooz. These people are sick, sick, sick.
Carleton U. — now forever known as the “University of Morons”
Of course, they have many close contenders for that crown, but not so many where the student govt. could vote 22-2 in favor of such a nutty motion.