Students March To ‘Take Back Our Campus’
April 1, 2019
The Student Center Circle rang loudly with chants of “taking back our university!” last Tuesday as students rallied in response to recent reports of sexual misconduct involving a CCSU mathematics professor and of an emerging lawsuit against the campus police department.
Roshanay Tahir, president-elect of the Student Government Association, said that the rally had the purpose of helping the students affected by these reports.
“Ultimately, the goal is to take back the university and make it more about students so people can realize students are supposed to be put first,” Tahir, the rally’s organizer, said. “It’s our tuition money that is being put into the school, it is our effort that is being put into it, so we want to take our university from the faculty and the unions that have us tied down.”
SGA President Kassandra Fruin shared a similar goal.
“We want to make sure that students are heard and figure it out from there how we can communicate that with the administration because they have been asking us what can we do more of,” Fruin said. “My hope is that we continue this conversation and I am assuming it is going to take a while, so this rally was just the starting point.”
One issue that the SGA is tackling, they said, is the disconnect among students and faculty, as well as the lack of transparency of faculty’s union contracts that can protect professors from getting fired.
Fruin said that the SGA is beginning to have conversations with faculty so students can get educated on these contracts.
“One of the main problems that we are digging into more is that we want to look at the union contracts,” Fruin said. “Like the math professor, the only reason he is still here on campus is because he was protected by his contract and the overturn of the [Board of Regents], which was extremely disappointing. So we just want faculty to educate us on these contracts.”
Other CCSU students also shared some concerns.
Armando Osorio, president of CCSU’s Pride Organization, criticized the CCSU administration’s handling of the several sexual misconduct reports.
“The school, the faculty [and] the administrators need to work for students and, honestly, the web of apathy is reflected within the administration, too,” Osorio said. “They like to sweep things under the rug by saying, ‘We are planning’ or, ‘We are strategizing’ or, ‘We are creating a task force’ for problems that we already know are an issue. It’s so frustrating for students who just want to feel better about going to class or living on campus and having the best college experience. It’s about time that CCSU pays up.”
Victor Constanza, a student activist, expressed his discontent with CCSU’s faculty and the BOR.
“It’s sad to see faculty not standing up for their own students because at the end of the day, they are here for us, they are not here for themselves,” Constanza said at the rally. “The BOR has to take a stand on this. The BOR has disappointed us before and, us as students, we have to stand up and fight back.”
CCSU President Dr. Zulma Toro did not attend the event, but stated in an email sent to all students and faculty that she is taking the appropriate measures to address both the sexual misconduct case against the professor and the lawsuit against the CCSU police department.
“I have promised this before, and I am as committed as ever to take the necessary actions to protect our students, faculty, and staff and to ensure our campus is a safe and welcoming environment for all,” Dr. Toro wrote in the email.
Ultimately, Tahir said that the SGA’s effort was successful in uniting students toward addressing these issues within the CCSU community.
“I felt the energy around us and I know students are standing in solidarity, especially with all these stories being shared,” Tahir said.
