Student Centre firing inspires walkouts

Raymond Kwan
Senior Staff
Recent staffing changes at York’s Student Centre may have inspired some of their employees to quit in protest.
Saqueeb Rajan, who has worked as a marketing and events manager at the York University Student Centre (YUSC) for the past seven years, learned he was fired Nov. 12.
Chris Eccleston and Sagi Mamalider, two of Rajan’s co-workers, also left their positions at the Student Centre. Rajan stated in an email that he believes his colleagues quit in a show of solidarity for him, and Rajan is grateful for their support.
In an email to Excalibur Nov. 16, Rajan said Scott Jarvis, executive director of the YUSC, and Steven Broadley, vice-president operations of the York Federation of Students (YFS), met with him to terminate his contract.
“I was given no warning […] I was handed my termination let- ter and was asked to return the office keys, credit card and phone, which I did. I proceeded to my office to get some of my personal belongings and was escorted out of the building by campus security,” Rajan stated.
Rajan said there was never any indication from Jarvis that he was being let go and that his firing came as a surprise to him.
“It is never easy [to leave], especially after seven years of loyal ser- vice, but they abided by the terms of my contract,” he added.
Jarvis declined to disclose the reasons behind Rajan’s dismissal. Krisna Saravanamuttu, president of the YFS and the YFS represen- tative to the YUSC board of directors, said “no one is in a position to comment.”
Saravanamuttu explained in an email that the board of directors meeting where Rajan’s dismissal was discussed was done “in camera,” which means that everyone in attendance is not allowed to disclose any details about what went on during the meeting.
Jarvis said he does not expect the YUSC will face any difficulties coordinating events in the wake of Rajan’s firing and Eccleston’s and Mamalider’s departures because the YUSC has contingency plans to deal with sudden absences.
“We have everything set up from now until the end of the year,” said Jarvis.
Eccleston wrote in an email that “Saqueeb [Rajan] never did anything to deserve being terminated. He was the greatest boss anyone could imagine working for and was the last person in that office that should have been let go.”
“He has so much respect from each and every one of his [former] employees and this is why we support him […] on the topic of respect, let’s talk about Scott Jarvis. Respect is something I didn’t have for him.”
Mamalider said in an the email to Excalibur Nov. 16 that he left because he didn’t agree with the direction in which the YUSC was heading after new management took over several months ago.
“Rajan’s firing was not pleasant. It does not make sense to fire someone so critical to everyday operations […] I definitely did not agree with this decision and it is also one of the reasons I quit,” he wrote.
Jarvis confirmed that the two employees quit and also speculated that they left their positions as a sign of protest against Rajan’s termination.
Rajan said he appreciated working with them, and that he is thankful for their support. “I have been very fortunate to work with great individuals over the past seven years and my cur- rent team was no exception,” said Rajan. “Although I have spoken to them individually, I would like to publicly thank them for their fantastic service and wish them the very best of luck in the future.”
Rajan is not the first YUSC manager to be fired in recent years. Rob Castle, former YUSC executive director, was suddenly removed from his position Oct. 8, 2009 by the YUSC board of directors after working there for 20 years.
The YUSC is not directly controlled by York University administrators, but they are governed by a 14-member board of directors comprised of university administration representatives, YFS rep- resentatives, elected student body representatives and a York University Graduate Students Association representative.