Kanchi Uttamchandani | Assistant News Editor
Featured image: The 2017 town hall is President Mamdouh Shoukri’s last at York. | Amir Yazdanparast
York’s activist community demanded answers from the university’s senior administration at its annual town hall on Tuesday afternoon. YU Divest and Real Food, Real Jobs members questioned York’s investment ethics and criticized the working conditions of campus food-service workers.
Vice-President Finance & Administration Gary Brewer acknowledged that divestment remains a hot topic across North American campuses.
“In the case of the endowment fund, in particular the divestment in weapons, the university does have a process by which members of the community can come forward with requests for the university to consider whether they should, in fact, be investing in certain stocks and so forth. This process involves a group called YUACRI [York University Advisory Committee on Responsible Investment],” stated Brewer.
Brewer said that York has received a request for weapons divestment, which is still making its way through YUACRI as per protocol. He promised to fulfill the promise of due diligence once it reaches him and the rest of the executive board.
He adds that York’s endowment and pension funds are invested from a fiduciary point of view, and that York must invest these funds to achieve the purpose for which they were entrusted to the university.
YU Divest and Real Food, Real Jobs member Brandon Hart was disappointed with Brewer’s response: “The administrators pointed to YUACRI and the process that responsible investment proposals go through, rather than taking individual principled stances on the university’s investment in arms manufacturers.”
Other concerns included the working conditions of Aramark employees on campus.
Hart grilled York about the state of collective bargaining between Aramark and its employees while questioning the job security of workers if York terminates Aramark’s contract. In response, Brewer said he is not fully aware of the situation and that the director of Food and Operations is in charge of all contractual agreements with service workers.
“This baiting of students with [these] processes is simply a stalling tactic and a scapegoat used by the administration to deflect questions about important issues on campus,” argues Hart.
Hart says that both coalitions look forward to YUACRI’s recommendations on York’s investments in weapons, as well as the results of the bargaining process between food service workers at York and Aramark.
The town hall, President Mamdouh Shoukri’s last such event, featured presentations from senior administrators who provided updates on capital projects, academic planning, impact of research and community engagement strategies.
In his final remarks, Shoukri emphasized York’s key strengths, such as building interactive relations with community stakeholders, an ongoing commitment to social justice issues, safety initiatives and campus diversity.
Other concerns raised by attendees included York’s inadequate mechanism for addressing sexual assault grievances and overall safety on campus.
“It is important to make sure we have a safe campus, and safety to me is much broader than physical safety. I think the data shows that we clearly have a very safe campus. However, it is never enough and we will continue to make sure we are creating an environment for our students to help them learn,” says Shoukri.
Shoukri emphasized inclusivity and diversity on campus, including searching for common ground and accommodating a variety of opinions.
