Free yoga class cancelled - is guilty of "cultural appropriation"

[Barrister]

Oh wait...she was hired? I thought this was a volunteer instructor giving free classes? Maybe I misunderstood.

The article doesn't go into detail but it she new teacher uses the word "hired".

"Nothing was brought to my attention to teach in a different way or do something differently than the other instructor because none of that was really mentioned to me," Priya Shah, the new teacher, told the CBC. "When I read [about it], I was kind of thinking 'Did they hire me because I'm Indian?. . . I was born in Calgary, I grew up in Canada but my background is Indian and I've been there once before. I was there for about five months."

[grumbler]

Oh wait...she was hired? I thought this was a volunteer instructor giving free classes? Maybe I misunderstood.

The article doesn't go into detail but it she new teacher uses the word "hired".

She could be using the word "hired" pretty loosely, but it wouldn't surprise me to find that the instructor gets paid by the Center, while the classes are free to the students.  If this was more like a club, with free membership and a volunteer instructor, I'm not sure the student government could shut it down without presenting just cause.  Ending something the university is paying for would look just like the case we saw.

[Barrister]

Oh wait...she was hired? I thought this was a volunteer instructor giving free classes? Maybe I misunderstood.

The article doesn't go into detail but it she new teacher uses the word "hired".

She could be using the word "hired" pretty loosely, but it wouldn't surprise me to find that the instructor gets paid by the Center, while the classes are free to the students.  If this was more like a club, with free membership and a volunteer instructor, I'm not sure the student government could shut it down without presenting just cause.  Ending something the university is paying for would look just like the case we saw.

Just to clarify - this wasn't the university, but rather the Students Association.  Which perhaps explains the whole story.

[grumbler]

Just to clarify - this wasn't the university, but rather the Students Association.  Which perhaps explains the whole story.

Isn't the Student Federation an official organ of the university?  It is at the universities I attended.  If it isn't, how does it get the money for things like the Centre for Students with Disabilities?

And the Student Federation approach Scharf about teaching the course, which makes it likelier that she was paid (you don't approach someone to ask them to volunteer, typically) and also makes it more bizarre that the Student Federation should conclude that she isn't qualified to teach the course.

[Barrister]

Just to clarify - this wasn't the university, but rather the Students Association.  Which perhaps explains the whole story.

Isn't the Student Federation an official organ of the university?  It is at the universities I attended.  If it isn't, how does it get the money for things like the Centre for Students with Disabilities?

And the Student Federation approach Scharf about teaching the course, which makes it likelier that she was paid (you don't approach someone to ask them to volunteer, typically) and also makes it more bizarre that the Student Federation should conclude that she isn't qualified to teach the course.

Official organ?  No.  It's an independent organization, although obviously it has numerous ties and connections to the university itself.

How do they get money?  There is an agreement with the university where the university will collect X dollars as part of tuition as student fees, and then hand that money over to the students association.  I believe that unless there is gross malfeasance or theft the students association is on its own on how they spend that money, and is accountable to its membership, not the university administration.

I was the law school rep at the U of Manitoba Students Union, and being a law sstudent amongst a bunch of undergrads I was quickly the chairperson and head of the finance committee.  We never heard a whisper from administration.

[grumbler]

Official organ?  No.  It's an independent organization, although obviously it has numerous ties and connections to the university itself.

How do they get money?  There is an agreement with the university where the university will collect X dollars as part of tuition as student fees, and then hand that money over to the students association.  I believe that unless there is gross malfeasance or theft the students association is on its own on how they spend that money, and is accountable to its membership, not the university administration.

Really?  So how do completely independent organizations get the university to collect money on their behalf?  I'd bet that, legally, if the university is collecting money on their behalf, they are part of the university.  Otherwise, every company and university would sever their money-collection from their money-distribution organizations so as to sever liability.

I was the law school rep at the U of Manitoba Students Union, and being a law sstudent amongst a bunch of undergrads I was quickly the chairperson and head of the finance committee.  We never heard a whisper from administration.

My roommate was the treasurer of the University of Michigan Students' Association and he had strict guidelines from the university on what he could and couldn't spend university-provided money on.  I'm astonished that U of Manitoba provided no such regulations. 

[The Brain]

I'm astonished that this isn't yogurt.

[Barrister]

Official organ?  No.  It's an independent organization, although obviously it has numerous ties and connections to the university itself.

How do they get money?  There is an agreement with the university where the university will collect X dollars as part of tuition as student fees, and then hand that money over to the students association.  I believe that unless there is gross malfeasance or theft the students association is on its own on how they spend that money, and is accountable to its membership, not the university administration.

Really?  So how do completely independent organizations get the university to collect money on their behalf?  I'd bet that, legally, if the university is collecting money on their behalf, they are part of the university.  Otherwise, every company and university would sever their money-collection from their money-distribution organizations so as to sever liability.

I was the law school rep at the U of Manitoba Students Union, and being a law sstudent amongst a bunch of undergrads I was quickly the chairperson and head of the finance committee.  We never heard a whisper from administration.

My roommate was the treasurer of the University of Michigan Students' Association and he had strict guidelines from the university on what he could and couldn't spend university-provided money on.  I'm astonished that U of Manitoba provided no such regulations.

Yes.  Fully independent.  I'm speaking about Manitoba because that's what I was most familiar with, but I believe it's similar across Canada.

The Students Union was created by a special act of the legislature - the University of Manitoba Students Union Act, RSM 1990, c. 203.  That makes it a distinct legal entity.

Obviously there is an ongoing relationship between the university and the students association, both in terms of the university collecting fees on behalf of the students, but also the students use of university space.  If you drill down there were likely some contract between the two which set certain limits on what the association could do, but in my experience it was never, ever an issue.  We certainly didn't have "strict guidelines from the university".

Perhaps it's just one of those things that is different across the border.  But since the University of Ottawa is in Canada, I think it is therefore useful to point out that this was the actions of the Students Association, and not the University itself.

[grumbler]

Yes.  Fully independent.  I'm speaking about Manitoba because that's what I was most familiar with, but I believe it's similar across Canada.

The Students Union was created by a special act of the legislature - the University of Manitoba Students Union Act, RSM 1990, c. 203.  That makes it a distinct legal entity.

Now that is interesting.  The UoMSU is a corporation!  And this is true of all student unions in Canada? 

Obviously there is an ongoing relationship between the university and the students association, both in terms of the university collecting fees on behalf of the students, but also the students use of university space.  If you drill down there were likely some contract between the two which set certain limits on what the association could do, but in my experience it was never, ever an issue.  We certainly didn't have "strict guidelines from the university".

Perhaps it's just one of those things that is different across the border.  But since the University of Ottawa is in Canada, I think it is therefore useful to point out that this was the actions of the Students Association, and not the University itself.

Does Manitoba have a student government at all, or are student government needs deemed to be met through the corporation?

[Barrister]

Yes.  Fully independent.  I'm speaking about Manitoba because that's what I was most familiar with, but I believe it's similar across Canada.

The Students Union was created by a special act of the legislature - the University of Manitoba Students Union Act, RSM 1990, c. 203.  That makes it a distinct legal entity.

Now that is interesting.  The UoMSU is a corporation!  And this is true of all student unions in Canada? 

Obviously there is an ongoing relationship between the university and the students association, both in terms of the university collecting fees on behalf of the students, but also the students use of university space.  If you drill down there were likely some contract between the two which set certain limits on what the association could do, but in my experience it was never, ever an issue.  We certainly didn't have "strict guidelines from the university".

Perhaps it's just one of those things that is different across the border.  But since the University of Ottawa is in Canada, I think it is therefore useful to point out that this was the actions of the Students Association, and not the University itself.

Does Manitoba have a student government at all, or are student government needs deemed to be met through the corporation?

Just checking - the University of Ottawa Student Federation is a corporation under the Corporations Act of Ontario.  According to wiki at least, which is good enough for me. (because UMSU is a special act corporation, I was able to pull that act up directly).

Across Canada you see these organized styled as Student Associations, Student Unions, or Student Federations, but they could just as easily be called Student Governments as well.  They have Presidents and representative counsels.  They're typically in charge of some retail facilities, organizing student groups and certain spaces set aside for students, putting on student functions.

[Tonitrus]

I'm astonished that this isn't yogurt.

We should stop eating corn, as it was culturally appropriated from Native Americans.

[The Minsky Moment]

I've been also hearing rumors that a few Hollywood actors have been hiring non-Jewish agents.  Cultural appropriation right there.

[grumbler]

I've been also hearing rumors that a few Hollywood actors have been hiring non-Jewish agents.  Cultural appropriation right there.

Not if the non-Jewish agents are honest.  Then, there's no overlap.

[LaCroix]

More assumptions.  You have no idea how "culturally Indian" (whatever that means) the new instructor is, nor how many "culturally Indian" points the university required the new teacher to have to be able to pass the "culturally Indian" litmus test... if being "culturally Indian" was even a factor (which no one says it was).  The new teacher has the right skin color and name to satisfy the racist litmus test, so she's in.

And this is a public university doing this?  They really should know better.

"more assumptions" doesn't work for you. my discussion in the past page started because you and valmy were making the assumption that the replacement was hired solely because of her skin color. I raised the possibility that she wasn't chosen solely because of her skin color. i.e., I was calling you out for making an assumption on flimsy evidence. if you read the posts, you should be able to see this...

[Admiral Yi]

you're assuming she was chosen simply because of her looks. why couldn't she have been chosen because (1) her looks, and (2) she's culturally indian?

It's a natural inference, given that the haole instructor was shitcanned because of her ethnicity.