UBC Okanagan Conservative club ratified after backlash to ban
In a rare victory for free expression on Canada’s university campuses, UBC Okanagan’s student union has allowed a Conservative club to exist just days after voting to ban the group.
In a rare victory for free expression on Canada’s university campuses, UBC Okanagan’s student union has allowed a Conservative club to exist just days after voting to ban the group.
The about-face comes after significant blowback from the student union’s initial decision to not allow the club to form over concerns it might make some students “feel unwelcome.”
Previously, UBCO’s student union said there was no chance for appeal.
“The decision was made in alignment with our values of equity, inclusion and respect for all students,” said a representative of the student union last Friday.
The organization’s reversal of course was finalized at the conclusion of an “emergency meeting” on Thursday.
Details of conversations at the meeting aren’t clear, but the UBCO student union said “discussions around student group ratification can be complex and, at times, contentious.”
True North requested remote and in-person access to the emergency meeting but received no response.
Christian van Mook Smith of the Okanagan Conservative Club said the club was seeking ratification to “provide students of a conservative sensibility a place for free and respectful political discourse.”
The allowance of a Conservative club on UBCO’s campus appears less committal than the original denial.
The student union at UBC qualified that while allowing the club to exist, it would “continue to work diligently to balance freedom of expression with our responsibility to foster a safe and welcoming space for all students.”
If UBC Okanagan truly wants inclusiveness, then they must include people with conservative views. It shows a great deal of prejudice and a profound lack of understanding to assume that conservative is synonymous with disrespect and other negative attributes.