Claudia Culley on the Petition for PIPS Dissolution

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/10/01

*Transcript edited for readability.*

Claudia Culley is a journalism and public relations student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the Editor-in-Chief of The Runner. She enjoys hiking, baking, and making pottery in her spare time. The Runner has faced a petition calling for several changes to its structure and function and even cessation of its existence. The case has been covered by Mornings with Simi, The Runner (also here), the Vancouver Sun, and MSN. PIPS is the umbrella organization for Pulp MAG and The Runner. Kwantlen Student Association: KSA is a non-profit organization incorporated under the Society Act, independent of Kwantlen Polytechnic University. This narrative begins with reportage on activities of the KSA by the staff of The Runner, with the public chapter beginning with a petition. 

The current Kwantlen Student Association[1] Executives:

KSA Executives

• Yashanpreet Guron – President & Vice President of Student Life
• Yugveer Gill – Vice President of University Affairs
• Paramvir Singh – Vice President External Affairs
• Simranjot Sekhon – Vice President Finance & Operations
• Ishant Goyal – Associate President

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Today, we’re here with Claudia Culley. She’s the current editor-in-chief of The Runner. For a long time, I’ve always wondered why when Kwantlen means “tireless runner,” you would name it Kwantlen Runner, as in “The Tireless Runner” Runner, but there you go.

The Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) has a varied and intermittent history of financial, legal, and other controversies [Ed. As reported in The Langley Times, We Are BC Students, Surrey Now (also here), Richmond News (also here), Prezi, Peace Arch News (also here), Cloverdale Reporter, The Runner, The Peak, the Vancouver Sun, The Varsity, the Province, Kwantlen Chronicle, Maclean’s (also here), The Georgia Straight, and Link Newspaper, unfortunately]. The newest tensions—let’s not call it a clash—have arisen between the student newspaper and the student association at KPU. To step back and set the tone, what type of reporting was done before this arose?

Claudia Culley: Yes, earlier this year, we were reporting on pretty much everything the KSA was doing, mainly what they had been approving in council meetings. That is the basis of our reporting on the KSA—recounting everything in their council meetings. I’d almost describe it as an explanation of the meeting minutes before publication.

In that report earlier this year, our previous editor-in-chief, Abby Luciano, wrote a big feature story about how the KSA president at the time was banned from the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) due to sexual harassment allegations [Ed. Former Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) President Abdullah Randhawa]. We published that story earlier this year. I also wrote a smaller feature story about the same president, who allegedly hired his friend as the executive director.

There were leaked email threads between the president and their legal counsel at the time, where the legal counsel essentially said, ‘You hired your friend as executive director, and we can’t stand by this. So we’ll no longer serve you as your legal counsel.’ That was another story we worked on earlier this year.

Besides that, much of our reporting comes from council meetings. The current council for the 2024 to 2025 term experienced much dysfunction when they started their term. Not everyone agreed with each other.

For example, it took them until the end of June to form an executive committee two months into their term. So, yes, we were reporting on that. Additionally, we reported on what they were spending money on.

[Ed. Articles of note here: “Letter to the editor: Addressing misrepresentation and defamation of the KSA,” “KSA president permanently banned from CASA due to sexual harassment allegation,” “KSA dismisses CRO during in-camera session, increases meal allowance at Grassroots Café,” “Club leaders raise concerns over working with KSA and former president,” “KSA council appoints executive committee, spends $20,000 on community service initiative,” “News Brief: KSA council fails to appoint executive committee for 5th time, approves $13,000 for ‘Lok Sewa’ event,” “Frustration rises as KSA council struggles to appoint committees,” and “Previous KSA president allegedly hired friend as executive director.”]

Jacobsen: So, boilerplate—it sounds like the regular, standard–and, having been on student council before–somewhat boring reporting indicates the general tone, content, and delivery of the student association’s meetings.

That’s good, as it should be—boilerplate and boring. As we all know, if something’s exciting, it’s typically not a good thing in a journalist’s life. Regarding the bylaws and The Runner, there’s currently a firm separation where members of the student association cannot be members of The Runner’s board. This separation allows for editorial independence, in my opinion. It is supported by bylaws that separate the student association from the student newspaper.

Has this ever been challenged before?

Culley: To my knowledge, no. It might have been, but I’m not aware of it. The petition we received called for bylaw 11 in the PIPS’ bylaws to be removed, allowing KSA councillors to be on PIPS’s board and work for The Runner or Pulp Mag. 

Jacobsen: If this is done, it seems to explicitly raise ethical issues around a conflict of interest if the student association is paying someone, is part of the student association, and is also part of the board of a student newspaper that reports on the student association. These types of situations, in my opinion, could not be viewed objectively at that point. You could still have objective reporting, but the overarching environment might show a pattern of conflict of interest, at least on paper, if not explicitly.

Culley: It would be a significant conflict of interest for any KPU or KSA elected official or representative because even at The Runner, when we hire staff, we check to ensure they have no conflicts of interest. Suppose any of our reporters are covering the KSA and are also heavily involved in it. In that case, that is a conflict of interest. Our newspaper would no longer be as independent as it currently is. We need full autonomy for our reporting to be completely truthful. I could see things being swayed in that case.

Jacobsen: You’ve received some support from journalism instructor Chad Skelton. He has voiced this in print. Have there been other notable faculty members or students who have expressed support for The Runner?

Culley: Yes, recently, I’ve had many people emailing me, both from within the journalism community and students, voicing their support for The Runner, which has been kind. I’ve seen much support, with personal emails being sent to me and online posts, like on Twitter (here). So that’s been nice.

Jacobsen: Another amendment is being proposed regarding limiting the time the media has in KSA meetings. So, let’s call this limited time. How would this affect the depth of reporting students might receive in the student newspaper?

Culley: The KSA wants to change their own bylaws to allow the media to only record the first five minutes if permitted to enter the meeting. Currently, when we attend KSA meetings, we record the entire thing. We have an audio recording of the full meeting. This audio recording is important to ensure our reporting is as factual as possible. We can go back, listen to the conversations, and quote people properly. It also provides proof that these events happened. So, if anyone questions something we wrote or something that was approved, we have physical evidence to prove it. Without an audio recording of the whole meeting, I’m sure we could still report accurately by taking notes and writing down what people say. But we wouldn’t have that evidence if students wanted to verify the truth or request proof. We would then have to rely on the minutes published by the KSA. So yes, it would affect our ability to prove what is true to students.

Jacobsen: Also, there’s a call to delete all mention of the Kwantlen Student Association in The Runner, in addition to the call for the dissolution of The Runner. So, what is your interpretation of this?

Culley: Yes, I was a little shocked by it. I don’t know what to make of it, to be honest. Though I don’t have proof of who was behind the petition, I’m assuming there are certain things we’ve published about the KSA that some people would like to see disappear. So, they’re aiming to get rid of that history. It would be tragic if all of our reporting, in general and specifically on the KSA, were removed and deleted. People need to be made aware of past activities with the KSA. 

Jacobsen: So, I’ve got a few more questions. I’m looking at some of the facts here. There’s also a call for extending executive terms from one to two years. So, two questions there: What does this raise about transparency and student representation when associate degrees and other programs can be one or two years, and bachelor’s degrees are four years? Students may be there quickly, so doubling the term length is a significant change. Also, you mentioned that some people in the KSA might like something other than what’s being written. Is there a dissenting opinion within the KSA about this recent call?

Culley: Yes. So, university students pursuing a diploma would have different opportunities to be part of the student council. I can see both sides of it. Having the council serve a two-year term makes sense because, most of the time, the elected representatives spend much of their term learning their roles and responsibilities. Two years makes sense to give them time to fully understand their position and how everything is structured, allowing them to do more good work as student representatives. However, it also takes away opportunities for other students to get involved and learn about the student association.

Another thing, as a student myself, is that I see the most awareness about the KSA being spread around campus during election periods because students are campaigning, and there are posters everywhere about the elections. So, there’s a lot of talk about the KSA during the general elections. I see how not having general elections every year, but every two years, could impact student awareness. The next general election would occur in 2027, allowing the current council to serve for three years. This might affect how much students know about the KSA because elections won’t happen yearly. Students will only have pop-up events, tabling events, or other resources to learn about the KSA instead of the annual general elections.

Jacobsen: And to be clear, to refresh my memory, PIPS runs the Runner PULP Mag. So, the bylaw changes would affect PIPS itself, which would, in turn, dissolve PULP Mag and The Runner simultaneously.

Culley: Yes, that’s right.

Jacobsen: So, this is a significant call from one petition. We have a change of term limits from one to two years. We have the dissolution of two major publications with a longer history at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Also, there is a concern about a lack of editorial independence with KSA executives potentially being on the board of The Runner, as well as reduced transparency in KSA meetings where the media would have less time to be present. These issues raise a consistent concern about freedom of the press at the post-secondary level.

How would these bylaw changes also affect student rights and issues around transparency in funding? For instance, if an individual is on the KSA and The Runner or PIPS board, how would that affect transparency on financial issues? Would there also be a financial conflict of interest there?

Culley: Yes, that’s a good question. PIPS is funded by the university collecting the publication fee, which is then given to the KSA, which channels it to us. I see a situation where we might face some challenges receiving our funding if the PIPS board has KSA elected officials. Currently, our operations manager at PIPS and the board members ensure we receive our funding every semester in chunks. But I could see that potentially being affected.

Also, at The Runner and PULP, all contributing students receive compensation for the articles we publish. If we want to make changes regarding compensation, it needs to be approved by the board members. So, I could see changes with funding or decisions about who gets paid and how much, even though our operations manager oversees all of that. She handles all the payments. However, I believe the PIPS board members can remove the operations manager. So, that could be another issue—they could replace her with someone who might handle finances differently. I could see changes in how we’re funded and how we compensate our contributors. Right now, we pay everyone equally. 

Jacobsen: The PIPS contribution from KPU students is 75 cents per credit.

Culley: Yes.

Jacobsen: That’s a little bit of money. Most students don’t seem to care. If they’re concerned, some who do can email office@runnermag.ca to opt out of the fee. Is that correct?

Culley: Yes.

Jacobsen: So, how many students have opted out?

Culley: Oh, not many. Over my time at The Runner, maybe two students a year opt out. It only happens sometimes.

Jacobsen: So, I assess that it’s negligible.

Culley: Yes.

Jacobsen: Most students seem comfortable with 75 cents per credit. This brings us to the reason for this phone call in the first place, which is what raised this issue in the public eye—the petition. First, 150 signatures is a decent amount for a student petition, so credit those organizing it. However, there seems to have been some reporting that many of the student IDs submitted were invalid. 

So, what’s happening there?

Culley: Yes, we received the petition, which had 150 signatures. We immediately gave it to KPU to verify the student signatures and check whether the student IDs were valid. I am trying to remember the exact number, but many of the signatures needed to be validated student numbers; they were made up. Additionally, of the valid student numbers, we found that some students who signed the petition didn’t even know they were signing something to dissolve PIPS.

There are two stories I’ve been hearing from students. One is that they thought it was a sign-up sheet for a trip to Cultus Lake; they were told to sign the form, which would lead to a trip there. They didn’t know it had anything to do with dissolving PIPS. The other story is that they were told it was related to student politics and to sign quickly. Some of the signatures are valid, but not all are informed signatures. Some students signed the petition without knowing it was to eliminate PIPS.

Because of this, we’ve decided the petition is questionable. We need to find out how genuine it is and if this is something the students who signed up want. So, we’ve decided not to act on the petition. It’s calling for a special general meeting to have students vote on the resolutions. Still, after learning that students were misled into signing, we believe there’s an ulterior motive behind it. I should also mention that there was no reason given on the petition for why PIPS should be dissolved—there was no explanation whatsoever.

So, yes, because of that, we think there’s an ulterior motive at play, and we won’t act on the petition.

Jacobsen: Apart from the speculative frame at the end, if many of the student IDs are invalid to the point that the number of valid signatures drops below 100, that would be insufficient to reach the threshold for a special general meeting of PIPSC, correct?

Culley: Yes.

Jacobsen: So, the concerns are not only about the numbers but also about free, prior, and informed consent regarding the petition and the dissolution of PIPS, which would also affect The Runner and PULP Mag.

Culley: Yes, exactly.

Jacobsen: I’ve covered most of the major points. Did I miss anything?

Culley: Oh, I don’t think so. There’s one thing I had a question about, and you might already know this. I wanted to make sure. We’ve talked about four main concerns. First is the petition’s motion to dissolve PIPSC and remove Bylaw 11, which allows council members to be part of the PIPS board. Those are the two things on the petition.

However, the bylaw changes to extend KSA council terms to two years and limit media recording to the first five minutes of council meetings are separate bylaw changes the KSA proposes in their bylaws at their own SGM. So, they’re not all tied to the same petition; they’re separate issues. You might know that already, but I wanted to make sure.

Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time, Claudia. 

Culley: Thank you so much; I appreciate it.

Jacobsen: Thanks. You’re welcome. Bye.

–

[1] Full listing:

KSA Executives

• Yashanpreet Guron – President & Vice President Student Life
• Yugveer Gill – Vice President University Affairs
• Paramvir Singh – Vice President External Affairs
• Simranjot Sekhon – Vice President Finance & Operations
• Ishant Goyal – Associate President

Campus Representatives

• Abhijeet Singh – Civic Plaza Campus Representative
• Yashanpreet Guron – Cloverdale Campus Representative
• Jashanpreet Singh Sekhon – Langley Campus Representative
• Nitin Aggarwal – Richmond Campus Representative
• Simranjeet Singh – Surrey Campus Representative

Constituency Representatives

• Paramvir Singh – International Students Representative
• Jaskaran Sohal – Mature Students Representative
• Arnav Grover – Queer Students Representative
• Ishant Goyal – Students of Color Representative
• Lesli Sangha – Students with Disabilities Representative
• Suhana Gill – Women’s Representative

Faculty Representatives

• Jasmine Kaur Kochhar – Faculty of Arts Representatives
• Yugveer Gill – Faculty of Arts Representatives
• Dishika Gour – Faculty of Arts Representatives
• Nishant Kapoor – Faculty of Business Representatives
• Simranjot Sekhon – Faculty of Business Representatives
• Keerat Goyal – Faculty of Business Representatives
• Yuvraj Bains – Faculty of Business Representatives
• Harpal Singh (Pala) – Faculty of Business Representatives
• Bhoomika Seera – Faculty of Science and Horticulture Representatives
• Ranveer Singh – Faculty of Science and Horticulture Representatives

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