Warning: This story incorporates offensive language.
Two union teams at Conestoga School are condemning “derogatory” feedback by the Kitchener, Ont., college’s president and calling for him to think about retiring, as the faculty conducts an inner assessment.
Locals 237 and 238 of the Ontario Public Service Workers Union (OPSEU) despatched a joint letter to Conestoga on Friday that condemns John Tibbits’s “derogatory feedback,” reportedly made throughout a latest presentation concerning the faculty’s affect on the neighborhood and economic system.
Final week, Tibbits was heard referring to David Orazietti, the president of Sault School in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., as a “whore,” the web site CambridgeToday reported.
Tibbits’s feedback got here after Orazietti referred to as Conestoga School a “unhealthy actor” in the case of worldwide college students. Orazietti has additionally referred to as for Ontario’s auditor common to analyze Conestoga School.
Tibbits responded to Orazietti’s feedback by pointing to Sault School’s partnership with triOS School — a few of Sault School’s college students are enrolled in two of the personal faculty’s campuses within the Higher Toronto Space (GTA).
“Like Orazietti, why are his goddamn college students in Toronto? Why not up there?” Tibbits stated. “Discuss a whore, I imply, he is taking a share of the income of an operation.”
‘Make house for variety’: union locals
In an interview with CBC Okay-W, Tibbits stated he regretted utilizing the derogatory phrase, however he was not sorry he made vital remarks about Sault School.
Within the unions’ joint letter, OPSEU Locals 237 and 238 stated they wished to “categorical our condemnation of the president’s latest public derogatory feedback about {sex} staff and worldwide college students.”
An apology and investigation are solely the primary steps to re-establishing Conestoga’s values of inclusivity and respect; we’re additionally calling for John Tibbits to think about retirement.- OPSEU Locals 237, 238
“An apology and investigation are solely the primary steps to re-establishing Conestoga’s values of inclusivity and respect; we’re additionally calling for John Tibbits to think about retirement,” it stated.
Native 237 represents school and Native 238 represents help workers at Conestoga.
The letter stated Tibbits’s feedback go towards the faculty’s worker code of conduct, and utilizing the phrase is hurtful to girls and {sex} staff.
The monetary state of affairs of worldwide college students has made headlines in latest months, with many complaining it is tough to seek out housing and afford meals. The letter additionally stated Tibbits’s description of worldwide college students — that they are “‘selecting to dwell the way in which they do'” — are “ignorant, hurtful and unfaithful remarks.”
“Retiring will sign that he’s taking duty for his actions, and it’ll give him house to mirror on the hurt these feedback have wrought,” the letter stated.
“In retirement, he can have the time he wants to teach himself on the damaging impact of sexist language and narratives that stigmatize {sex} staff and worldwide college students. In our joint duty to champion fairness, variety, and inclusion, we ask the president to take duty for his actions and make house for extra variety in Conestoga’s management.”
School says ‘language used is unacceptable’
In a letter issued Thursday, Conestoga’s board of governors stated they had been involved about Tibbits’s remarks.
“The language used is unacceptable and doesn’t align with the values and ideas of our establishment,” the assertion on the faculty’s web site stated.
“Dr. Tibbits has communicated his remorse for making these feedback and apologizes for the offensive remarks. The board is reviewing this matter internally.”
