The Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS)’s first Equity Commissioner, Sarah Jacobs, resigned from her position at the Dec. 3 ASUS assembly.
The position was created last winter to encourage education on equity and diversity issues within the Faculty of Arts and Science.
Although Jacobs said she left her role for personal health reasons, this year’s ASUS executive said she didn’t meet the expectations of her role despite receiving adequate . Jacobs argues the main issue was students’ discomfort in entering the ASUS Core to approach her with equity concerns.
ASUS President Jillian Evans said ASUS plans to rewrite policy for the position and hire a new Equity Commissioner by March after developing a clearer vision for the role.
In the back-and-forth between ASUS and Jacobs, it’s impossible to objectively determine whether Jacobs failed to attend her office hours because she was uncomfortable with the space, or because she simply wasn’t doing her job.
But pointing fingers in this situation is ineffective and unprofessional, and trying to settle on one side to agree with doesn’t merit much energy.
Creating a position meant to promote equity on campus formed a cornerstone of the current ASUS executive’s platform and should have been given more careful attention at the outset. The position appears to have been created quickly, with little strategic planning, in order to appeal to the student electorate.
The ASUS Equity Commissioner’s role failed to have much effect, but this gestures less to the capability of the candidate selected than to the difficulty of the task at hand.
Overseeing equity issues for all of ASUS is a daunting task that, if given to one student, should at least have a clear mandate. When shaping the new position, ASUS would do well to carefully consider what they want out of the role.
At the same time, a broad domain like equity, which includes questions like diversity, gender and ability, should be considered a portfolio under everyone’s belt worthy of individual effort and attention.
It’s unfortunate the creation of an Equity Commissioner role has ended up sparking more conflict for ASUS instead of promoting the positive change that was intended. It seems ASUS is left with more work to do where equity is concerned.
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