Students’ council at McGill hit with another resignation
Ben Ger steps down as president citing ‘personal reasons’ as turmoil continues
The president of the Students’ Society of McGill University resigned Thursday, the third prominent member of the council representing the university’s undergraduate student body to resign in just over two weeks.
The SSMU published a brief statement Thursday on its website announcing Ben Ger’s resignation without any explanation beyond “personal reasons.”
“Due to personal reasons, (Ger) felt that he was unable to continue in his duties as a representative of members of the Society,” the statement reads.
“Ben will be missed as a member of our team and SSMU thanks him for his service to the Society.”
The resignation follows Igor Sadikov’s resignation as arts representative on the council on March 8, and David Aird’s resignation as vice-president (external affairs) on Feb. 22.
Sadikov had been under pressure from inside and outside McGill to resign from the council and from the SSMU board of directors after he tweeted “punch a zionist today” on Feb. 6. After apologizing but refusing to resign for several weeks, Sadikov finally relented and resigned from the Board of Directors on Feb. 23 and from the SSMU council on March 8.
David Aird resigned Feb. 22 from his position as vice-president (external affairs) after the McGill Daily published allegations of Aird’s sexual misconduct by a group of students calling themselves the Community Disclosure Network. Aird posted a statement online after his resignation in which he said “I want to take full responsibility for the consequences of my actions, which were harmful to several women and led to the creation of the Community Disclosure Network.”
Following Aird’s resignation, a group of 18 SSMU council members wrote an open letter to McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier, published in the McGill Daily on March 2, accusing the administration of paying “little attention” to the students who had long been calling for Aird’s ousting and demanding a series of actions “to ensure the safety of students.”
On the same day, the Daily also printed a critique of that letter by Sadikov (then still a SSMU council member himself ).
In it, Sadikov said he was “disappointed” with the letter because it exclusively targets the McGill administration and “fails to acknowledge our share of responsibility as SSMU councillors for the institutional failure of the SSMU in responding to disclosures” about Aird.
Sadikov wrote that McGill’s administration should be criticized for its lack of support for survivors of sexual violence and lack of disciplinary action toward perpetrators. “But this cannot be done without first critically assessing the role of our student institutions in perpetuating rape culture and excusing gendered and sexual violence — one that I have witnessed (and participated in) within both SSMU and my faculty association this year,” Sadikov wrote.
The Montreal Gazette’s attempts to contact Sadikov, Aird and Ger on Friday were unsuccessful. Calls and emails to the SSMU office requesting an interview with any of the remaining SSMU executive members were not returned.
Speaking for McGill’s administration, Angela Campbell, Associate Provost (Equity and Academic Policies) told The Montreal Gazette she has met with the authors of the open letter.
“I let them know that the university has repeatedly condemned sexual violence, is committed to supporting survivors, and taking other actions as required,” Campbell said in a written statement.
“We have created a new Office of Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education to increase our support for survivors. The new Policy against Sexual Violence, which was developed in collaboration with students and stakeholder groups, commits to specific ongoing education and support measures, including a study of sexual violence at McGill.”
Ben will be missed as a member of our team and SSMU thanks him for his service to the Society.