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NEWS: Queen’s Canoe Club suspended after allegations of discrimination
Queen’s Canoe Club was suspended on 17th November 2009 for the remainder of the academic year due to a number of complaints that were made about the club. As a result of the suspension, the club are not allowed access to either Queen’s Sport or the Students’ Union and their account has been frozen.
BY KERRI-ANNE CAMPBELL
The club’s only two coaches have been banned for a period of three years. However, one coach is currently appealing the decision. They have also been banned from the Students’ Union and are therefore unable to socialise with their fellow club members who still meet for drinks every Tuesday night in the SU as friends.
According to President of the club, Dave Gowdy, “It all started last year when a member of the club made a complaint about us.”
The club organised a trip to France last year, and one club member failed to fulfil the necessary criteria due to injuries she had sustained in a serious accident. Failing to fulfil the criteria meant that she was unable to go on the trip. She was later removed from the Canoe Club Committee for not adhering to the Constitution the club has in place, stating that if you are unable to attend meetings you must inform the committee in advance with apologies. As a result, she then made a complaint that members of the club were discriminating against her.
Student Plus carried out an investigation in to the matter and the club was then later suspended. Gowdy said, “We needed to accept the suspension so we could just move on and look forward to next year. However, the entire handling of the situation was strange and bias. Also, the investigation took months which wasn’t necessary. A barrister even told me the investigation was carried out illegally.”
Gowdy said, “I had to direct all questions I received from club members to Shane Brogan. I couldn’t answer them myself because it was thought that I could be putting myself at risk.”
Gowdy and his fellow committee members maintain that they did not discriminate against another member of the club.
Complaints have been made continually over the past four years and certain club members believe it is by the same group of people who would like to see the club abolished. Gowdy claims that he was even mentioned in a particular complaint even though he was not involved.
Gowdy feels that conditions of the club have deteriorated as a result of the suspension. “The club has changed. We all feel disheartened by the entire situation. Freshers who joined this year have all drifted away and some of our international students have emailed me telling me how much they miss the club. The Varsity Committee even told me that we were missed this year,” he said.
Gowdy refuses to remain as President of the club next year because he feels totally discouraged by the situation. “It was very stressful and just too much hassle.”
Gowdy asserts that SU President, Shane Brogan and VP Clubs and Societies, Paul Courtney were very helpful in sorting everything out.
In a letter that was sent to every club member, Brogan stated, “It is hoped that arrangements may be put in place to revive the club at the end of this suspension, provided the conditions agreed in September are met.”
There are now new regulations and more training for Queen’s clubs and societies as a result of the Canoe Club’s suspension. When asked, Brogan and Courtney refused to comment as it is a “sensitive issue at present”.
According to Gowdy, “It’s still all up in the air at the moment. If we are allowed to come back next year we need to be very careful. We feel like we have to tip-toe on egg shells.”
The club are fortunately able to recruit new coaches for the next academic year. Gowdy said, “We are a small, close knit club. We are laid back and not very formal. We are all friends and we just love getting outside and experiencing the adrenalin rush we get from being on the water… We hope that everything will continue as normal next year.”
Tags: Canoe club banned, Gown, Kerri-Anne Campbell, newspaper, qub, Queen's, queen's university, student, The Gown
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 8th, 2010 at 11:14 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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I can’t help feeling sorry for this really close group of guys. It’s really crap that 1 girl can bring the whole thing down. These coaches should be reinstated so they can get out paddlin, who gives a shit what they did to her if the rest were getting something out of it
@ I wonder…
Knowing this case, I also know that the majority of this article is half truths told in a certain way.
If the author was actually given any of the actual evidence and not just word of mouth I am sure we would have a completely different article
@ Sarah Blackthorn
@ Simon Hamilton
The article does state that there is an appeal going on.
Has no-one picked up on the fact that since the suspension was carried out in November, and the appeal is still going on that maybe Queens have decided the best course of action is to sweep it under the carpet and hope it goes away. Seems to be the policy continually used
@ Kerri-Anne Campbell
Did you bother doing any research for this article?
Speak, or attempt to speak to all parties involved?
Even attempt to gather reliable, unbiased evidence or do you just base articles on unsubstantiated, unverified word of mouth?
@ Based on true events (or not)
I have spoken at full length with David Gowdy, President of the QUB Canoe Club. Unfortunately the Student’s Union refused to comment on the suspension. I have also been in contact with various parties involved. I am still researching this current issue and I do hope to further this article in the near future.
Kerri-Anne
Ms Campbell
If you haven’t heard from both sides yet then why write the article giving only one side’s perspective? Suspending an entire club isn’t an action to be taken lightly and I’m sure it isn’t an easy thing to do, so this would suggest that there may be some merit to the SU’s decisions. Have you spoken at all with the student who raised the allegations?
@ Hardened Cynic
Thank-you for your questions. I do understand that the suspension of the club is a sensitive issue. I am currently in the process of speaking with various parties and I do plan to update this article in the near future.
If an investigation is ongoing through Queens and Gowdy represents a Queens club in its official capacity, suspended or not then why would he be talking at length with a reporter on a subject that is meant to be confidential, giving personal details of the people involved? Surely that is a severe breach of trust and against Union complaints proceedure rules, bringing the investigation into disrepute while trying to win the popular vote. Maybe they aren’t the lilly white vicims they profess to be
@ Kerri-Anne
As I am aware of the full facts of this investigation I would ask you why you did not obtain from Dave Gowdy any material to back up his fictitious version of these events, had you done so you may have found that you were misrepresenting everyone involved.
I may remind you that with power comes responsibility and with the power to publish to a large audience comes the responsibility to make sure that what you are publishing is backed up by some evidence.
Knowing that that what you have published is fiction I would suggest that you have shirked your responsibilities to the people you are writing about to gain yourself a scandalous headline for five minutes.
I do hope that you are not considering a career in broadsheet journalism as this is a very poor effort not worthy of the cat litter tray.
@ Anonymous
I am currently in the process of investigating this matter further.
@ anonymous (21):
Firstly – a club or society is meant to be open to everyone and everyone should be made to feel welcome. A club is not about “A really close group of guys” i.e. a clique.
Secondly – If there are charges against a club or individuals within it serious enough to lead to suspension then it is likely they are breaking the law themselves. Suspension and bannings are better than taking students to court.
And just to clarify your statement – “who gives a shit what they did to her if the rest were getting something out of it”
With this line of argument, bullying is fine – because the bullies enjoy it, or even taken to an extreme, nine out of ten enjoy gang rape.
That is the credibility of your argument.
LOL @ 9 out of 10 enjoy gang rape.
It’s the first time I’ve heard that not being used as a joke.
@ Kerri-Anne
Do you think that the words “I am currently in the process of investigating this matter further” address the previous post at all, or indeed reflect the manner of a responsible reporter? They are not an excuse all, what do you expect to do to put right the situation for the people that you wrote about but can verify that they weren’t approached prior to this being published?
@No. 31 – This reporter has stressed several times that she is in the middle of an investigation so maybe you should be a little more patient. She is clearly unable to comment until she has finished her article. It is a serious matter after all.
I sense a little bit of bias in your comment. It is not this reporters job to appease anybody or indulge in petty arguments with dissatisfied people on this thread.
Also, ever heard of the Freedom of Information Act???