Inspired by the man himself, an open letter from me to Sean Riley:

Dr. Riley,

 
I’m not one for polite preambling so I’ll just cut to the chase: you are failing your students. Given the open letter you just sent to the AUT, I can no longer conclude otherwise. It appears as though you and the University’s negotiating team are purposefully trying to alienate the AUT and its negotiators. I have no doubt that you knew the “olive branch” you extended in that letter would incite the AUT rather than entice them. Peter McInnis and the AUT have made it very clear that they felt you were negotiating in bad faith, yet you made no move to address those sentiments or rectify your behaviour. Instead, you raised their hopes only to dash them – a deliberate move meant to crush their morale and turn students against them (which didn’t work, by the way) – and then you offered a solution you knew full well they’d refuse. This is nothing more than political maneuvering.

 
So I’ll ask you, ever so nicely, to please stop. The primary game piece in all this maneuvering is us, the students. And to us, it’s not a game. It’s our lives, our futures, and our money. Good faith or bad faith, I can guarantee you one thing: I’ve lost all faith in you and so have many other students. You are a poor administrator and you are out-of-touch with two key elements that form the backbone of StFX: the professors and the students. Get your act together, get through this and get “your” students back to class. And then, when it’s all over, do the gracious thing: resign.

 
Thank You,

Tiffany Van den Eynden

Tiff Vee In solidarity with you 100%. Keep fightin’ the good fight, StFX AUT!