Fanshawe puts the kibosh on campaign slogan
“Vote or Die” is acceptable for many popular celebrities, but not for Fanshawe College.
Posters that were placed around campus for the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) Executive Election created by Vice President of Entertainment candidate Darius Mirshahi were taken down by Fanshawe security last week based on the orders of College officials.
The posters created by Mirshahi included the slogan “Vote or Die”, in large bold print, combined with Mirshahi's name, the position he is running for, and the words “of boredom” at the bottom of the poster.
Mirshahi said he was playing off the popular slogan used in the Citizen Change campaign, which was founded by P. Diddy and endorsed by various other celebrities during the 2004 Presidential election in the Unites States, to help get his stance across in the FSU election.
“A lot of people in Hollywood endorsed it, so that is why I decided to go with it because everyone that I talked to had seen it before,” Mirshahi said.
Mirshahi said that the fact that entertainers were behind the “Vote or Die” campaign, it would tie in perfectly with his campaign for VP of Entertainment.
“The ‘Die of Boredom' part is just a catchy thing at the end, and the ‘Vote or Die part' is big and eye catching,” Mirshahi said.
“None of my opponents in the election thought it was inappropriate, they all thought it was pretty clever.”
Manager of the Marketing and Communications Department at the College, Emily Marcoccia said that Vice President of Planning and Administrative Services Bernice Hull decided to order the removal of Mirshahi's posters after receiving complaints on the choice of words within the posters.
“To my knowledge a few complaints were made by students and staff,” Marcoccia said.
Marcoccia said the words ‘or Die' within the poster were perceived as violent and threatening in nature and went against the College's ‘Face College Campus Policy' and the ‘Respectful College Community Policy'.
“At least one person that complained made reference to Dawson College and the tragedy that occurred there,” Marcoccia said.
The FSU Executive Election manual given to all potential candidates in the FSU election states that, “Posters must be in good taste and not be obscene or offensive.”
Ian Darling, the Colleges OMBUDS person and the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) for the FSU Executive Election, said that Mirshahi's poster followed all the rules laid out by the FSU.
“My job as CRO is to make sure the rules of the election are conducted fairly,” Darling said.
“Nothing (in Mirshahi's posters) would have violated the rules of the election.”
Mirshahi said he had mixed feelings after hearing that his posters were removed.
“I was kind of shocked but kind of not,” Mirshahi said.
“I know there is nothing wrong with the posters but I can see that obviously somebody in the administration has something against me and would not like to see me become the next VP of Entertainment.”
Mirshahi, also the president of the Social Justice Club on campus, was arrested for trespassing on February 13 after he and a group of friends were protesting the Canadian Armed Forces presence at the annual Career Fair held on campus.
“I do think there is a certain level of resentment towards me,” Mirshahi said in reference to the career fair incident as well as his stance on certain political issues and the fact that he is very outspoken.
Marcoccia said according to Hull, the College had no idea the posters were made by the individual that was involved in the incident at the career fair last month (Mirshahi), and that it would not have made a difference in the final decision based on the words on the poster.
Posters that were placed around campus for the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) Executive Election created by Vice President of Entertainment candidate Darius Mirshahi were taken down by Fanshawe security last week based on the orders of College officials.
The posters created by Mirshahi included the slogan “Vote or Die”, in large bold print, combined with Mirshahi's name, the position he is running for, and the words “of boredom” at the bottom of the poster.
Mirshahi said he was playing off the popular slogan used in the Citizen Change campaign, which was founded by P. Diddy and endorsed by various other celebrities during the 2004 Presidential election in the Unites States, to help get his stance across in the FSU election.
“A lot of people in Hollywood endorsed it, so that is why I decided to go with it because everyone that I talked to had seen it before,” Mirshahi said.
Mirshahi said that the fact that entertainers were behind the “Vote or Die” campaign, it would tie in perfectly with his campaign for VP of Entertainment.
“The ‘Die of Boredom' part is just a catchy thing at the end, and the ‘Vote or Die part' is big and eye catching,” Mirshahi said.
“None of my opponents in the election thought it was inappropriate, they all thought it was pretty clever.”
Manager of the Marketing and Communications Department at the College, Emily Marcoccia said that Vice President of Planning and Administrative Services Bernice Hull decided to order the removal of Mirshahi's posters after receiving complaints on the choice of words within the posters.
“To my knowledge a few complaints were made by students and staff,” Marcoccia said.
Marcoccia said the words ‘or Die' within the poster were perceived as violent and threatening in nature and went against the College's ‘Face College Campus Policy' and the ‘Respectful College Community Policy'.
“At least one person that complained made reference to Dawson College and the tragedy that occurred there,” Marcoccia said.
The FSU Executive Election manual given to all potential candidates in the FSU election states that, “Posters must be in good taste and not be obscene or offensive.”
Ian Darling, the Colleges OMBUDS person and the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) for the FSU Executive Election, said that Mirshahi's poster followed all the rules laid out by the FSU.
“My job as CRO is to make sure the rules of the election are conducted fairly,” Darling said.
“Nothing (in Mirshahi's posters) would have violated the rules of the election.”
Mirshahi said he had mixed feelings after hearing that his posters were removed.
“I was kind of shocked but kind of not,” Mirshahi said.
“I know there is nothing wrong with the posters but I can see that obviously somebody in the administration has something against me and would not like to see me become the next VP of Entertainment.”
Mirshahi, also the president of the Social Justice Club on campus, was arrested for trespassing on February 13 after he and a group of friends were protesting the Canadian Armed Forces presence at the annual Career Fair held on campus.
“I do think there is a certain level of resentment towards me,” Mirshahi said in reference to the career fair incident as well as his stance on certain political issues and the fact that he is very outspoken.
Marcoccia said according to Hull, the College had no idea the posters were made by the individual that was involved in the incident at the career fair last month (Mirshahi), and that it would not have made a difference in the final decision based on the words on the poster.
