Sept. 14, 1976 — “Dirty flicks come to UVic”
Ever have the urge to watch porn with fellow UVic students and professors? In the late ’70s, Cinecenta began to run a series of late-night “dirty” films on Fridays and Saturdays. Doug Sprenger, then-manager of Cinecenta, chose only the “cream” of the New York erotic film festival. Luckily, Cinecenta was also showing more normal films at the time, you know, like Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ultra-violent and bizarre El Topo.
Sept. 16, 1999 — “SUB room named after Michéle Pujol”
Back in 1999, the UVSS chose to name the SUB’s Multi-Purpose Room after Michéle Pujol after years of fighting from UVic’s administration. Several times students pushed for other buildings, including the 1996 Classroom Building (currently the David Strong Building) and the Centre for Innovative Teaching (now the Hickman Building), to be named after the late Women’s Studies professor. However, the university refused, some said, because naming a building after a lesbian feminist activist was too big of a political risk to take. Pujol, who died of cancer in 1997, introduced the controversial lesbian walk to UVic. This walk was a part of a lesbian studies course designed by Pujol, and it was the first of its kind at the campus. Pujol’s name is one of the few buildings or rooms named after a female on campus.
Sept. 19, 2002 — “Kumoniwannasuspendya”
On the first week of school in 2002, Tyler Williams, doorman of Felicita’s, threw a Hawaiian-themed party called “Kumoniwannalaya,” inside the SUB. Racist party name aside, the event was sold out. However, Williams received a two-week suspension from his SUB job because of complaints from campus security and housing. University officials complained that Williams marketed to minors inside residences and drove a Jeep with loudspeakers around the quad, thereby disrupting classes. In response to the suspension, Williams filled out a union grievance against the UVSS. He argued that he was contracted to promote the party through his own company, rather than working as a SUB employee. Therefore, suspension from his job should not be a factor.
