At Fridays 1:30 graduation ceremony, VUWSA President Joel Cosgrove turned up on stage wearing a “I (heart) MY PENIS” shirt.
These shirts were sold as part of a MAWSA/VUWSA “I <3 My Penis” campaign for safe sex and free STI check ups, because men are less likely than women to get tested. Which in itself is a worthy cause, but there is a time and a place to support it, and it wasn’t particularly appropriate at the formal occasion of graduation.
Cosgrove did not wear the shirt to the 6pm ceremony. In fact, he wore a suit to all the other ceremonies. Maybe, he only wore the shirt because former Salient News Editors Nicola Kean and Laura McQuillan were graduating at 1:30 and he has a dislike of Salient. You know those communists and their hatred of the free press.
He stuck out like a sore thumb with his massive overgrown beard and the shirt, and was the only person seated on stage not in full academic dress. Probably because he doesn’t actually have a degree.
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(Fig 1.) A wide angle shot of the stage. All the people except Joel are in academic regalia and wearing suitable clothing for the occasion.
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At the parade on Thursday Cosgrove was wearing a suit. So why did he feel the need to wear the t-shirt on Friday’s ceremony? He could have chosen something more appropriate to the occasion, but the university should not have allowed him to sit on the stage at all.
This is a prime example of the complete lack of respect he holds for students.
This is a direct insult to you the students of Victoria University, because he is the one up there representing the student body. It is an insult to the graduating students. It is an insult to their families who came to watch them graduate. It is an insult to the academic staff of Victoria University who work tirelessly so you can graduate.
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(Fig 2.) A close up shot of Mr. Cosgrove displaying his inappropriate shirt. You can almost see his distaste for you.
Many students weren’t impressed in the least, with a number calling him “a dickhead”
What makes it worse is that Joel was passed two notes during the course of the ceremony asking him to cover it up. He eventually did. But after the ceremony, was showing the note off like a badge of honour. Like him being an idiot and insulting people was something to be proud of.
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(Fig 3.) Joel proudly displays the note passed to him by academic staff.
The University does not have to let the President sit on the stage. They do so because he is a representative of you, the students. They especially do not have to let anyone who has yet to graduate sit on stage. I would not be surprised if in future graduations the University doesn’t allow the President to sit on stage, thanks to Cosgrove’s idiocy. This would be a major blow for students.
Salient will be running an in-depth story in next weeks edition.
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All photos on this page by Sean Gillespie.