XOXO, Dawson Spotted: Everything Dawson’s #1 meme page has to offer
By Sarah Kassa
When it comes to entertaining the average Dawson student, there is an easy fix: memes. Spotted: Dawson College, also known as Dawson Spotted, has been the go-to Facebook page when it comes to almost everything Dawson-related for the past six years, particularly entertaining satire based on what occurs on school grounds.
Most CEGEPS have “Spotted” accounts, which are anonymous pages dedicated to student submissions based on what they see happening at the school. With 15 864 likes and 15 924 followers on Facebook, Dawson Spotted is the first ever “Spotted” page for Dawson College. Its rules regarding submissions, which are available on its Facebook page, are simple: no fake account submissions, no bullying, no advertising, no pointing out someone in a negative way, nothing negative in regards to teachers/employees, no spamming, and no lost/found objects. “We filter out posts that could trigger minorities or people,” explained a member, who wanted to maintain their anonymity.
While it is clearly stated on their page that they have “NO affiliation to the Dawson administration/college or to the Dawson Student Union,” they remained vague about the exact number of current and former students who manage the page. “The few admins that dared to reveal their faces were heckin bamboozled,” they said, explaining how much more safe and fun it was for them to stay anonymous.
Spotted: Dawson College usually refuses to publish posts that might “[point] out someone in a negative way,” among other factors. However, they had posted on November 7, 2018 the link to a second petition calling for the impeachment of three DSU executive members with the caption “The DSU isn't worried because they doubt we can get enough signatures, yet the previous petition was deleted... here's the new link!!”.
The petition was started by Truth Coalition DAWSON with one goal: impeaching former Director of Clubs and Student Services Jonathan Gélinas, former Deputy Chairperson Terry Tsatas, and former Director of Student Life Gloria Mutombo. On November 28, 2018, the DSU had announced during their Fall General Assembly the resignation of these three executive members, as well as former Chairperson Treven Goppy and former Internal Affairs and Advocacy Director Ryan Theriens.
“[It] seemed like an important submission to us,” explained a Dawson Spotted member about their decision to upload the link to the petition. “We thought that since [the DSU] love mentioning us all the time in their debates we would return the honor”.
This comment was referring to the last DSU Annual Election Debate, held in April 2018, during which the topic of students relying more on Spotted: Dawson College to make themselves heard than on the DSU had come up several times. Student Life Candidate Maxime Vanelli had even suggested that the student union start moderating the satirical page’s posts.
A few days later, the Spotted team had written and published an open letter to the student union saying, “Dear DSU, We thank you, once again, for mentioning us during your annual ‘debate’. We appreciate the gesture. There is only one thing we would like to clarify. We do not want to work with you. Ever.”. As former Chairperson Anthony Williams had pointed out, the DSU has no control over them since they are “run by a third party.”
Although it is known as Dawson’s #1 meme page, Spotted: Dawson College has so much more to offer than just memes. Students can also count on this online platform to brighten their day with anonymous shoutouts while staying informed about events, suggestions, or course prerequisites, and, of course, being able to have their voice be heard.