On Dec. 18 the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) announced that it has revoked Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill’s right to use the McGill name. The decision comes after the Office of the Deputy Provost, Fabrice Labeau, delivered a notice to SSMU on Nov. 6 which stated that SPHR’s use of the university name violates SSMU’s Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with McGill University. As per section 12.2 of the MoA, a 30-day working period took place between Nov. 17 and Dec. 17, during which SSMU and SPHR met but were unable to resolve the alleged violation. Although they have been instructed to remove the university name, SPHR remains affiliated with SSMU.
The first claim of an MoA violation due to SPHR’s use of the McGill name came in an Oct. 10 communication from Provost and Vice-Principal Christopher Manfredi condemning SPHR’s since-removed social media post following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. In an email to The Tribune, McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle explained that in accordance with section 7.6 of the MoA, SPHR was able to use the university name in their official club name, McGill Students for Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. Mazerolle wrote that McGill believes SPHR’s use of the McGill name on social media and websites violates this agreement, also highlighting that the content of the group’s social media post opposed McGill’s values.
“In contrast with the official, authorized name of the club, [the name] ‘SPHR McGill’ [on social media] wrongly implies a direct affiliation with the University,” Mazerolle wrote. “This implied affiliation is troubling, especially given the social media post, which has since been deleted, that described the Hamas attack of October 7 and hostage-taking as ‘heroic.’”
In an interview with The Tribune, a representative from SPHR who wished to remain anonymous explained that SSMU’s decision to revoke their permission to use the university name did not come as a surprise. They also claimed the removal of the name was a distraction from the university’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
“We were unfazed,” the representative said. “Students who speak up for Palestine will receive repression [….] Our administration has taken a very clear stance, […] they refuse to condemn the ongoing genocide as we demanded. We also consider this as a way for them to evade accountability, because the student body is now very aware of just how complicit our university is in the occupation of Palestine and the ongoing genocide on Gaza.”
In an email to The Tribune, SSMU president Alexandre Ashkir emphasized that the demand for the university name to be removed originated from McGill administration rather than SSMU, and reaffirmed SSMU’s commitment to reinstating SPHR’s use of the name.
“[The removal of the McGill name] has no bearing on SSMUʼs commitment to supporting our Palestinian members or the student groups that represent Palestinian people,” Ashkir wrote. “It is disappointing that SPHR is no longer able to use the McGill name as we recognize the importance of student groups being able to place themselves and their representation on this campus, however, we will continue to advocate for the re-establishment of SPHRʼs use of the name with the university.”
According to the SPHR representative, SSMU’s decision constitutes a larger pattern of actions in which the students’ union has failed to represent the student body and show solidarity for Palestine. The representative also criticized SSMU for delaying the ratification of the Policy against Genocide in Palestine.
“We just see this trend of them resorting to these bureaucratic regulations and procedures as a way to repress us,” the representative said. “The student body has clearly spoken [as] 79 per cent voted in favour of the policy [Against Genocide in Palestine], and thousands of students are still showing up to our rallies and to our events […] in mass mobilization. So it’s just another way to distract [and] to try and undermine this collective will.”
