1 December 2011
To the McGill Tribune:
On November 14, 2011, seventeen faculty members and one administrative officer of the Department of Political Science sent a letter to Principal Heather Munroe-Blum expressing their concern about the shocking events of Nov. 10 on the McGill campus. The letter urged the Principal to demonstrate her resolve to establish a full accounting of the events, as well as the conditions that led to them, and to implement concrete measures to ensure that McGill University provides an open, tolerant and safe environment for all of its members—students, faculty and staff. The letter from Political Science members was also subsequently supported by other similar letters of concern from faculty and staff members in the departments of History and Classical Studies, Anthropology and English.
The Principal responded to the Political Science letter by inviting those who signed the letter to a meeting. On Nov. 17, six faculty members and one administrative officer from Political Science met with the Principal, Provost Anthony Masi and Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi.
The following is a summary of recommendations that were discussed at this meeting. We are sharing this list of recommendations with our fellow colleagues, as well as with the wider McGill community, to contribute to the ongoing public discussions about what statements, policies and actions the University Administration could initiate or facilitate in order to deal with the aftermath of the events of Nov. 10, as well as to prevent such events from ever recurring on our campus.
1. Overhaul the operation of Security Services so that its pursuit of its mandate to ensure a safe and secure environment for students, staff, faculty and visitors is consistent with mutual respect and freedom of expression and dissent on campus.
• Reduce security presence on campus.
• Increase administrative oversight of security and clarify the existing oversight mechanism to the University community.
• Distinguish between operating procedures or protocols for dealing with dangerous intruders, and dealing with students or others engaged in civic protest.
• Improve training and clarify instructions to security service personnel.
2. Make a clear, explicit, public statement of principle concerning:
• the presence of police on campus;
• the standards of moral accountability of leadership for recent events;
• the nature of the university as a place of debate.
3. Publicly repudiate previous policies or misapplications that have contributed to a sense of insecurity about the freedom of expression and dissent on campus, including:
• one-sided emails to the community concerning the labour strike;
• videotaping student protestors and strikers;
• removal of pro-MUNACA buttons or posters.
4. Call for an independent investigation into the actions of Montreal police on campus to address the complaints of faculty and students about improper police conduct on Nov. 10, and publicly communicate the actions taken on behalf of the arrested students.
5. Hold open public forums to have voices heard and aid in the healing process.
Arash Abizadeh, Jacob T. Levy, Catherine Lu, Victor M. Muñiz-Fraticelli, William Clare Roberts, Dietlind Stolle, Andrew Stoten
