As faculty and staff members of the McGill University community, we respond to Provost Manfredi’s MRO pre-emptively dismissing the student-initiated petition calling on the university to divest from Israel and honour its commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
A central complaint of the petition is that Palestinian students and those who advocate for their rights face intimidation and bullying at McGill. Whether or not one agrees with the rest of the petition, it is incumbent on the University administration to take this complaint seriously, which the MRO manifestly does not do. Indeed, in its peremptory assumption of bad faith, the MRO is but the latest example of the very intimidation that the petition highlights.
This clear double standard raises alarm bells. The administration’s frequent interventions in student politics and campus debates over Israel-Palestine – from Principal Fortier’s in 2016 to Deputy Provost Fabrice Labeau’s in 2019 to Provost Manfredi’s last week – all invoke EDI selectively and invidiously, consistently extending protections to one side and rebuke to another.
This stance serves to diminish understanding rather than to nourish and sustain it. It undermines faith in the university’s intentions both within our gates and beyond.
Signatories:
Aaron Erlich, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts
Ahmed El-Geneidy, Professor, Urban Planning, Faculty of Engineering
Alanna Thain, Associate Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts
Alberto Perez-Gomez, Emeritus Professor, School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering
Alex Ketchum, Faculty Lecturer, IGSF, Faculty of Arts
Alex M. McComber, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
Allan Greer, Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts
Amal Elsana, Research Fellow, School of Social Work, Faculty of Arts
Anaïs Salamon, Associate Librarian, Islamic Studies Library
Andrea Pinkney, Associate Professor, School of Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts
Andrea Miller-Nesbitt, Associate Librarian, Schulich Library
Andrew Kirk, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Antoine Damiens, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of English, Faculty of Arts
Ara Osterweil, Associate Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts
Aslıhan Gürbüzel, Assistant Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts
Barry Eidlin, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Brett H. Meyer, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Carrie Rentschler, Associate Professor, Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts
Catherine Leclerc, Associate Professor, Département des littératures de langue française, de traduction et de creation
Catherine C. LeGrand, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts
Colin Scott, Director, Centre for Indigenous Conservation and Development Alternatives (CICADA), Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Daniel Schwartz, Assistant Professor, German and Russian Cinema, Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Faculty of Arts
Darin Barney, Professor, Department of Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts
Debra Thompson, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts
Derek Nystrom, Associate Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts
Diana K. Allan, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology & Institute for the Study of International Development, Faculty of Arts
Eduardo Kohn, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Edward Dunsworth, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts
Ehab Lotayef, IT and Technical Services Manager, ECE, Faculty of Engineering
Elizabeth Patitsas, Assistant professor, School of Computer Science & Department of Integrated Studies in Education
Elsbeth Heaman, Professor, History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts
Erin Cole, Clinical Research Coordinator, Faculty of Medicine
Fataneh Fasih, Administrative Coordinator, Faculty of Arts
Faye Siluk, E-IDEA Initiative, Faculty of Engineering
Francesco Amodio, Associate Professor, Department of Economics & Institute for the Study of International Development, Faculty of Arts
Frederick Kingdom, Full Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Gabriella Coleman, Associate Professor, Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts
Gavin Walker, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts
Gloria Bell, Assistant Professor, Department of Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts
Grégoire Hervouet-Zeiber, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Hamish van der Ven, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Bieler School of Environment
Hasana Sharp, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy
Helen Ogundeji, Student Affairs Administrator, Institute for Health and Social Policy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Hongping Tan, Associate Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management
Ipek Türeli, Associate Professor & Canada Research Chair in Architectures of Spatial Justice, School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering
Ismael Vaccaro, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and Bieler School of Environment
Jason Carmichael, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Jen Gobby, Course Lecturer, Bieler School of Environment
Jenny Burman, Associate Professor, Department of Art History and Communication Studies
Jeremy Tai, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts
Jessica Ruglis, Associate Professor, Educational & Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education
Jesus Perez-Magallon, Professor, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Faculty of Arts
Jonathan Sterne, Professor, Art History and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts
Juan Serpa, Associate Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management
Kaleem Siddiqi, Professor, School of Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Katherine Lemons, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Katherine Zien, Associate Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Arts
Kathleen Rice, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Kelly Gordon, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts
Kerry Sloan, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law
Kristin Norget, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Lara Braitstein, Associate Professor, School of Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts
Leslie Sabiston, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Lisa Stevenson, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Louigi Addario-Berry, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science
Luca Maria Pesando, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Madhav G. Badami, Associate Professor, School of Urban Planning and Bieler School of Environment
Malek Abisaab, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies & Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts
Maria Cecilia Hwang, Assistant Professor, IGSF/Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts
Mathew Hannouche, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Megan Bradley, Associate Professor, Political Science & Institute for the Study of International Development
Michel Lapointe, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Science
Michelle Hartman, Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts
Nicholas Dew, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts
Nicholas MacKenzie, Student Recruitment Associate, Enrolment Services
Omar Farahat, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law
Pasha M. Khan, Chair in Urdu Language and Culture & Associate Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts
Paul Codjia, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Peter Johansen, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Peter McMahan, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Philip Howard, Assistant Professor, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, Faculty of Education
Prashant Keshavmurthy, Associate Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts
Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, Professor of Practice, Institute for the Study of International Development, Faculty of Arts
Raja Sengupta, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Science and School of Environment
Rex Brynen, Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts
Rongdao Lai, Assistant Professor, School of Religious Studies & Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts
Rula Jurdi Abisaab, Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts
Samer Faraj, Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management
Samuele Collu, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Sandra Hyde, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Sara Abdel-Latif, Assistant Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts
Sarah Brauner-Otto, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, and Director of Centre on Population Dynamics
Sarah Moser, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Science
Setrag Manoukian, Associate Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies and Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Shanon Fitzpatrick, Assistant Professor, History, Faculty of Arts
Sumi Hasegawa, Retired Faculty Lecturer, Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts
Susan Gaskin, Professor, Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Tara Alward, Graduate Program Coordinator, Political Science, Faculty of Arts
Theodora Vardouli, Assistant Professor, Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering
Thomas Lamarre, Professor Emeritus, Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts
Timothy Wideman, Associate Professor, School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Viviane Saglier, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts
Vrinda Narain, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law
William Clare Roberts, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts
Yuriko Furuhata, Associate Professor, Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts
Yves Winter, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts