The UPEI Faculty Association (UPEIFA) joins the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and other faculty associations across Canada in condemning yesterday’s attack on a colleague and two students in a “Gender Issues” class at the University of Waterloo. At a time of rising harassment and hate, both online and in person, targeting gender, sexuality, and race, the importance of the university classroom as a space for open and rigorous examination of all ideas – including about identity categories – could not be clearer. 

The UPEIFA can imagine the fear and anxiety brought on by this horrific act and remains committed to preventing and addressing violent actions in any of our workplaces, or against any of the range of academic knowledges that make up our universities. At a time when the recent Ruben Thomlinson report at UPEI exposed the endemic sexual, gender, and race-based harassment and violence in this (and, no doubt, other) universities, we pledge to continue to engage us all in ensuring that our workplaces are free from violence and open to the exploration of all intellectual fields.

UPEI Faculty Association