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McGill Faculty and Staff Respond to Provost’s MRO of May 17, 2021

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