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President provides update on encampment to the Board of Governors
President Vivek Goel addressed the Board of Governors at its virtual meeting Wednesday afternoon and gave an update on the University’s approach to engaging with the encampment on the Grad House Green, which is now in its seventh week.
“I want to start by re-emphasizing something we’ve said repeatedly from the start of this conflict, that we have absolute sympathy and support for all members of our community who are affected by what’s happening, as well as the people in Gaza Strip and Israel and conflict zones around the world,” President Goel said in his report to the Board. “We have called for a ceasefire and free flow of humanitarian aid and release of hostages, and we have supported members of our community affected by this conflict and have undertaken actions that are within our mandate as a post-secondary institution.”
President Goel provided members of the Board with a timeline of actions made by both the University’s administration and the members of the encampment.
President Goel also stated the University’s current position on the international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is, in a nutshell, that the University has not historically called for boycotts as they are “not consistent with our academic mission.” Rather than make a knee-jerk reaction to protesters’ demands, the University has proposed two task forces, a Task Force on Social Responsibility in Investing to review the University’s Responsible Investment Policy and related policy framework with a lens on social factors including international human rights and diversity, equity and inclusion, and a Task Force on Principles for Institutional Partnerships to review the University’s current practices in establishing institutional partnerships and develop recommendations on a unified framework for principles for partnerships that reflect Waterloo’s values across all institutional portfolios. Both task forces have had their terms of reference set and have recently solicited expressions of interest from potential members.
“If we are going to change our positions—which is what’s being asked of us—we need to do that from a transparent process that ensures all perspectives are heard, through the task forces that we’ve proposed,” President Goel said. “It’s not that we’ve ruled out a change in position…but if we’re going to make any changes to that position we need to have an approach consistent with our principles of collegial governance.”
“I don’t think anyone would like to see the administration making arbitrary decisions,” Goel continued. “We can’t make decisions based on one point of view, and certainly not based on who at a particular moment in time is yelling the loudest or occupying our campus. That’s not the way we should be making these decisions.”
The president indicated that the disruption at the Board meeting was a turning point in the conversation between the University and the encampment
“The Board meeting on June 18 had to be postponed to today due to a demonstration, as a result of safety concerns and how decisions are made around this by Special Constables in consultation with law enforcement. The decision was made to postpone and help escort those members in the room to safety.”
“The behaviour outside that room before and after has become disrespectful, harassing, and intimidating to members of our community, and that is why we made the very difficult decision last week to issue the formal trespass notices to members of the encampment,” the president said. “This is no longer a protest.”
President Goel said that the University is addressing the issues raised by the encampment, and continued protest activities are increasingly making many members of the University uncomfortable and fearful for their safety, and are affecting the day-today operations of the institution. The president noted that members of the encampment have indicated they have no plans to alter course, and so earlier this week the University’s legal representatives filed an injunction in court that was then served to the encampment.
“I want to close by noting the University has consistently protected everyone’s right to free speech during this period,” President Goel said. “Since November there have been 15 protests, many that resulted in disruptions at board, senate and other university business, and the University has not interfered, in fact on many occasions we have provided resources and ensured the safety of protesters and we have not called in University police services, other than the incident at the board last week.”
"Members of the encampment have made it clear they intend to continue until the University meets their demands,” President Goel said. “We have outlined how we will approach the issues and how we will reach a framework for dialogue. We are doing this work independently from the encampment, and any further work is not dependent on the encampment coming to an end.”
“We continue to reinforce with everyone that we are prepared to continue with respectful dialogue and meet with them if they are prepared to meet with us in a respectful way, and we are willing to discuss additional actions we might take if they are within our mandate and mission,” President Goel concluded.
Board of Governors endorses Waterloo Values
A message from Melanie Will and Michael Dorr.
At the beginning of 2023, Waterloo at 100 laid out a bold vision for where we aspire to be by our 100th anniversary, in the year 2057. An immediate priority was identified, which was to revisit our values to embrace our strengths and foundation while also promoting a more nimble and collaborative culture. It was also identified that the values required stronger language to reflect our anti-racism and anti-oppression beliefs (as recommended by the PART Report). Over the past year, the values initiative benefited tremendously from input across students, faculty, staff, alumni, Senators, and the Board of Governors, to inform “what do we value?”
We are pleased to share that following Senate’s review and recommendation for endorsement in May, the Board of Governors endorsed Waterloo Values at its meeting on June 26, 2024.
Waterloo Values begins with four imperatives that ground the values. We must:
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Uphold Waterloo’s leadership and excellence in education, scholarship, innovation, and entrepreneurship ;
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Ensure the physical and mental health and well-being of our students and employees;
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Embrace decolonization, Indigenization, inclusivity, equity, anti-oppression, and anti-racism; and
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Co-ordinate and collaborate across disciplinary and organizational boundaries.
And we are proud to share our values. At the University of Waterloo we:
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Think differently – we are unconventional | we are bold | we are innovative
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Act with purpose – we drive positive impact | we are responsible | we get things done
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Work together – we are collaborative | we value community | we are “one Waterloo”
Simply put, at the University of Waterloo, we think differently, we act with purpose, and we work together.
These values complement and align to Waterloo’s mission from the University of Waterloo act and our vision for Waterloo at 100:.
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Our Mission: to advance learning and knowledge through teaching, research, and scholarship, nationally and internationally, in an environment of free expression and enquiry.
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Our vision: we envision a community of curious, collaborative, innovative and entrepreneurial problem-solvers and leaders who seek to understand and identify equitable and sustainable solutions for the future of humanity and our planet (for more on our vision, see Waterloo at 100).
So what’s next? the launch of the University of Waterloo’s values represents a commitment. There is much work to be done to have the imperatives and values guide and inform everything we do at Waterloo.
By September 2024 we will:
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Establish an implementation team and identify values champions (reflecting a cross-section of campus);
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Create resources/reference guides supporting the integration of the values in day-to-day interactions;
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Integrate the values into the onboarding and orientation of new employees
And from September 2024 onward:
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a communications plan for socializing the values, including materials required (e.g. website, posters, video);
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Embed into our performance development, recruitment practices and learning programs;
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Further embed across the university (e.g. student recruitment, brand & marketing, fundraising); and
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Develop a staged roll-out plan
Special thanks to everyone who provided input and insight through the consultation phase. Plus, an enormous thank you to the values working group for their invaluable passion and perspectives. For more detail on values, refer to the values website. If you have questions, comments, feedback or any additional thoughts you can reach out to us on the Values website (or feel free to email Michael and/or Melanie directly).
Sharing in the good times
This is an excerpt of an article published in the 2024 issue of Waterloo Magazine: Happiness.
Many engineering students choose the University of Waterloo for co-operative education and academic rigor. But as first-year students arrive on campus, they soon discover that it’s not all work and no play.
Although academic success is important, a meaningful and memorable student experience is also built through friendship and fun. Over the years, many Faculty of Engineering traditions have bolstered camaraderie and built a valuable sense of community.
From Targeting in Academia to Promoting Trust and Understanding conference kicks off today
An interdisciplinary conference organized in the wake of the hate-motivated attack that occured at the University of Waterloo last June will take place at Federation Hall today and tomorrow.
From Targeting in Academia to Promoting Trust and Understanding is jointly organized by the Faculty of Arts and Office of Research.
"Institutions of higher learning are environments where new ideas, visions, and discoveries are cultivated," says the conference website. "In these environments, unexplored areas offer the space for curiosity to flourish and for rigorous enquiry to deepen understanding. It’s where professors and students conduct extensive research in the continuous pursuit of knowledge, trust, understanding, and justice. These pursuits are enriched through diversity of thought and perspective in an environment where we strive for a spirit of pluralism. Unfortunately, it is also in these environments where targeted attacks occur by those who may feel threatened by this important work and the impact it has on society."
"The conference focuses on the broad subject of responding to antagonistic and intimidating reactions to academic research and pedagogy. Scholars in many fields have experienced hostile responses to their work. These responses are often directed to those whose emphasis is on social justice scholarship that focuses on discrimination based on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and religion; science, evolution, and technology research; health and vaccine research; and environment and climate change research. Such antagonism may stem from individuals, organized groups, certain sectors of society, and diverse institutions. It may aim to silence an individual researcher and attack those advocating certain scholarly ideas through harsh actions such as cyberbullying, disrupting public presentations, personal threats, censorship, dismissals, and physical violence."
Keynote speakers include Dr. Kalwant Bhopal, Professor of Education and Social Justice at the University of Birmingham, and Dr. Richard Moon, Distinguished University Professor, Law Professor at the University of Windsor.
More information about the conference can be found on the conference website.