How our university responds to world events
A statement from President Goel
October 24, 2023
Our main priority when considering if, when and how the University should respond is our community. We try to centre you, our faculty, staff and students, in everything we do – including responding to world events. But I know that processes or standard practices can always be made better. With this in mind, we will undertake a review of how we make decisions about commenting on world events.
I believe it is essential that we revisit our principles that guide academic freedom, freedom of expression, and the issuing of statements.
Open and constructive dialogue
A memo from President Goel to the campus community about respect and civility
May 4, 2022
Anyone involved in public discourse, novel research, even just opening their email or scrolling their social media feed, has experienced big changes in the level of civility in the conversations we are hearing or observing. This isn’t a new phenomenon, either. Many have written about the growth of cyberbullying, online harassment, and abuse. It’s simply too easy for any of us to write an email, compose a tweet or tap a text message that can harm the recipient.
The consequences of these kinds of behaviours are serious, and real. When the abuse emerges from outside the University, we have a range of supports available to help people manage unwanted and harassing attention.
Waterloo at 100
Throughout 2022, the University set out to develop a vision that would steer our long-term evolution and help us answer: What do we as an institution aspire to be known for by our 100th anniversary in 2057? That vision became the Waterloo at 100 vision paper.
Central to that vision is a commitment to be bold and unconventional as we help shape a better future for humanity and the planet. Free expression is critical in that journey. How we navigate that in a A changing PSE Landscape on Our journey to 2057 will help define our success.