A message from Vivek Goel
At the University’s regularly scheduled Board of Governors meeting earlier today, a sit-in and demonstration by protesters who have set up an encampment on the University's main campus resulted in safety concerns for the staff and Board members present in the senate room. As a result, we requested and received assistance from the Waterloo Regional Police Service.
Today’s action crossed the line from protest to intimidating behaviour and harassment of individuals. This limits our ability to have further constructive dialogue.
The University has protected everyone’s right to free speech and expression throughout this protest activity. This has included more than 15 disruptive protest actions on campus since November 2023, protests and representations at Board and Senate and numerous expressions of protest at Convocation. The University took no action to interfere with any of these expressions, but the protestors’ actions today were unacceptable.
Throughout our interactions since the encampment began, the University has aimed to engage with members of the protest movement to:
- productively discuss the concerns that they have raised,
- reach an amicable and peaceful conclusion to the encampment, and
- continue productive and respectful dialogue on the substantive issues long after the encampment ends.
We have committed to three specific actions on investments and partnerships in response to months-long representations from students, members of the encampment as well as Senate and Board members. The actions we are taking are reasonable ways to address the issues being raised within the structures of the University. These are also the actions we can take that are within our mandate to advance learning through scholarship, teaching and research within a spirit of free enquiry and expression.
We continue to reiterate that the encampment cannot remain on our campus indefinitely.