A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor.
For several months, members of the University community have raised and discussed issues related to the ongoing situation in the Middle East. The University acknowledges the pain that members of this community are experiencing about what is happening in Gaza and Israel, and victims of armed conflict everywhere. Help resources for people in our community who are struggling are available at the end of this email.
Following various student protest activities, representations to both the Board and Senate, and questions raised by members of both governance bodies, Senate was informed on May 6 (later shared in the Daily Bulletin on May 9) that the University would start work to consider institutional investments in line with its responsible investment policy and within appropriate governance bodies, and that the University would review its approach to international partnerships.
It is precisely because our students and faculty have been undertaking this meaningful engagement that the University had already made commitments to addressing these important questions that the current protest encampment is asking.
Next week, the Senate will hold a special meeting to discuss the issues that have been raised about investments and partnerships.
As a follow-up to the May 6 Senate, we have shared a report to Senate about how the University plans to move ahead with the issues raised. The University will take three specific actions. It will:
- take steps to improve transparency on institutional investment portfolios by disclosing the names of direct investments and the investment manager and fund names for actively and passively managed pooled investment funds for the endowment and the registered pension plan;
- form 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, as well as consideration of further disclosure practices and processes for the community to bring forward expressions of concern; and
- form a Task Force to review our current practices in establishing institutional partnerships and develop recommendations on a unified framework for principles for partnerships across all institutional portfolios that reflect Waterloo’s values.
This work will build on the work of the Task Force on Freedom of Expression and Respectful Engagement which is set to report over the summer and consider the proposed institutional values.
You can read the full report to the Senate on the Freedom of Expression website which includes more details about our plans. Invitations to participate in both task forces will be issued following the Senate meeting.
In addition to addressing the questions raised by the community, senators and board members, the University believes these actions are reasonable next steps to address the calls for action made by members of the current protest encampment. Senior administrators have been in dialogue with members of the encampment to discuss this approach.
The University stays committed to ensuring that rights to freedom of expression are respected for all members of the community and ensuring that our campuses remain a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment for all.
The creation of the Task Forces is grounded in a drive to increase transparency and to center the voices of the whole community in the institution’s actions. Making decisions about university investing policies and partnership agreements requires us to use the practices and processes expected in collegial, shared governance models. We know that, for some members of our community, the actions we are taking do not move fast enough and do not instantly address specific relationships.
These decisions are complex and will impact the institution for decades to come and therefore require time to allow feedback from all stakeholders. This is particularly important when we face issues for which members of this community have many different perspectives. Moreover, the University of Waterloo Act defines our objects as “the pursuit of learning through scholarship, teaching and research within a spirit of free enquiry and expression.” Ensuring that there is room for a broad range of dialogue and debate is central to our purpose.
It's also important that the advancement of free expression is done responsibly, sharing arguments grounded in facts. Over several weeks, we have observed many claims about the University that are not grounded in fact. For example, it is not true that tuition revenue funds our main endowment. The claims that have been made about Waterloo researchers' involvement in developing weapon systems or military equipment used in Israel are inappropriate.
While we conduct the work of these task forces we will continue to rely on our existing robust processes and key foundations recently set – or soon to be set. These foundations include Waterloo’s ongoing commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism, the vision for Waterloo at 100 and new institutional values set to be considered by the Board in June. They also include principles soon to emerge from the Task Force on Freedom of Expression and Respectful Engagement as well as recent government directions on safeguarding research.
We have a significant task ahead of us to help build the principles and frameworks that will help this community build confidence and consensus on how the University handles investments and partnerships now and in the future. I urge all members of our community to consider how they can productively contribute to this work and thank you in advance for your support.
We recognize this may be a stressful and upsetting time for members of the Waterloo community. We remind you of the resources and supports available to University community members including the Employee and Family Assistance Program (for employees), Counselling Services (for students) and 211Ontario (for people with no affiliation to the University).