Dear Members of the UBC community,
Campuses across North America and the world continue to experience tensions and protests related to Israel and Palestine. As you know, such a protest started on our Vancouver campus on April 29th and more recently in the Okanagan.
On May 15th, the protestors at MacInnes Field on the Vancouver campus formally provided the university a document outlining their position on five issues that they consider central to their efforts. Here is the document (jpeg image).
We welcome this step forward towards a constructive and respectful discussion on these issues.
A covering letter was also provided, asking for a public statement on the five issues by the evening of May 16th. You can see the cover letter here (jpeg image).
This posting is a public statement and informs our community of our willingness to engage in reasoned dialogue with student representatives of the protest encampment. These five issues are not simple and reaching a resolution will require a process. We address each one of the five issues below:
Divest
In a public statement on May 7, we recognized that this was an issue raised by protesters across North America, and we offered to engage in a discussion. You can see the statement here.
The relevant passage in the message was: “At UBC, the Endowment Fund does not directly own any stocks in the companies identified by the movement. Capital is held in pooled funds and managed by external investment managers, with the identified companies accounting for about 0.28% of the Endowment Fund. As signatories to the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the university’s investment managers are continuously adjusting their strategies based on the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations. We would welcome a respectful and robust discussion with student representatives from UBC on this issue.”
Boycott
On the issue of institutional partnerships, UBC has student mobility agreements with three Israeli institutions. Due to changing safety concerns around the globe, differing in length and intensity, outbound student mobility is under constant review and therefore subject to pauses for certain countries or regions. From the perspective of academic governance, it is the purview of the Council of Senates to make final decisions pertaining to academic matters.
The University respects the ability of individual Faculty members to engage with academic partnerships, as protected by academic freedom.
Condemn
Over the past number of years, universities have been increasingly asked by communities to take positions on events through institutional statements. However, these world crises are complex and by definition evoke different emotions and can be interpreted in very different ways by different members of the community.
In the fall, a message from the Stanford leadership read: “Stanford University is a community of scholars. We believe it is important that the university, as an institution, generally refrain from taking institutional positions on complex political or global matters that extend beyond our immediate purview, which is the operations of the university itself. Maintaining university neutrality allows for our individual scholars to explore them freely”.
This encompasses a profound point about the nature and mission of universities, namely our foundational commitment to free inquiry, freedom of expression, academic freedom, diversity of perspective and reasoned debate. Professors and students will hold a broad array of opinions, and the university cannot presume to speak for everyone in matters external to its own operations. Any university position, even if supported by a majority, by definition undermines the right of holders of different views to express themselves and participate in the debate.
Just to be clear, university neutrality is not synonymous with moral relativism. All universities, by their very nature, stand strong against all forms of violence, exploitation, intimidation, discrimination, harassment or any other form of harm directed at individuals or groups on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or any other characteristic or label. These behaviors are the enemies of all that we stand for and all that we are striving to achieve.
As such, like the rest of the world, we hope for a ceasefire and a lasting peaceful resolution in the Middle East.
Campus Safety
On the issue of campus safety and the role of police in protests, compared to what has been seen elsewhere, UBC has been measured and restrained in our response to the protests, and our aim is to continue to be.
At the same time, we have the responsibility to ensure a safe campus environment for students, faculty and staff. This requires, at some times, the support of law enforcement authorities. Where there is concern for the safety of our community, it is incumbent on UBC to ensure law enforcement is engaged to de-escalate where appropriate.
Reaffirm
We would like to better understand this demand. It may be related to the issue of “condemn” and may be subject to the same considerations on institutional statements.
The university wants to engage in discussions on these issues with UBC student representatives of the protest encampment. Ainsley Carry, the Vice-President for Students, has agreed to serve as the university’s lead and liaison in these discussions. He can be reached to discuss next steps at: vps.admin@ubc.ca
We ask that protesters refrain from disrupting University activities while these important conversations unfold.
We look forward to beginning discussions in the spirit of constructive and respectful dialogue.
Sincerely,
Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President and Vice-Chancellor