Police on horseback ride past as McGill University clears a pro-Palestinian encampment in Montreal, on July 10.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
McGill University is restricting access to its campus and asking professors to move their classes online ahead of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel.
The university’s administration has not received any specific threats but says the move is necessary to preserve academic activity when there is an “elevated potential for disruption.”
McGill said events are being organized between Oct. 5 and 7 that could bring people from outside McGill to its campus in downtown Montreal. And although many campus protests have been peaceful, other incidents “have crossed the bounds of the law and McGill’s policies, upsetting people, disrupting access to our learning and workspaces, and damaging property,” the university administration said in a news release.
The university said it had been in close communication with Montreal police about its plans.
Over the past year, student groups took part in pro-Palestinian protests at McGill, including a months-long encampment that was dismantled in July, and an occupation of the James Administration Building that brought police to campus and led to more than a dozen arrests.
This week, student protesters announced on social media that they intend to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent invasions of Gaza and Lebanon with demonstrations.
Almost 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the Hamas attack and about 250 people were taken hostage. More than 41,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the territory. In Lebanon, the country’s health ministry said that nearly 2,000 people have been killed.
“A police state at our universities will not silence the student movement. Join us on Monday Oct. 7th to flood our campuses in response to a year of genocide,” said an Instagram post on the account of one student group.
The protest is planned to begin at Concordia’s Hall building and end at the Roddick Gates at the entrance to McGill’s campus.
Concordia University is not closing its campus. It said it has taken steps to support a climate of safety and respect, including meeting with leaders of student groups to promote civil discourse. Instructors can choose, if they wish, to hold classes online and students who do not attend in-person classes should not be penalized.
In a message to its campus community, Concordia emphasized that it’s normal for community members to hold different views of global events, but the university must be a place where those views are expressed civilly and everyone feels able to participate in campus life without fear of harassment or intimidation.
At the University of Toronto, where an encampment was also in place for more than two months this year, the campus will be open on Oct. 7 and activities will take place as planned.
York University says it will hold a series of events to support members of its community affected by the conflict.
Barry Eidlin, a sociology professor at McGill, said the administration has overstepped by infringing on the freedom of assembly of students, and by not consulting with faculty on a policy that affects how instructors will teach their courses.
“With no credible evidence of any kind of threat to the campus community, they’re forcing all of us off campus and onto Zoom,” Prof. Eidlin said.
He said the administration’s decision violates norms of academic freedom and collegial governance, and many faculty that he knows are upset by the university’s approach.
A more reasonable response, he said, would have been to offer resources on coping with conflict when protests are likely, or to remind instructors that courses can be taught remotely in some circumstances, leaving the choice in their hands.
“To unilaterally order this demonstrates a fundamental lack of trust.”
McGill will be open only to those with a McGill ID card. Classes that do not need to be in person must move online and staff are required to work from home unless that’s impossible.