Supporters walk through the pro-Palestinian student encampment outside Convocation Hall on the University of Toronto campus on May 27, 2024.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Some University of Toronto faculty members say the administration’s threat to discipline those who join a pro-Palestinian encampment has spurred more professors to join the protest.
More than 60 faculty members stood in front of the Simcoe Hall administration building Tuesday to denounce the university’s attempts to force an end to the encampment, which has been in place since May 2.
In a show of solidarity with student protesters, the faculty members vowed that if the university asked police to clear the encampment, they would stand in the way.
The encampment is part of a movement that has swept across campuses in Canada and the United States in the past two months. Student protesters have been calling on universities to disclose where their money is invested, divest from companies connected to the Israeli military and cut ties with Israeli universities that operate in the occupied territories.
In some cases the encampments have ended after negotiations between students and university administration, in other cases police have been asked to clear the protesters by force.
The University of Toronto has filed a notice of motion in Ontario Superior Court seeking to clear the encampment and authorize police to carry out the task.
A court conference was held over Zoom Tuesday afternoon to begin planning for that hearing. More than 20 parties are seeking intervenor status, reflecting the significant interest in the case.
The groups included Jewish and Muslim organizations, civil liberties advocates and human rights groups. There were also lawyers present for the University of Toronto Faculty Association and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3902 at the university, whose members could be directly affected.
The schedule for the hearing is expected to be released Wednesday. Justice Markus Koehnen said as with all injunctions the hearing will be rapid. However, with the number of parties involved it appeared that lawyers were planning for several days in court.
Speaking at the press conference, Deb Cowen, a professor of geography and member of the Jewish Faculty Network, said nearly 200 faculty have attended the encampment, a number that has grown since the university issued what she described as an unprecedented threat.
The trespass notice that the university has circulated states that students present at the King’s College Circle site could be subject to discipline, including suspension or even a recommendation of expulsion. It also said faculty, librarians and staff may be subject to measures up to and including termination.
“We are here because we care deeply about our students and because we care deeply about what we are meant to do here in this institution of higher learning,” Prof. Cowen said.
She echoed a call from the Ontario Federation of Labour urging the administration not to force a confrontation.
“If you decide to move against the students, you’ll have to go through us first,” Prof. Cowen said.
Steve Easterbrook, director of the school of the environment, said he was shocked by what he called the administration’s “egregious” threat to faculty.
“The idea that a university would call the police on its own students, staff and faculty to remove them from campus is unthinkable. And to threaten staff and faculty with termination is unthinkable. So I and many other chairs and directors have written to the president expressing our outrage at these extreme measures and over the lack of consultation that led up to them,” Prof. Easterbrook said.
Alejandro Paz, an anthropologist, quoted the university’s statement of institutional purpose, which describes a right to “raise deeply disturbing questions and provocative challenges to the cherished beliefs of society at large and of the university itself.”
In response, the University of Toronto’s media relations office characterized the group as a tiny minority of the university’s 16,000 faculty.
In its notice of motion to the Superior Court of Justice, the university administration said members of the university community have expressed concerns about their health and safety arising from the encampment, which it alleges has limited freedom of speech and freedom of association for people on campus by restricting access to King’s College Circle.
The notice of motion also argues that the encampment limits the expression of those who hold views that differ from those advanced by the protest.
Erin Mackey, a student organizer of the encampment, said talks with the university are continuing. She said U of T president Meric Gertler has not personally joined the negotiations yet. She characterized the sides as far apart on the question of divestment. The university has offered committees to study the issue, she said, while the students are demanding a commitment.