The opinion piece by Concordia University professor Shelley Reuter leaves the impression that her honours sociology students “walked out” on her lecture. As the students in the room where it happened, we dispute this.
The presentation was meant to be the closing remarks of our thesis presentations. This was our final opportunity to speak with our professor and celebrate our accomplishments as a class.
Instead, she chose this time to give a talk about academic freedom, institutional neutrality, and the BDS movement. This came as a shock to us.
Further, a campus security guard emerged in the final hour of the daylong symposium and stood silently at the door as Reuter began her presentation. To us, this reflected the repression tactics currently being used to curtail student movements in America.
Contrary to what Reuter suggests, the students, their friends and family sat in polite silence throughout her presentation. A student then initiated a discussion period questioning Concordia’s institutional neutrality. However, it soon became clear to us that Reuter was not open to engaging with us, and that’s when we left.
If we “walked out,” it was only after we attempted to engage in the kinds of complex and nuanced discussions of which Reuter suggests our generation is incapable.
We feel her op-ed devalues the very real issues of censorship and freedom of expression which are ongoing in our society today.
Elena Tresierra-Farbridge, Larissa Szaniszlo-Luty, Ray Ellison, Phoebe North, Amina Vance, Yasemine Ozturk
