October 25, 2005

Op-ed, Toronto Star

By Frederick Lowy

A student at another Montreal university recently wrote in their student newspaper, "(G)o down to Concordia and check out a conference or a speech, educate yourself about food at Le Frigo Vert or The People's Potato, get your bike fixed at Right to Move, or just soak up the atmosphere of a school that seems to care more about working at living than living to work."

Unfortunately, the image of Concordia presented in the media recently is far less positive.

The focus has not been our significant growth in quality and size over the past decade, or that we are a university that is innovative, open to new ideas and accessible while offering top quality programs. Rather, Concordia has been highlighted because of issues surrounding a proposed public speech by former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and our decision that the event take place off campus.

Concordia is a dynamic, vibrant, urban university. A key reason behind our dynamism is our diversity. We are a small city comprising almost 40,000 students, faculty and staff including French- and English-speaking Canadians and citizens from more than 130 countries. We are the university of choice for young people from Montreal's cultural communities.

We take pride in our diversity and view it as one of our strengths. At the same time, this diversity has created tension on campus from time to time — just as it has in the broader Canadian society.

In reviewing potential venues for high-profile speakers, our paramount objective is to ensure the exchange of ideas in a civil and respectful manner while protecting the security and safety of the Concordia community.

When, after advice from security forces, Concordia decided that allowing the speech to take place on campus presented an unacceptable risk to students, faculty, staff, and neighbours, and that normal academic activities would be significantly disrupted, it first offered to co-sponsor Barak's talk at a suitable, off-campus site.

We hoped that this would be a win-win situation: Freedom of speech would be served because our students and the public would still be able to hear Barak's views; the university community would be protected because the site selected, approved by the police, would presumably be safer in the event of a large, violent demonstration.

When Hillel (a Jewish student campus group) and its supporters rejected the university's offer to co-sponsor the event, we invited Barak to speak under Concordia's auspices. Let me stress that a Concordia event organized and held off-campus remains a Concordia University event.

Regrettably, Barak declined our invitation to speak at a location regularly used by the university for large public events.

Looking ahead, the key issue is when and how our campus will be able to welcome international statesmen like Barak. We strongly believe that university campuses, of all places, should be open to the exchange of diverse points of view.

Over the past two years, we have done a great deal to create a civil and respectful dialogue on campus. We have implemented a new Code of Rights and Responsibilities governing all members of our university community. A formal risk assessment team reviews requests and monitors situations on campus.

A successful university-sponsored Peace and Conflict Resolution Series fosters open debate on campus by addressing issues of peace building and management of deep-rooted conflict in local and international arenas. The series has examined a variety of issues and sponsored many controversial and insightful speakers from around the world on campus. Yet we must do more.

Concordia must be able to accommodate anyone, including high-level speakers who may be controversial because they represent one side in an acrimonious international dispute.

Critics understandably point out that cancelling an appearance by such a speaker or even moving the speech to a safer off-campus site, as Concordia proposed and attempted, rewards potential bullies and enemies of free speech who wish to silence people and views they do not like.

Most Canadian universities have large lecture halls that until recently could, and did, safely accommodate all speakers.

Regrettably, many of these, including Concordia's, were not built to manage serious security concerns simply because there was no need to do so. Universities are now adjusting to new realities and accepting levels of security previously almost unimaginable in Canada.

Concordia is presently reviewing its physical plant and general environment. Changes recommended by experts will be considered so that all speakers can then be welcomed on campus.

This will be done in a timely fashion, with an eye toward implementing the necessary changes this academic year. Until then, we will continue to hold off campus, under Concordia auspices, any event considered not secure in our present facilities. Freedom of expression will continue to be supported as it always has been at Concordia.

There is, of course, another important change we must strive toward. That is, for universities to work more closely with both internal university communities and their supporters in the larger society to create a climate in which the appearance on campus of a speaker whose views some consider objectionable is celebrated as an occasion for civil discussion of these views.

The opposite happened at Concordia in 2002 when demonstrators, many of them not students, rioted. Security authorities feared a repeat performance this fall.

I believe we acted wisely in the present situation and we will make the necessary adjustments. No doubt other Canadian universities will need to do the same.

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Frederick Lowy is president and vice chancellor of Concordia University.