Mount Royal University (MRU) in Calgary cancelled a scheduled speaking event with ex-Muslim Armin Navabi following the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand that took 50 lives, according to a statement by the school.
He was scheduled to speak at an event at MRU titled “The Case Against Islamic Reform” organized by the Atheist Society of Calgary on March 21. The space was booked by the members of the Student Affairs and Campus Life team at the school.
However, two days before the scheduled event, a representative from MRU informed the society that they were denied to use the space. In a tweet, Navabi wrote, “I’ve been deplatformed again.”
In the event page, the Atheist Society of Calgary posted a statement saying they believe that by cancelling the event the university is playing into the kind of fear that the New Zealand terrorist wanted to create and that conversation is the key to issues such as these.
“Creating and sustaining a conversation among parties has the greatest chance of reducing stress and stimulating personal and community growth in the right direction,” the statement read.
MRU said they have many students who were largely affected by the terrorist attack and that they cancelled the event out of concern from staff and students.
However, there were disagreements on how the decision was made within MRU itself.
Lesley Brown, provost and vice-president (academic), said in the statement that cancelling or postponing the event removes “the ability to engage in that dialogue.”
“When a speaker is invited to campus, we must always consider that we are providing an opportunity to engage in scholarly dialogue, and when we provide a speaker a platform, we must be mindful that we have a responsibility to give that person an opportunity to speak,” she said. “For faculty, this is a compromise to academic freedom.”
The event was still held, but it was moved off of MRU property to cSpace, an arts hub in southern Calgary.
