Students, faculty, and civil rights organizations are speaking up about what they say are violations of freedom of expression and assembly by the York University administration.
Speakers at a March 25 press conference held at York included John Greyson, a filmmaker and York faculty member who was detained in Egypt in 2013, Penni Stewart, an executive board member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, Tyler Willis, member of the advisory board of the Ontario Civil Liberties Association, Safiyah Husein, vice-president (equity) of the York Federation of Students, and Hammam Farah, a York alumnus.
Farah said the York administration has been violating freedom of expression since the early 2000s, with the beginning of the anti-war movement.
He said he was banned from York’s campus in April 2013 for a year after participating in a rally on campus held by Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA). The group called on York to stop investing in companies that manufacture weapons in order to gain money for bursaries and scholarships.
SAIA temporarily lost its club status following the event, which York said was because its public rallies had disrupted campus activities. The group said its freedoms were violated in four of York’s policies, which they are now asking the school to update.
“York does not encourage freedom of expression when it punishes peaceful protests, including those of a disruptive nature, because democracy—and this is the point—entails being able to use your voice to intervene in ‘business as usual’ to correct abuses of power without fear or threat of reprisal,” Farah said.
York spokesperson Joanne Rider said freedom of expression is one of York’s guiding principles.
“Members of the York community have the right to express their views and to test and challenge ideas, provided they do so within the law, and in a peaceful and non-threatening manner that does not disrupt academic activity,” she said via email. “We remain committed to maintaining a civil and safe environment where open debate is encouraged.”
Farah said he hopes the press conference will lead to administrators being held accountable when they breach York’s Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.
