URFA Stands in Solidarity With U Waterloo Against Hate

July 4, 2023

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Regi­na Fac­ul­ty Asso­ci­a­tion was hor­ri­fied to learn of the tar­get­ed attack on a class of 40 gen­der stud­ies stu­dents that occurred last week at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Water­loo. The Water­loo police have deter­mined that this was a crime ​“moti­vat­ed by hate relat­ed to gen­der expres­sion and identity.” 

URFA stands in sol­i­dar­i­ty with our col­leagues in Water­loo and against the ris­ing wave of ani­mos­i­ty and vio­lence toward the 2SLGBTQIA+ com­mu­ni­ty and those learn­ing about women’s and gen­der stud­ies with­in an aca­d­e­m­ic context. 

It is impor­tant that we rec­og­nize that this attack was not a lone inci­dent, but part of an estab­lished move­ment across North Amer­i­ca that is based in misog­y­ny, homo­pho­bia, trans­pho­bia, and hate. 

With Cana­da Day just past, it’s impor­tant to remem­ber that as Cana­di­ans we are not exempt from the ris­ing tide of hate we see across the US. The ​“anti-woke” move­ments we see rolling back rights for queer peo­ple, trans peo­ple, non-bina­ry peo­ple, and women are hap­pen­ing in Cana­da too. 

We see this reflect­ed in this recent attack, in the ongo­ing issue around use of pro­nouns in schools in New Brunswick, in the recent pro­posed book ban in Man­i­to­ba, and oth­er emerg­ing sto­ries from Cana­di­an communities. 

Hate begets hate — which is why it’s so impor­tant that we stand togeth­er. If you haven’t had a chance yet, we invite you to sign on to this state­ment of sol­i­dar­i­ty which was co-authored by URFA mem­ber Claire Carter. 

Uni­ver­si­ties should be safe places where fac­ul­ty, staff, and stu­dents can explore a diver­si­ty of expe­ri­ences and perspectives. 

Attacks like the one at U Water­loo are meant to intim­i­date and silence — but we know that the nation­al post-sec­ondary com­mu­ni­ty won’t let a vio­lent act like this stop impor­tant con­ver­sa­tions about gen­der and diver­si­ty from hap­pen­ing on our campuses. 

As a com­mu­ni­ty of post-sec­ondary edu­ca­tors and staff, URFA is com­mit­ted to cre­at­ing safe places to teach and learn, defend­ing aca­d­e­m­ic free­dom, and stand­ing against hate in our communities.