Education

University Assigns ‘Health And Safety’ Requirements To Student Group’s Events

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Rob Shimshock Education Reporter
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A Canadian university assigned “health and safety” requirements to a student group, resulting in the group having to host its event on another campus.

Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario imposed the requirements on the Laurier Society for Open Inquiry, a group headed by graduate student Lindsay Shepherd, reported The College Fix. Shepherd previously made headlines in 2017 after being admonished for showing a video of University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson to a class she was conducting as a teaching assistant.

“As far as I know, no other clubs are subject to this review,” Shepherd told The Fix. “The administration is not being transparent and seems to avoid putting much in writing.”

Her group will host a discussion between former The Rebel Media contributor and “Catholic nationalist” Faith Goldy and University of New Brunswick professor Richard Duchesne, who authored “Canada In Decay: Immigration. Diversity, and the Ethnocide of Euro-Canadians.” Both speakers are critical of current immigration practices. The Society relocated the April 30 event to the University of Waterloo and will charge $20 for general admission tickets and $15 for its members. The talk would have been free if hosted at Wilfrid Laurier, which has paid for venue and security for other campus events.

An unidentified individual shut down Goldy’s previous March appearance at Wilfrid Laurier by pulling a fire alarm. The university reportedly investigated the incident but could not identify the perpetrator.

“We ultimately came to the conclusion that we should not concede victories to no-platformers,” the group said on Facebook. “We cannot be passive in light of a campus culture that believes it acceptable to shut speakers down by the illegal pulling of fire alarms.”

The Laurier Society for Open Inquiry moved a pro-immigration discussion to a library near the university — a move which cost the group over $400 — after the school changed its booking policy. The administration blames the society’s faculty sponsor for failing to reserve a space for the April 30 event.

The sponsor “did not make himself available” soon enough to discuss “safety, security and other related planning matters,” Wilfrid Laurier told The Record. “When a meeting did take place there was insufficient time left to properly plan for an April 30 event.”

The school now requires 15 days to schedule an event, Laurier told The Fix. The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Goldy and Wilfrid Laurier for additional comment but received none in time for press.

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