Across campus, posters have appeared with the words ‘Missing Person’ in all caps printed above a photo of the University of New Brunswick’s president Paul Mazerolle. Below the photo reads ‘Last seen spreading misinformation and being neutral about genocide.’
These posters, however, are not just a jab at the president, but part of a larger conversation about UNB’s response to the war in Gaza.
On Sept. 12, Mazerolle emailed a statement to UNB staff and students titled ‘Reminder of rights and responsibilities for the UNB community,’ addressing two ‘events’ involving pro-Palestine protesters on the UNB Saint John and Fredericton campuses.
“It is crucial that we engage in these discussions with civility and respect,” the president stated in his email.
The statement has since received backlash from students, faculty and most notably the UNB Student Organizing Collective (SOC) for its mischaracterization of events.
“We were all extremely surprised, astonished at the accusations leveled against the Student Organizing Collective,” said Hassan Mehmood a member of the SOC. “It doesn’t make sense at all.”
On Sept. 18, the SOC released a written response to Mazerolle’s email, disputing the claims he made, specifically the first event Mazerolle mentions in his statement. The event is described as a group of protesters ‘causing disruption’ in MacLaggan Hall before a lecture.
The SOC provided context that they were not ‘causing disruption,’ but rather had two members speak to students before the class – with permission from the professor – about a petition for UNB to divest from Israeli entities.
Mehmood said their petition currently has around 800 signatures.
Their response added an email from the professor in question, Val Reeves, stating that class was not disrupted. Reeves also told this to campus security.
“There’s very clearly an attempt to cause fear,” said Colin Cyr a member of the SOC. “It’s an effective framing if you don’t know what really happened.”
When Cyr first read the president’s email he was disappointed. Then, he was worried about repercussions, as the statement cites the rights and responsibilities of students, the regulations for non-academic student conduct and claims ‘investigations are ongoing.’
“There’s an attempt to frame it as a disruption, as behaviour that is unbecoming of students … or even putting students in danger,” said Cyr. “It’s very clever in the way that he doesn’t directly state that we are endangering students. But that is clearly the implication.”
Both Cyr and Mehmood have been part of the movement to end the war in Gaza since rallies started last October. Over the last year, both students have been a part of the weekly gatherings held on campus, where the initial divestment campaign began.
The concerned students presented a petition earlier this year urging UNB to divest and publicly ‘denounce Israel,’ which was met with a statement from the president on May 31 that UNB would not comply on the basis of ‘institutional autonomy and political neutrality.’
“We think that any, any percent of our investments, of our money, should not be going to war,” said Cyr. “An institution’s silence is also inherently political, especially when they are investing in one side.”
Despite their efforts, Mehmood said the president has been unresponsive to their requests for dialogue and that the president’s recent statement is an attack on “academic freedom.”
“The president seemed to conflate discomfort with safety and security,” he said. “Discomfort is something completely different … that’s part of the learning process.”
Although there is still no response from the president, on Sept. 23, faculty members released a letter to Mazerolle calling on him to retract his statement.
The letter has 105 signatures from UNB faculty.
“It uplifted our spirits and it’s good to see faculty coming in support of the students,” said Mehmood.
While Mazerolle remains a ‘missing person’ as per the posters seen on campus, Mehmood and Cyr said the SOC will continue to give students a voice and call for the president to retract his statement — but most importantly, to divest.
“Administration is really going to have to be forced into it,” said Cyr. “That is why our campaign now is so important to mobilize student voices … and make sure that students know that they have a voice and that their voice should be heard.”
The Aquinian contacted Paul Mazerolle via email and was directed to the UNB Communications Office. The Aquinian did not receive a response before deadline.
