On June 28, the UW community will mark the one-year anniversary of the attack that took place in a gender studies class in Hagey Hall. In the weeks and months after the attack, many students, staff and community members advocated for change at the institutional level. This included calling for better mental health services at UW, improvements to the emergency communications system WatSAFE, and training for staff and faculty on 2SLGBTQIA+ topics.
In response to these calls to action, the university released a series of statements over the past year. The most recent of these statements came on May 16, and aimed to update the UW community on the ongoing initiatives being undertaken by the university.
The first of these initiatives concerns WatSAFE, the university’s emergency communications program which was designed to issue alerts to users about potential emergencies or changes on campus. After the app failed to alert users of the Hagey stabbing (taking nearly two hours to specify that the incident took place in Hagey Hall), professors and students alike took to social media, expressing confusion and concern at the program’s inefficiency. Now, the university says it will be launching a completely new system this summer, which will begin fully operating in the fall. Not much is known about what this new system will include — so far, the university has only confirmed that it will use new features such as SMS messaging to issue alerts. The platform will be provided by Regroup, an American company specialized in mass notification software for corporations.
In addition to technical concerns about emergency preparedness, the university also faced pushback on a number of issues regarding how gender and sexuality is addressed both in and out of the classroom. During a community forum held in the wake of the stabbing, students expressed concern that the university doesn’t make enough of an effort to crack down on hate speech and other forms of oppression. Students and professors (particularly those in the humanities), also highlighted that the stabbing was not a random act of violence, but instead reflective of the rising hatred towards 2SLGBTQIA+ topics being taught in schools. When it was first reported that the attacker targeted PHIL 202: Gender Issues, UW professor Aimée Morrison wrote online: “The university says, ‘there is no risk to the campus community’ but a gender studies class [taught] by a female prof in the humanities targeted deliberately feels a lot like collective ideological danger that has now tipped into violence. You can’t arrest one person and call it a day.”
Aiming to address concerns about safety and student support on campus, the university committed to holding discussions with members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community as well as hiring a new position which would focus on “gender identity and expression.” Addressing these commitments in their most recent statement, the university wrote that: “with deep regret, we acknowledge that progress on these two items has been slow.” The statement then went on to announce the progress that has been made: UW’s office of equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism (EDIRO) will begin working with Washington Silk, a 2SLGBTQIA+ counsellor who will facilitate a series of consultations with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community over the summer, as well as hiring Alexander Pershai as the office’s associate director of the equity sector who will be specifically focused on gender identity and expression. A university spokesperson said that the knowledge gained from these consultations will be used to inform a university-wide “Queer and Trans Strategy,” which is a “key initiative” within Pershai’s portfolio.
The statement also made a point of acknowledging various organizations both on and off campus which have done advocacy and support work for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It also thanked UW’s faculty and staff associations for distributing Progress Pride Flag stickers across campus during the fall. The statement failed to acknowledge, however, that a number of these stickers were reported to have been ripped down in the months following their distribution. Posting a photo of the scraped-off sticker on her door, Morrison wrote in February that the act “feels targeted.” This lack of acknowledgement from the university might echo performativity concerns similar to those expressed by students in the wake of the stabbing. Following the attack, the university announced that they would leave Pride flags flying on campus past June. At the time, graduate student James Chow said, “I do acknowledge the point of symbols, of leaving up the Pride flag stuff and whatever, but I think we should have the attitude of ‘yes and’ — yes this plus other things.”
With Pride month already underway and the one-year anniversary of the Hagey attack approaching, it seems that the university will continue to hold ceremonial events designed to allow the UW community to “come together.” At 1 p.m. on June 28 in the Arts Quad, the university will mark the anniversary of the attack, though details about this event have yet to be shared as of press time.
The university’s statement also referenced a number of consultations which have taken place over the past year, in collaboration with organizations such as the Queer-Trans Alliance, as well as through UW’s own taskforce on freedom of expression and respectful engagement. Though the statement concluded that consultations have been helpful in allowing institutional leaders to hear from the community, exact strategies resulting from these consultations have yet to be shared publicly. The university said that “there is a lot more work [they] need to do” and a university spokesperson confirmed that a task force report will be released next month which will reflect the anonymous feedback collected from community members.
While the university’s statement may have focused on UW-specific initiatives, the reality is that last year’s stabbing caused a ripple effect across many Ontario campuses, causing several institutions to alter the way they operate. In the months following the attack, universities including the University of Toronto, Western University and the University of Guelph decided to follow suit with UW and began removing details like course location and timing from public-facing websites. While these changes might dispel safety concerns in the immediate future, experts across the country have warned that hate-motivated rhetoric against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community reaches far beyond the classroom. Earlier this year, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service reported that the “anti-gender movement” would pose a “violent threat” over the coming year.
“Violent actors may be inspired by the University of Waterloo attack to carry out their own extreme violence against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community or against other targets they view as representing the gender ideology agenda,” the report read.
With such warnings being issued, many community members may continue to feel concerned about the safety of engaging in courses and discussions on gender studies, let alone existing in the world as a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
For more resources and support, chat with LGBT Youthline at 647-694-4275 or call Trans Lifeline at 877-330-6366.
With files from Eduardo Matzumiya.
