UW president and vice-chancellor Vivek Goel and vice-president academic and provost James Rush hosted two community forums today to address staff and student concerns, respectively, about the June 28 stabbing in Hagey Hall.
The student forum lasted 90 minutes, and participants could submit questions online in advance as well as contribute to the in-person discussion.
Students raised a variety of concerns about campus safety, including questions about the university’s WatSAFE app and lockdown procedures. Goel and others on the panel said that they are reviewing potential changes to these systems, but nothing has been decided upon yet.
The hate-motivated nature of the stabbing was also a point of discussion, with a number of students citing fears about hateful or biased rhetoric transpiring on campus. Members of GLOW, the Women’s Centre, and RAISE also expressed concerns about how hate is dealt with at the university. Goel said that staff are working through various possibilities when it comes to addressing hate on campus, and mentioned the idea of holding workshops about freedom of expression in the future. “There [is] no place for hate speech on our campus,” Goel said.
A recording of the forum will be posted online in the coming days.
