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Sam
Is your take on the video that as long as the student's are wearing clothes it's ok to physically trying to intimidate a professor or instructor? I don't get the hangups North Americans have about nudity :).
I would be appalled and embarrassed if any of those involved were my graduate students. Being a graduate student with the crazy housing prices in Vancouver is very difficult and I do sympathize with them, but it is no justification for the behaviour of
those students in the classroom. Just like those who were protesting wearing a mask or vaccine mandates by disrupting classes, that type of behaviour is unacceptable. You would think that educated graduate students pursuing an advanced degree would know better
and understand that their behaviour only hurts their cause. What they did was just stupid, these students are adults and should know better.
SSFU is an institution of higher learning and should be respected, taking out anger or frustration towards the SFU administration on people who have nothing to do with the situation is wrong. TSSU needs to strongly come out against this kind of behaviour
because it is not helping.
Just because we may think their cause is good, it doesn't automatically justify their actions. The debacle and conflicts that are going on in the world now is a clear lesson of that.
Eirikur
On Oct 17, 2023, at 7:48 PM, Sam Black <samuel_black@sfu.ca> wrote:
Hi All,
I guess my reaction to the disruption of lectures is that we should keep our heads during a stressful time.
Some grad students are experiencing serious financial hardship: even meeting their caloric requirements is a challenge. (Vancouver is not a cheap city.) They furthermore have no idea how and when this will end.
I don't think disrupting lectures is a great idea. But we ought to keep a sense of proportion. The stakes are very high for many of these students; for us not so much. (And they did wear clothes -- unlike some
college protestors during the '60's.)
Best,
Sam
Sam Black
Assoc. Prof. Philosophy, SFU
This note is not AI-generated.
I respectfully acknowledge that SFU is on the unceded ancestral and traditional territories of the səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish),
xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) Nations.
From: Nancy Forde <nforde@sfu.ca>
Sent: October 17, 2023 1:11:09 PM
To: Wendy Loken Thornton; Ronda Arab; James Fleming
Cc: Faculty Forum Mail List
Subject: RE: Intimidation of faculty and students
Hi all,
I have been honouring the TSSU picket line (in spite of my many concerns for students not a direct part of this dispute), and I was angered to see their members’ actions in this
shared video. This disrespectful behaviour has caused me to question my support of their picket line. I have written to the TSSU leadership to share my concerns and my view that actions such as these can lead to an erosion in support from faculty and students.
If you wish to share your perspective, they can be reached at tssu@tssu.ca.
Best wishes,
Nancy
Here it is:
While disturbing, I think we need to figure out if this is in fact illegal. It appears through other forums that this was done in other large classrooms
as well today.
***
Wendy Loken Thornton, Ph.D. R.Psych
Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, Cognitive Aging Lab
Simon Fraser University
***
The SFU Burnaby campus is located on the unceded traditional territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, and Kwikwetlem Nations.
Note: My
working hours and yours may differ. Please don't feel obligated to reply outside of your normal hours.
From: Ronda Arab <ronda_arab@sfu.ca>
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2023 6:05 PM
To: James Fleming
Cc: Faculty Forum Mail List
Subject: Re: Intimidation of faculty and students
Does someone have a link to the video?
Dear colleagues,
I have just watched a very distressing (tik tok) video apparently showing a group of TSSU strikers invading a lecture hall, doing their best to disrupt the lecture, and aggressively
intimidating the faculty member trying to teach his students. Perhaps others of you have seen this video or will see it; perhaps there are or will be others like it. I assume that actions of the kind shown in the video are illegal, and not only under the Labour
Code. I call on TSSU to condemn and disavow these actions. Sincerely, JDF
Professor, Department of English
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby/Vancouver,
British Columbia,
Canada.
The truth is an offence, but not a sin.
-- Bob Marley
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