Last December, Memorial University decided to implement the draconian measure of banning me from campus for my silent protest of the president’s tuition fee increase and out-of-control spending.

I was banned from campus and subjected to the months-long bureaucratic nightmare that is the Student Code of Conduct process.

I believe the process was conducted unfairly for some very fundamental reasons. First, it was entirely run in secret. Second, it was basically done without a dispassionate arbiter assuring both parties were treated fairly and equally. Third, it did not have an informal finder of facts, akin to how a jury would decide guilt in a trial. It goes fundamentally against the concept of due process. Fourth, MUN hand-picked an investigator without giving me a chance to have any input as to who that person would be. Fifth, I did not have a chance to call witnesses to give testimony and there was no oversight over who was called or not called to be interviewed by the investigator.

I do not believe the investigator conducted a fair examination of what happened, and I have written extensively on this subject. However, what is even more shocking is that, despite all the flaws I see in the process, the investigator herself suggested that I be sanctioned in ways that are way less severe than what MUN eventually decided to do. And it gets worse: MUN considered my public comments defending myself as an aggravating factor.

That’s on top of the fact that the entire process, a three-month ordeal, was already a severe punishment in and of itself. Throughout this time, I was treated like a dangerous offender, having to report to CEP in advance of attending class, made to walk with a CEP escort while on campus for my classes, and threatened with legal action and removal from campus by the RNC as a trespasser if I dared set one foot on MUN property for any reason other than a few exceptions like going to class. MUN seems to be very keen on punishing me severely.

All my appeals have been exhausted. I never truly believed I would get a fair chance of winning the case internally at MUN, but I still believe in the courts of this province. Therefore, I have filed a lawsuit against the university. 

But this case is not just about me. My situation is a microcosm of many of the troubling changes that have been happening in the past few years. Protests used to be broadly allowed, but I believe the era of censorship and erosion of the right to peaceful protest has begun. Freedom of expression is under serious threat at Memorial University.

Now is the time to change the troubling course MUN is taking. If I lose my case, what are we teaching present and future MUN students? Are we teaching them that they should shut up and do as they are told?

This is the only university in this province. Do you want MUN to become a university that does not respect peaceful civil rights? Do you want your children going to a school where they could be banned for taking part in protest?