Controversial academic meets unfriendly crowd at U of L after school halts planned lecture | CBC News

Controversial academic Frances Widdowson showed up at the University of Lethbridge on Wednesday, following a week of protest from students and faculty and despite officials saying earlier in the week that they would not provide her space to speak.

However, she was met in the university’s atrium by a large, mostly antagonistic crowd of more than 100 students and others who had gathered in anticipation of her appearance.

“She shouldn’t be here!” exclaimed one student to cheers, prior to Widdowson’s arrival.

“There’s no room for hate on this campus!” said another.

The crowd booed and shouted as Widdowson arrived. She was largely drowned out by the crowd but did engage with some attendees as she moved through the atrium. She attempted to move to another building on campus but was also met with resistance, and eventually had to leave.

She is still due to deliver a lecture via web conference later tonight.

The appearance was due to take place the same day the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) issued a statement criticizing the U of L decision, writing that it raised “serious concerns about the University of Lethbridge’s commitment to freedom of expression and academic freedom.”

“Dr. Widdowson certainly does raise disturbing and provocative questions. While many profoundly disagree with her, a university should welcome controversial speakers and vigorous debate, not seek to restrict discourse or speakers,” wrote CAUT executive director David Robinson.

Widdowson’s planned appearance to give a talk entitled “How ‘Woke-ism Threatens Academic Freedom” at the U of L was halted after days of pushback from faculty and students. Two petitions had received more than 2,500 signatures demanding the speech be cancelled. The university had previously said it planned to let the lecture proceed, citing its policy on free expression, though it noted it did not agree with Widdowson’s views.

“They will have to call security and forcibly haul me away to stop me,” Frances Widdowson wrote to CBC News in an email on Monday. CBC News has reached out for additional comment.

The former MRU professor made headlines in 2020 when she said the Black Lives Matter movement had destroyed the university and that there had been an educational benefit to residential schools. That prompted more than 6,000 people to call for her firing via a petition. 

On Tuesday, Alberta’s advanced education minister said new steps to “strengthen free speech” on post-secondary campuses would be announced in the near future. The same day, Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley called that position “troubling” given the high proportion of Indigenous students that attend the U of L.

Opinion divided on speech

Kristine Alexander, co-director of the Institute for Child and Youth Studies at the U of L, said she was dismayed when she learned that one of her colleagues — Paul Viminitz, who works in the philosophy department at the university — had invited Widdowson.

“Right away, I started hearing from students who believe, as I do, in the body of evidence-based inquiry, and to understand that we need to have truth before there can be reconciliation in Canada,” Alexander said.

“I would say that, basically, that the claims that she makes are based on, I would say — it’s generous to call it maybe a misreading of evidence, a selective misreading of evidence.” 

With that in mind, Alexander invited Dr. Sean Carleton, a professor in the department of history and Indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba, to provide an alternative lecture to the Widdowson event.

Meanwhile, Zachary Patterson, an associate professor in the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering at Concordia University in Montreal, has spent time studying political divides on university campuses.

“Speech is controlled to a certain extent — there are hate laws, and you’re not allowed to encourage people to participate in violence, for example,” he said. “Speech is already legally bound, and that’s the case for everyone on or off campuses.

“The question is whether speech should be more stifled on university campuses than off? And I think that the answer to that is definitely not. And then, in fact, universities have a responsibility to ensure that open debate is, indeed, open and possible.”

Students react to speech

Alex Harris, a student at the U of L who is majoring in political science, said Widdowson had a right to come speak at the school but was not “immune to the consequences of it.”

“We as a community have banded together to show that we don’t approve of her rhetoric and what she’s said in the past,” Harris said. “I’m glad to hear it was cancelled, but I’m worried that in doing so, we’ve given her more of a platform. That’s what she’s really doing by coming here.”

Another student, Elijah Crawford, who is studying history, said he was disappointed to hear Widdowson was due to appear on campus.

“I think from the student body it’s been a very good reaction so far in at least attempting to support Indigenous students at the school,” he said. “I think the university has been doing its best during this extremely distressing period in our history.”

More to come.