On behalf of the Faculty Association, our President, Cameron Cartiere, presented the Palestine Solidarity Motion for the consideration of the University Administration and the Board of Governors. The motion was passed at the Faculty Association monthly meeting which followed directly after our AGM on April 29.
The motion was presented by a collective group of our faculty membership who spent many weeks researching and developing this motion. The motion was circulated in advance of the monthly FA meeting to allow time for careful consideration of the motion by the full membership.
Presentation of the motion was followed by a balanced and fulsome debate with individuals speaking for and against the motion, and with a neutral facilitator voicing the comments of those who may have felt unable to present their positions directly to the collective group.
This meeting was one of the highest attended Faculty Association meetings in the past few years. The motion was passed with 73% in favour. The remaining 27% were evenly split between abstains and against.
The motion in full (with links for additional information) can be found here.
For everyone’s information, Faculty associations and student unions that have recently signed on to solidarity boycotts, divestments and/or sanctions include: Wilfrid Laurier University FA, Université de Montréal FA, Windsor University FA, the Canadian Federation of Students, student unions at Emily Carr University, Concordia, SFU and more.