Broken promises and lost faith

 

Student life at Memorial has been deeply impacted by the university’s failed commitments to peace, justice and equity

As I complete my sixth year and my second degree at Memorial University, I wish I could say that this institution hasn’t decimated my trust in higher education.

It wasn’t always this way. Throughout my undergraduate degree I felt a deep love and respect for my school, in particular the Anthropology department where I took most of my classes. I genuinely believed in the power of the university to usher in change, justice, and share knowledge. I thought all the revolutionary potential in the world was contained in my reading lists.

I am grateful to my professors for the knowledge and skills they have taught me. But I now struggle to reconcile those experiences with the ones I had once I started engaging with people in real life, not just in the lecture hall.

Like many universities across North America, Memorial University’s stated vision and the image it projects are at odds with its actions. The MUNL Inscription, a 1934 poem written for the founding of Memorial University College, employs a myth of rebuilding the province in the wake of a devastating world war, of providing education for generations to come, and of promoting peace and justice. Likewise, Memorial’s current strategic plan speaks to the university’s commitment to enacting positive change in the community, province and world. A host of other official statements and documents from Memorial echo the same themes.

I know these documents better than I ever would have cared to, thanks to hours of dedicated review during our Palestine solidarity encampment. Over the course of nearly two months I and my fellow protesters exhausted every avenue we could think of to convince university administrators to act with integrity and dignity. We scoured MUNL policies and would feel a brief moment of hope when we would uncover another commitment the university had claimed, another angle we might use to lobby for just policies. We wanted MUNL’s commitments to be genuine, but they never were — and it never worked.

MUNL knowingly retains millions of dollars of investments in weapons manufacturers and other companies complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. In July 2024, Memorial’s board of regents voted to maintain those investments, despite the miniscule financial impact of moving them.  (more...)

Broken promises and lost faith