On December 6, 2021, MUN Students’ Union Executive Director of External Affairs Hilary Hennessy made the following statement to The Telegram regarding Memorial University of Newfoundland’s decision to ban a student for a tuition hike protest action:
“The fact the student code of conduct was used in such a way is concerning.”
“We are encouraging students to continue speaking out against university decisions, as we believe their thoughts and concerns should be considered in making such big decisions that create implications for the student body,” Hennessy said.
“This can happen to any student who takes a public stance, or any students’ union in regards to combating the tuition increase, for example, and what we can and cannot say. So, it really puts us in a hard situation, as we are kind of scared of misusing language or misusing our platforms to draw attention to issues coming from the head of the university when we’ve seen that when people have done this, now there are major implications such as being banned from campus itself.”
“We ask that if any student feels they have been subjected to cruel or unjust treatment as a result of the student code to please contact the director of advocacy at MUNSU at advocacy@munsu.ca.”
Matt Barter is a fourth-year student in the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty at Memorial University of Newfoundland, majoring in Political Science with a minor in Sociology. He enjoys reading thought-provoking articles, walks in nature, and volunteering in the community.
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