A recently obtained ATIPP request reveals more of the Chief Risk Officer Greg McDougall’s thoughts regarding the MUN Students’ Union protest action on December 2nd, 2022. McDougall states, “I just really don’t understand the merits of this event, and the manner in which it was done.
Funding and support from donors, research dollars, and the Province largely comes from showing how great of a University we are and how important we are. We are top tier in research and have great programs especially in the STEM areas. This event was to showcase this, and allow people to ask questions. I am sure MUNFA, GSU and a lot of others wanted to ask tough questions… It also took away from celebrating the success of students and faculty, and in a way it achieved to silence their voices more than the Universities.
As I was trying to get MUNSU to leave the stage area, and convince them to ask some hard questions such as ‘what are you doing to keep tuition affordable?’, or the food bank, or housing supply. We challenged them to let the event continue and ask questions, I think most rational people would have thought that is representing students better. The sign was up, the point was made, good job… But then let the event continue. We tried to offer up every possible solution for a path forward.
At the end they even tried to wrap Dr. Timmons in that silly sign and they were aggressively following her with it. Honestly, I don’t know where we go from here. It just seems debate, dialogue and building consensus when there is disagreement is just a thing of the past.”
See full ATIPP below:
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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