By McGill Reporter Staff
On Monday, Feb. 13, McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum issued her official response to Law Dean Daniel Jutras’s report on the events of Nov. 10, when a group of students occupied parts of the fifth floor of the James Administration building and tuition protesters clashed with police on campus.
The 50-page report, released on Dec. 15, provided out a minute-by-minute chronology that shed light on the sometimes conflicting accounts of the turmoil that unfolded in and outside the James Administration Building on that November afternoon, and also included six recommendations aimed at inviting dialogue “and clear articulation of each constituency’s expectations.”
“Professor Jutras concludes his report with six specific recommendations, all of which I have accepted,” Munroe-Blum said in her response. “Each of the recommendations resonates with myself and the University’s senior team and my colleagues and I are committed to addressing directly the concerns identified by Professor Jutras. In some cases work has already begun to deal with the urgent issues identified in the report; in others we look forward to consulting further with members of the McGill community.”
In addressing Jutras’s first recommendation, that “University authorities should provide and participate in a forum open to all members of the University community to discuss the meaning and scope of the rights of free expression and peaceful assembly on campus,” Munroe-Blum announced that Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi would chair an Open Forum “on the breadth of free expression and peaceful assembly by members of the University community on our campuses.” Manfredi will be supported by an Advisory Group that “will include members appointed by our governing bodies and by Professor Manfredi himself. As a whole this Group will include faculty, students, administrative and support staff, and alumni or other engaged members of our community.”
Manfredi is to report back on the proceedings and issues raised during them to the Principal, who will then share them with the McGill community.
A more detailed description of the Open Forum is available at: http://blogs.mcgill.ca/openforum-expression.
To read the whole of the Principal’s Response, and to download a copy of the Report itself, go to www.mcgill.ca/dean-jutras-report/response.