Student groups call for better campus security training, safety audits after University of Waterloo stabbings

University student groups across Canada are calling for better training for on-campus security and regular safety audits in the wake of a triple stabbing in a Waterloo, Ont., classroom.

The coalition of student groups held an Our Campus, Our Safety news conference Monday afternoon, nearly three weeks after an associate professor and two students were taken to hospital after the stabbings in a University of Waterloo gender studies class.

Police have called the June 28 incident a hate-motivated attack. A 24-year-old man who recently graduated from the University of Waterloo has been charged. He is scheduled for another court hearing on July 25.

"I know the pain, the frustration and the sadness that has been seen on our campus through the past couple of weeks," Katie Traynor, vice-president of the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association, said during the news conference. "As students, we deserve a safe, inclusive learning environment that's also free from violence and the threat of harm." 

Traynor said she's concerned about the prevalence of gender-based violence and rising queer-phobic rhetoric on and off campuses in Canada and the U.S.

"We must use this press conference not only as an opportunity to reflect on gender-based violence that occurs at our post-secondary institutions, but most importantly, [to] advocate and address gender-based violence prevention responses at our institution so students have the ability to feel authentic and have their safety ensured." 

Vivian Chiem, president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, said the impact of a hostile campus climate is detrimental for all students, but it affects the mental, emotional and physical well-being LGBTQ students disproportionately.

Chiem said provincial governments need to act "promptly and effectively" to make sure students feel safe on campus, and they're making three specific requests:

• The Ontario government should create a gender-based violence prevention framework for post-secondary institutions. This should be done in collaboration with experts, gender-based violence educators, students and people with lived experience.
• The Ontario government should mandate all post-secondary schools to do regular campus safety audits.
• The Ontario Association of College and University Security Administrators should work with the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development to mandate and deliver training for security on campus that's trauma and survivor informed.

"Students deserve to have a post-secondary experience that is fulfilling, fun and memorable for the right reasons, not wrought with fear for their safety and well-being," Chiem said.

Support from other provinces

Manpreet, chair of the Alliance of B.C. Students, said they stand in solidarity with the victims of the University of Waterloo stabbings.

"We need resources and support to address these issues," she said. "We need governments and post secondary institutions to step up and be proactive."

Sophia Fabiano, president of the student union at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., said an attack on any classroom is felt across the country.

"These aren't isolated events; they impact everyone across Canada and we all need to take action to ensure that the right to safe education is protected," Fabiano said.

"Holding our institutions, governments and fellow students accountable and having hard conversations about the culture we are growing and learning in is so crucial to create that change."

University holds community forums

The news conference came the same day the University of Waterloo held two community forums — one in the morning for faculty and staff, and a second in the afternoon for students.

University president Vivek Goel and vice-president of academic and provost Jim Rush hosted the forums.

They were closed to media and the public, which Traynor said she appreciated because it gives the campus community time to grieve and "express our very specific concerns" to the school's administration.

"The question of whether they should be more open? Maybe, perhaps in time, but with an attack so sudden like this and the vulnerability that we currently feel, having those closed-session opportunities to just have that open dialogue as a community is something that's really essential for us going forward to establish our sense of place on campus," Traynor said.

As they left the morning session, arts faculty members Andy Houston and Wendy Philpott said they appreciated the opportunity to listen and be heard.

Houston said his takeaway from the forum was that conversations have been started and they "will continue to happen that are celebrating diversity, that are bringing people together to understand and appreciate difference, and what we all have to offer to a healthy, thriving university community."

Philpott said she didn't feel anything was left out of Monday's conversations.

"I think many people had an opportunity to voice their comments and ask questions to the senior administration," she said, adding "the important voice that needs to be heard is the student voice."

'It was a little disappointing'

After a second community forum Tuesday afternoon for students, CBC News spoke with students, and some — including second-year software engineering student Padena Rasouli — said they felt the event could have gone better.

"To be honest, it was a little disappointing," Rasouli said.

"I heard a lot of stories from the queer community and it was very upsetting to see they have had so many terrible experiences on campus and that the university hasn't been able to address their concerns effectively."

Rasouli said she's glad she was able to hear those perspectives during the forum, and hopes the university will take their experiences seriously and will be transparent with their plan of action.

Arnav Gupta, also a second-year software engineering student, said he also was left feeling the forum could have gone better for students.

"The way it was advertised, at least, was as an event where administration would be able to talk and listen to student input and gather information for an actual action plan on how to do things, but that didn't really seem like it was happening," he said.

Nick Manning, who is the university's associate vice-president of communications, said Tuesday's forums were a painful experience for many students and understands they want action now, but creating solutions and a plan of action on complex societal issues will take time.

"There's a lot to grapple with. There are issues of freedom of expression against the kind of motivation to hatred and incitement to injure, harm or kill people and we really need to have some very deep conversations about it," Manning told CBC News.

"There is an awfully urgent need for action, and our ability to create that urgency and create that action right away is going to be a challenge."

He said Tuesday's forums were the beginning of an open dialogue the university hopes to have with students. Manning said future community engagements need to be part of the university's next steps, though it's not clear what that will look like.

"We're feeling our way through a traumatic incident, trauma that will last a really long time," he said.

"We're not seeking to put a marker in the sand and move on. We need to continue to talk to one another, and listen to our students and find ways ahead that make sense to them."