Call for Action
York university has suspended new major admissions to a large number of programs, including Sexuality, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Indigenous Studies. For more on this see here and here. CSWIP has today sent the following statement to the President and relevant dean:
I am writing on behalf of the Canadian Society Working for Inclusion in Philosophy (CSWIP).
We are shocked by your plan to suspend admission to a large number of programs at York University, including in particular Indigenous Studies and the School of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. We are particularly concerned about this decision in light of the rise of the global far right, which has been particularly focused on eliminating programs of this sort. We think that in these times it is especially important for Canadian universities to uphold the breadth of their academic traditions and support research and teaching in these areas, which are so important to liberal democracy and progress toward equality, diversity, and inclusion. Now more than ever it is important for students to have access to courses in these areas, and for research into them to continue.
We strongly urge you to reconsider your decision.
We strongly urge you to email York about this decision, and invite you to freely borrow whatever you like from our letter. The people to contact are York University President, Rhonda Lenton (rlpvc@yorku.ca) and to the Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, JJ McMurtry (deanlaps@yorku.ca).