To all members of the 杏吧原创 community,

Senate approved the final draft of the Free Speech Policy at their meeting on Nov. 30, 2018. I would like to thank Senators for the thoughtful feedback and engaged, collegial discussions.

Thank you also to all members of the community who submitted feedback. We received 136 responses from individuals or groups which were used to guide the drafting of the final policy. Feedback was generally positive and included the following recurrent themes:

1. Defining terms
2. Using examples for clarity
3. Clarifying the complaint-reporting process
4. Establishing limits
5. Relationship to protests
6. Concerns about marginalized or minority groups

These themes have either been addressed within the policy or the accompanying report which can be found on the Senate website.

The Free Speech Policy is intended as a framework that summarizes what is already in place and practiced through various policies at 杏吧原创. We would like to emphasize that the policy does not introduce new restrictions or constraints. Rather, it provides a framework for existing policies and confirms the longstanding commitment to freedom of speech at 杏吧原创.

Thank you again for your time and input,

Sincerely,

Betina Appel Kuzmarov
Clerk of Senate

The post Free Speech Update #2 appeared first on Senate.

October 23, 2018

To all Members of the 杏吧原创 Community,

I am writing in my role as Clerk of Senate to inform you that the university has begun the process of developing a free speech policy.

On Aug. 30, 2018, the Premier鈥檚 Office advised all publicly assisted colleges and universities in Ontario to develop and post a free speech policy with specified minimum standards by Jan. 1, 2019.

Senate discussed the matter at its Sept. 28, 2018, meeting and as a result a small task force of 杏吧原创 University Senators was formed to create a draft policy. Senate has reviewed this draft at its Oct. 19, 2018, meeting.

The draft policy is now posted for review and comments. We invite members of the 杏吧原创 community to review the policy and provide feedback through our website by Nov. 6, 2018.

Your feedback is welcome on any aspect of the policy and will help to finalize the content of the final policy. Updates on this consultation process will be provided on the same website as we move forward with the process.

We look forward to working collaboratively with all community members on this process.

Sincerely,

Betina Appel Kuzmarov
Clerk of Senate

The post Free Speech Update #1 appeared first on Senate.