CANADIAN UNIVERSITY LIFTS SUSPENSION OF STUDENT ACCUSED OF
DISRUPTING CLASSES
Karen Birchard
York University, in Toronto, has
rescinded its suspension of a student whom it had cited for disruptive
behavior during two pro-Palestinian protests inside a building where
classes were under way and where demonstrations are banned.
The
university lifted the suspension against Daniel Freeman-Maloy, a
third-year political-science student, after a
provincial judge ordered that a judicial review of his
suspension proceed on August 10.
Judge
Gloria Epstein of the Ontario Superior Court, in a 10-page ruling on
Tuesday, also issued an injunction against a disciplinary tribunal that
had been scheduled to convene on Wednesday at the university. In
blocking the tribunal, she said that it would put the student in a
"procedural nightmare" that could "irreparably harm" his academic
career.
York's president,
Lorna R. Marsden, barred Mr. Freeman-Maloy from the campus on April 21
for making excessive noise with a megaphone and disrupting classes
during protests in Vari Hall twice during the past academic year (The
Chronicle, May 5).
The
protests, on October 22 and
March 16, involved
vociferous confrontations
between pro-Zionist
and
pro-Palestinian organizations on the campus. The university has
maintained that all students
are aware
that its
code of conduct specifically forbids protests in Vari Hall, a
multipurpose building with a three-story rotunda and open architectural
features that cause sounds to echo and reverberate.
In
imposing the suspension, which was to have lasted three years, Ms.
Marsden had invoked a rarely used power, called executive fiat, that
neither requires a hearing nor permits an appeal.
Mr.
Freeman-Maloy received a letter this week from the university
confirming that his suspension had been lifted.
The
university said, in an official statement acknowledging that Mr.
Freeman-Maloy can reregister, that its "goal throughout this process
has been to protect the academic environment and ensure that all York
students understand and abide by established standards of student
conduct."
But the
legal action may not be over.
"We are
going to sue the president for damages and possibly the university,"
said Mr. Freeman-Maloy's lawyer, Peter Rosenthal, who is also a
professor of mathematics at the University of Toronto. Mr.
Rosenthal, who in his law practice specializes in social-activism
cases, said he had received letters of support for his client from
academics in Canada, the United States, and
elsewhere. "Ten years ago, this type of
autocratic stance on dissent would not have happened," he said. "But in
the post 9/11 era, regrettably, universities are cracking down on
dissent."
The Chronicle
of Higher Education (online),
July 23, 2004.
Newsletter, September 2004-Text