Two weeks ago, The Varsity reported on a controversy over the new halal food options that are being served at Bluff’s on the UTSC campus (see “Halal food hard to swallow at UTSC,” Oct. 4). The article itself sparked some heated debate on our website’s commenting system, in the mainstream media, and on many blogs.
This article followed the debate on appropriate religious accommodation, much-covered in the mainstream media. When discussing the intricacies of religious accommodation, tempers tend to flare. The Varsity is committed to freedom of speech. On a topic as sensitive and controversial as religious accommodation, it’s unfair and dangerous to make generalizations based on assumptions. Many, however, chose to make sweeping and often irrelevant rhetorical statements when commenting on the article, both on The Varsity’s own website and ones across the internet that reprinted the article in part or in whole.
U of T has an incredibly diverse student body—one that continues to grow more diverse. Religious accommodation has been an issue on campus in the past and will continue to be one long into the future. It is impossible to fully accommodate every group on campus without infringing on the rights or wishes of others.
Responses to the Oct. 4 article saw uncompromising extremes, from those who view themselves as advocates of secular society to those who believe deeply in accommodation for Muslim students.
Accommodation issues will likely grow more complex as political interests and religious ones butt heads. Since the article was published, Rob Wulkan, the president of the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union, has been censured for telling reporters that a significant proportion of students, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, eat the halal food served at Bluff’s. The Varsity supports Mr. Wulkan for speaking on the issue.
The Varsity aspires to foster discussion on all sides of the debate over religious accommodation on campus. We will continue to report on all further developments on this issue, objectively.
