On October 28, 2010, the University of Toronto Governing Council passed a new policy concerning the temporary use of space on campus. This policy made changes to existing booking procedures, many of which already presented severe difficulties to student groups attempting to access campus space. The new policy makes it even more difficult and expensive for clubs, campus, and community groups to access space on campus. Changes to the existing policies, such as increased booking fees and charging groups for undercover police presence after an event, have passed without proper consultation, effectively giving the university the right to cancel a space booking at any time without prior notice. As the latest installment in a series of undemocratic and repressive actions enacted by the university over the course of the year, this new space booking policy necessitates the posing of three questions: who is this university for, what is this university for, and where is this university going?
To ask who a university is for seems redundant. After all, are universities not built to facilitate the learning needs of students? No university could exist without a diverse and vibrant student community. However, given U of T’s actions in the process of implementing this plan, it seems the university is being organized around the needs of administrators and bureaucrats. The parties most affected by the new space booking policy are student groups, clubs, and organizations. The university did not consult or even notify students that a new policy was being drafted, voted on, or implemented. Furthermore, when a number of students from various campus groups organized a rally in front of Simcoe Hall and demanded that their needs be considered in the implementation of this policy, they were initially denied entry into the Governing Council meeting. These actions demonstrate that the unanimous disapproval of over 150 recognized student groups and unions is irrelevant to the Governing Council. The convenience of this policy to administrators, who are now better equipped to stifle “radical” student events, also seems to be of paramount importance.
What is this university for? Based on the actions of administrators surrounding the passing of this new space policy, it is certainly not for critical thought, novel approaches, or free speech. It is clear from the new policy that groups whose events are deemed controversial will be most affected by these changes, as they will face unexpected bills for undercover police placed at their events for “safety” purposes and sudden booking cancellations. This has been the case in the past for groups such as Students Against Israeli Apartheid, whose organizing has faced multiple obstacles. According to the University of Toronto’s Statement of Institutional Purpose, the university aims to foster “radical, critical thinking and teaching.” How can such thinking and teaching occur when only the opinions and organizing of certain students groups are deemed acceptable? If the university claims to be committed to encouraging the formation of new and “radical” ideas, it is hypocritical for it to underhandedly stifle these types of ideas through oppressive space booking policies that single out groups whose opinions the university does not wish to be associated with. Constraining free speech on campus by restricting student access to space is a policy that ultimately impedes the university’s ability to serve as a place that fosters free and novel discourse.
Finally, it is important to ask in which direction this university is heading. These actions mark the university as an increasingly repressive, closed, and conservative space. Such actions include cuts to critical programs within the Faculty of Arts and Science (blatantly glossed over in David Naylor’s response to student concerns about academic restructuring in The Varsity’s October 25 issue); shutting down the campus during the G20; the implementation of flat fees; and a review of the Student Code of Conduct occurring at this time which will criminalize dissent by targeting outspoken student leaders and organizations. Measures such as charging higher fees for the use of campus space to students and “market rent” rates to external groups signal that the university is becoming more corporate and profit-oriented than ever before. If the university is to act as a corporation rather than a community, it should at least let students have a say in matters that affect them.
The new space booking policies and related actions should be a cause of significant concern for all students. Though they appear easy to ignore when one is not engaged in campus-based organizing or clubs, these changes are part of a larger trend. The university is becoming more like a corporate, repressive entity focused on the needs of its administration, and less like an open community conducive to free speech and centered on the needs and rights of its students. If students wish to remain the priority of this institution, we must engage with these issues, and ensure that our voices are heard.
