the journal Queen’s University
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Vol. 153, Issue 25
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F r i day , m a r c h 1 3 , 2 0 2 6
LECTURE EXPLORING CONFLICT ON CAMPUS INTERUPTED BY STUDENT PROTESTS The talk took place on March 10.
from fossil fuels and weapon companies doing business with the State of Israel. Approximately 10 students held up signs, the largest one reading “No 2 Sides to Genocide.” Other signs called attention to cuts made by Queen’s to student funding. “Patrick Deane refuses to call out the genocide in Palestine,” Yael Rusonik one masked protestor said. “Even Assistant News Editor though he took a public position Protestors made their presence felt before on Black Lives Matter and at a lecture on navigating campus the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” Principal and Vice-Chancellor conflicts. The Centre for Teaching and Patrick Deane, who was sitting Learning and Human Rights and in the front row, didn’t turn to Equity Office hosted Aftab Erfan, acknowledge the protestors, but the executive director of Simon also didn’t stop the protesters from Fraser University’s Centre for speaking. After the protestors finished Dialogue and an associate member in the Queen’s School of Public talking, Paul Akpomuje, a poet and Policy, for a talk entitled “Making PhD candidate at Queen’s, read a Sense of Conflicts on Our Campuses poem memorializing the violence that has occurred—and continues in Polarizing Times” on March 10. The talk, which drew an to occur—against Indigenous audience of approximately peoples and their lands. The protestors moved from the 50 people, was set to begin at 3:00 p.m., but within five minutes, back of the room to stand behind during introductions, was Deane as he moved to the podium interrupted by a group protesting to offer opening remarks. While the University’s refusal to divest Deane didn’t directly acknowledge
Demonstrators stood behind Principal Patrick Deane as he offered opening remarks
PHOTO BY YAEL RUSONIK
the claims made by the protestors, he gestured to their presence and alluded to how conflicts have affected on-campus life in recent years. “I thought a couple of years ago that the University and the principles on which it’s founded would be tested by world events,” Deane said. “That’s not only proven to be the case, but the problem has escalated considerably. I think the important thing today is to turn our minds in an intentional way to that dilemma, and to the University’s commitment to free and open dialogue and discussion.” Following Deane’s remarks, two protestors broke into another speech, accusing the administration of tolerating anti-Palestinian discrimination on campus. Again, they weren’t directly silenced, but during the speech, at 3:22 p.m., a single security officer arrived and whispered to one protester. After the protestors finished speaking, Erfan was invited to the podium, starting her speech at 3:24 p.m., by acknowledging the protestors who stood beside her. “I appreciate the conversation
Concerns raised that OUAC personal information form forces disclosure of trans identity
Ontario law applicant calls for changes to the gender identity question in OUAC applications Lilly Meechan Assistant News Editor
Student states that after applying to law school, her gender was changed to ‘other’ on SOLUS. Queen’s student Emma* has raised concerns about how the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC) collects gender identity information and how it’s recorded in Ontario University systems. Currently, when applying to universities on the OUAC website, all students must queensjournal.ca
complete a personal information form, including a mandatory question about gender. The options on the form to answer the gender question include: Cisgender female, Cisgender male, Transgender man, Transgender woman, Transgender person, gender queer/gender nonbinary, agender, another gender, and prefer not to say. In an interview with The Journal, Queen’s student Emma* said she first noticed the gender identity data-collection issue while completing her law school application through OUAC. According to Emma, she’s concerned because there’s no way for a transgender student to share their gender without effectively outing themselves. Emma said she felt confused by how the gender question was structured in the @queensjournal
application portal. Stating the options combined gender identity with transgender status, making it impossible to indicate her gender without disclosing additional personal information. Additionally, she discovered in her university portals that the schools she applied to, including Queen’s, University of Ottawa, and Toronto Metropolitan University, all recorded her gender data as X/Other. “If you’re identifying as a woman or a man and you happen to be trans, there’s no other option to fill out this application without outing yourself with your trans identity,” she said.
that’s clearly alive here, even though it’s very difficult to have,” Efran said. “And I would love for you also, to the degree that’s possible, to hear some of what I’m saying. It might be helpful in that way too.” The protestors left at 3:28 p.m., as Erfan opened her slideshow and formally began the talk. The lecture was centered around how strategies for learning conflict are learned through early social environments, and shape how individuals react to conflicts later in life. She also highlighted how emotional and neurological factors influence conflict responses, often leading people to react defensively, rather than slowing down and prioritizing productive dialogue and genuine listening. Erfan ultimately suggested that the University should work to make its students more uncertain of their own perspectives, and willing to consider the perspectives of others. “Yes, teach them some stuff, but in order to be more curious, make sure your people are thinking for themselves, that they’re not outsourcing their thinking, including to the people on the syllabus” she said. “And make sure there’s some space for trying to persuade each other to have some conversation about what really matters to us.” In a brief question period that followed the talk, one audience member referenced the security guard that had entered and asked whether the protestors might have felt harassed or unsafe as a result, and how that might affect perceptions and assumptions in conflict. Erfan acknowledged that the security guard may have made the protestors feel unsafe, but argued that he did a great job, and didn’t intervene without needing to. “I think if we jump to say we shouldn’t bring this talk together, because we might have protesters, and it might feel unsafe for various people, then we’ll never talk, and that hurts the world,” Erfan said.
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Situated on the
traditional lands of
the Anishinaabe and
Haudenosaunee peoples.
Since 1873
Dreyden George appointed interim AMS president President-elect steps in the role early following Amer’s resignation Jonathan Reilly Senior News Editor President-elect Dreyden George is beginning his term a little earlier than expected. George, the current AMS Board of Directors chair, was appointed interim president of the society at AMS Assembly on March 10, following a unanimous approval vote by Assembly members. His appointment was motioned by VicePresidents Elena Nurzynski and Alyssa Perisa. This comes after Assembly accepted former president Jana Amer’s resignation notice earlier this month, with her resignation cominwhich came intog into effect on March 9. George was elected president for the upcoming year in January, and has spent the last four years working for the AMS, hence why he was chosen to carry out the role of interim president before beginning his official term on May 1, according to Nurzynski. George is scheduled to step into the interim role on March 27 for the remainder of this year’s term, which concludes on April 30. In an interview with The Journal following his appointment, George said that while it’s not the “ideal” circumstances to be stepping into the role, there’ are “silver linings in regards to the advantages for the transition,” as he’ll have an extra month of experience. Story continued on page 3
Editorials Global conflict is affecting campus in more ways than one Page 5
Opinions Highlighting Indigenous Research at Queen’s Page 6
Story continued on page 2
Sports Men’s Hockey falls to UQRT in best of three thriller Page 8
Arts & Culture VCFS explores fate and destiny in ‘Amor Destino’ Page 10
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