Middlesex College, Western University; Photo by L. Bildy
DonateWho is Margaret Munn?
Margaret Munn was a mature, Scottish-born student in the later stages of her career, when she decided to attend the Faculty of Education at Western in the fall of 2022 to become certified to teach children in Ontario. She had previously taught abroad for many years and had instructed adults in Ontario. Having attended Western in the 90s to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree, it was something of a culture shock to return to her alma mater following its embrace of EDID (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization).
What was her “offence”?
In her first week of classes, she asked a question in a course called, “Indigenous Education: Towards a Decolonizing Pedagogy.” Specifically, she wanted to know what was meant by ‘decolonization’ and how it translated practically to the business of teaching children math, chemistry and the like. This question, and other mild challenges to the ideological instruction being imparted in the classroom, were not well-received, and triggered what became a Kafkaesque nightmare for Margaret for the next two years.
How did the university respond?
Her claim states that, during an emergency meeting of the Faculty of Education’s EDI committee in November, 2022, members concluded that the faculty had become an “unsafe” space, due to the “hate speech” allegedly being disseminated by Margaret. The committee determined that she needed to be expelled from the program and this was communicated to the Associate Dean, who began by putting Margaret on “conditional status” with a series of ever-evolving requirements for her to stay in the program. Her future as a teacher was explicitly presented as under threat during the many lengthy “struggle sessions” with the Associate Dean and the Faculty Manager, where it was clear that the goal was to change her worldview as a condition of earning her degree.
How did Margaret Munn respond in turn?
Margaret defended herself and successfully had disciplinary decisions of the Associate Dean overturned by the University’s Senate Review Board Academic. But she spent her two years in the program essentially under siege—spending all available time navigating the academic discipline process and policies on her own, marshalling evidence, trying to juggle unreasonable demands to complete course requirements which she was unable to fulfill while under an academic suspension that was ultimately overturned.
As her claim alleges, while Western University purports to uphold principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression, Margaret’s experience was the opposite. Instead, its faculty made it essential to her academic success that she personally adopt the moral philosophy and critical theory ideology of her instructors, which was also now embedded in Western’s administration and education programs and imposed in a top-down fashion on the entire institution.
Where does the Free Speech Union of Canada come in?
The Free Speech Union of Canada is pleased to provide Margaret Munn with legal counsel to advance her claim for redress and accountability from Western for the mental distress, harassment, reputational harm and other damages she suffered.
Academic freedom and freedom of expression on campus are foundational to post-secondary institutions, if their purpose is to foster human flourishing, critical thinking, the search for truth and scientific understanding, and the production of tomorrow’s thoughtful leaders. They cannot become echo-chambers enforcing dogmatic worldviews on students on pain of the threat of expulsion, and still advance their former ideals.
Where can I find out more?
The Statement of Claim may be reviewed here. An article about Ms. Munn’s travails in Quillette by FSUC Advisory Board member, Jonathan Kay, may be read here.
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