University is reaching out to protesting U.S. students
Bishop’s University has issued a statement reassuring American high-school students that their involvement in the current student movement against gun violence will not negatively affect their admission to Bishop’s.
“We are aware that many highschool students across the United States plan to engage in peaceful actions over the coming weeks to protest gun violence and to call for more stringent laws on gun ownership,” read a statement to the students by Michael Goldbloom, Bishop’s University principal and vice-chancellor.
“Some high schools and superintendents have indicated that students may face disciplinary action for doing so. If you are considering Bishop’s, we want to make it clear that we are inspired by you and stand with you: Admissions offers will not be adversely affected by suspensions or other disciplinary actions at your high school in support of your positive and constructive engagement in pursuit of your values and convictions.”
The message went by email Monday to more than 200 American students who have already applied to Bishop’s, which is in Lennoxville, for the fall of 2018. It was also sent to about 300 high-school guidance counsellors across the United States.
Students all over the U.S. have been walking out of classes and holding marches as part of the student-led #NeverAgain movement in response to the deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla. on Feb. 14.
THREATS OF SUSPENSION
Reports that some high schools have threatened to suspend or otherwise punish students who participate in such protests during school hours have prompted dozens of American colleges and universities to issue statements that they will not refuse applicants just because they were punished in high school for protesting.
It was Dan Seneker, a director in Bishop’s recruitment office, who suggested Bishop’s should also issue such a statement to its American applicants. Goldbloom said he did not need convincing, given his own experience as a high school student in the 1970s.
Although he was born and raised in Montreal, Goldbloom completed his last two years of high school at Williston, a private prep school in Easthampton, Mass.
“It was late April of 1970, and (U.S. President) Nixon went on television and announced the U.S. invasion of Cambodia,” Goldbloom recalled in an interview with the Montreal Gazette. “A couple of days later … the Ohio National Guard went onto Kent State campus and opened fire on students who were protesting the Cambodian invasion and the Vietnam War. So there began a student movement of strikes across the United States.
“I was 17 years old. I was at this American prep school and we, like students across the United States, were getting together and I recall a meeting of the students. We were talking about doing a one-day strike. (Somebody in) the administration came in and said, ‘You know what? If you do that, you might get expelled and your admission to university might get revoked.’”
Goldbloom had just been accepted into Harvard University.
“I remember standing up and saying, ‘That’s really important to me, but I think it’s more important that we stand together with students across the United States and protest.’ So we ended up going on strike. We organized a march … And in the end, the headmaster at the school, who was a pretty authoritarian, establishment character, ended up marching with us.”
“I just feel this is a time when young people in the United States seem to be mobilizing and creating a movement. There is no more significant issue in terms of fundamental human rights than the right to live. That students would want to mobilize around this, I thought it was important.”
He said he is not worried the statement might attract troublemakers to his school.
“This isn’t first and foremost about recruitment. Bishop’s enrolment is in good shape, but we want to have a diverse student body and an engaged student body. So if there are some young people who have been involved in this issue and who have gone about it in a constructive way to try to bring about change, that is precisely the type of student we want coming to our university.”
He said he has been impressed by the young people, especially the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where the shooting took place, who have been advocating strongly for gun control.
“We still hear a lot of things about this generation, about how they are not engaged, and that is just not my experience of the students at Bishop’s and the university students that I meet (elsewhere). They are deeply wanting to improve society and prepared to put significant effort into doing it.”
The message was also posted on social media, where it has been mostly well-received.
“It’s been going viral with prospective and current students as well as alumni in the U.S. and Canada,” said Stéphanie Chicoine, social media officer at Bishop’s. “A lot of them are really proud that we’ve issued that statement, that we support freedom of expression and that admissions won’t be affected by peaceful protest.”