On Thursday, May 30th, at the 3 pm convocation for engineering students, Nicolas Keough, MUNSU’s Director for External Affairs, held up a sign in silent protest behind President Bose as he gave his speech. The sign read “MUN supports Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
Once Bose had finished his speech, Keough walked up saying “Free Palestine” into the mic. The convocation ceremony then proceeded as planned and all graduates were able to walk to the stage to receive their diplomas without disruption or intervention.
Student reactions
Following the convocation, The Muse reached out to graduates who were in attendance to provide a comment on the events that took place and give insight into the general reaction from the university community.
Both students who provided a comment stated that they felt the protest did not take away from their graduation ceremony and that they were in no way upset with how it was conducted.
One student felt that it was especially important that the protest occurred at the engineering convocation, saying “They make us learn the importance of working towards making the world a better place, as engineers specifically, and how our degree and our profession has a big impact on the world around us, so if we’re not going to do it now, now that we’re graduating engineers, when are we going to prove that we learned from our degree that we want to do better by humanity because, in the end, weapons and arms manufacturers and drones, all these new technologies that are used in wars are made by engineers.”
The student refers to the Tech Stewardship Practice Program (TSPP) as an example of the courses engineering students take on ethics. This program is described as “a professional identity, orientation and practice. As tech stewards, we continuously discuss, refine and imagine new ways to shape technology for the benefit of all.”
“I felt happier, more satisfied that it was during my convocation, that we were doing what’s right,” said the student, “we were expressing our voice to make sure that we’re standing with people who are being killed and people who are having injustice committed against them.”
When asked about the manner in which the protest was conducted, another student asserted, “It’s very harmless. They’re not interfering with the people’s graduation. As a graduate, they really didn’t, you know, bother me,” adding, “[Nicholas] just did it during the speech of the president and not during anything else which is very, you know, sensitive of him. So, I totally agree with what he did there.”
The convocations that followed
The student union released a statement the following Friday stating, “On Friday, MUNSU elected student representatives were removed from participation in Spring Convocation. MUNSU representatives have attended hundreds of convocation ceremonies over the years, standing alongside our student members to celebrate their success. MUN leadership utilized Campus Enforcement Patrol to dismiss and prevent students from entering student spaces to allow their administration to sit in comfort with their inaction.”
The university responded to this statement claiming, “Memorial University did not reduce the number of seats available to student representatives at convocation ceremonies in St. Johnâs. During the morning session on Friday, May 31, MUNSU representatives were told that they could not take a large sign on stage or stand up and walk around during speeches. This is the expectation for all members of the stage party. When MUNSU representatives were given that information, they chose to leave.”
MUNSU’s Director of Campaigns, Alida Zedel, then reaffirmed in an Instagram reel that the university’s claim that MUNSU chose to leave the ceremony is not the whole truth.
“They failed to mention that when we arrived at convocation, we were told that there was only one seat reserved between MUNSU and GSU,” says Zedel. “MUNSU regularly attends convocation and often has multiple seats on stage alongside GSU.”
Zedel further explains that it was only moments before the ceremony that they were told one of the unions would not be able to have representation on stage.
“I had just been warned by Chancellor Earl Ludlow that I was not to partake in any actions on-stage,” says Zedel, adding that, “In the same conversation he implied that MUN had to remain neutral. There were campus police officers preventing any other MUNSU representatives from entering the building. Given this treatment, I left the space as I was clearly being prevented from attending.”
Nicholas Keough then responded to MUNL’s comments surrounding his protest at the convocation stating, “On the part about peaceful protest they clearly insinuated that my protest on Thursday was not peaceful, and they said they ‘acknowledge peaceful protest’ on the issue. If holding up a sign behind the president, waiting until he finishes his speech, and then saying two words in the microphone is not considered peaceful, I think we have very different definitions of the word.”
In reference to the protest last Thursday, MUNL’s release states, “The expectations for all members of our community who are invited to participate in the stage party (including student union leaders) were clarified on Friday. These expectations include not taking large signs on stage or disrupting the ceremony,” adding that “Memorial acknowledges those who have peacefully made a statement about current violent international events.”
In response to MUNSU representatives being prevented from further protests at the ceremonies, a graduate from Thursday’s convocation stated, “I honestly think it’s pathetic. It’s not their position to say if MUNSU should have done it or not. In the end, the convocation is all about the students, it’s not about the administration and if students want to voice their opinions on any matter, regardless of what it is, they should be given the chance, they shouldn’t be stopped or prevented.”
