Controversial speaker Frances Widdowson following a protest against her views at the University of Lethbridge on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. (Photo: S.Jones/LNN)

By Sarah Jones/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Widdowson back at University of Lethbridge despite massive protest

Feb 3, 2023 | 1:23 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Controversial speaker Frances Widdowson made another appearance at the University of Lethbridge on Thursday despite a large protest against her views on Wednesday night.

The former Royal Roads University professor was at the U of L in person on Thursday to complete the second half of a philosophy lecture titled, Should universities ‘foster respect’ for Indigenous ‘ways of knowing’?

Widdowson presented the first half of her lecture earlier in the week on Jan. 31 during a class by U of L professor Paul Viminitz.

Public reaction to her views sparked debate that eventually led to a protest involving more than 700 people at the U of L on Wednesday.

Hundreds protest speaker Frances Widdowson at the University of Lethbridge on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. (Photo: Sarah Jones/LNN)

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In addition to her classroom lectures, Widdowson had also scheduled a talk at the U of L on Wednesday titled, “How Woke-ism Threatens Academic Freedom.”

Originally, the U of L announced that it would allow Widdowson’s talk to proceed under the principle of free expression, but university officials later changed their stance as students demanded that the event be cancelled.

Fourth-year Aboriginal Health student Keely Wadsworth supported the cancellation of Widdowson’s talk.

“It’s the risk of misinformation for people who have not gathered previous information,” Wadsworth said. “Residential school was not positive. I worked at a job last summer where I in-depth researched the six residential schools on the Blood Reserve. So, I know every single incident, I know every single death that happened. How do you take all that knowledge and think it’s positive?”

In response to the student’s opposition, U of L President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon stated that the university would no longer provide a space for Widdowson to speak.

The change in the university’s position prompted Widdowson to announce that she would still speak in the U Hall Atrium at the same time that her talk was originally scheduled.

That prompted students to take further action. A poster saying “U of L Has No Room For Hate” began floating around social media, indicating that a peaceful protest would occur simultaneously at the same location.

An overhead view of the U Hall Atrium at the University of Lethbridge when students began gathering on February 1, 2023. (Photo: Sarah Jones | LNN)

Kairvee Bhatt, president of the University of Lethbridge Student Union (ULSU) spoke to media ahead of the event, saying, “Students have been feeling the impacts of some of the stressors the last few days. This is really an opportunity for us to come together, strength in numbers, and really come together as a community and enjoy what it means to be living on Treaty 7 lands here on the Siksikaitsitapi territory.”

Bhatt continued, “We’ll be having a round dance, a jingle dancer and drummers. This is really a show of support for our entire community here on campus, given some difficult times that we are facing.”

Widdowson told Lethbridge News Now that prior to arriving, she believed that the event would be similar to a speaker’s corner format, where she would be able to speak and have open discussion with other students and faculty members.

However, when Widdowson had planned to speak at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, she could not proceed in the room filled with hundreds of shouting activists.

Hundreds gather to protest speaker Frances Widdowson in the U Hall Atrium at the U of L, February 1, 2023. (Photo: Sarah Jones/LNN)

Before agreeing to leave the university campus after conversations with police and U of L security, Widdowson was able to have some individual talks with activists in attendance.

Widdowson spoke with an Indigenous man named Ben, who asked her to explain some of her views on residential schools.

She responded to him and said, “First of all, people are saying that I argued that there was no harm done in residential schools.That’s not true. I think that there was a lot of harm that was done in residential schools, because residential schools were at a time, especially in the early period, where there was no sensitivity to the existing situation. They had a very coercive approach to education, and they separated children away from their parents.”

Ben indicated that the process had assimilated Indigenous children, which Widdowson said she recognizes.

“I agree with you that the assimilation process was very coercive and destructive for Indigenous People, and it was largely rooted in capitalism,” she said.

Before they could wrap up their conversation, a protester with an electric guitar and amplifier started loudly strumming to stop them from speaking any further.

Following Widdowson’s departure, the protest concluded in the Science Commons Atrium with only a handful of students remaining.

Students wrapping up their protest in the Science Commons Atrium on February 1, 2023. (Photo: Sarah Jones | LNN)

A representative from the Metis Nation of Alberta Local #2003, Brittany Lee, says she was at the event to support the protesters.

“As a group, we believe that education should be the means to repairing the damage that was done to our peoples via the residential school system, and not a means to rehash some of the tragic events that happened in the past. So, we’re here to rebuild that relationship and make sure that everybody is feeling supported in that way.”

President Mike Mahon later shared a statement indicating his admiration to those who attended the protest:

“Earlier tonight, over 700 students, staff, faculty and community supporters engaged in a protest of a controversial speaker, and another large group attended a lecture on the importance of truth before reconciliation. Tonight’s events were a coming together of our community to show support for each other and a reflection of the values of the University of Lethbridge. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our community members for conducting themselves in such a peaceful and powerful manner.”

Meanwhile, Widdowson went on to blame Mahon for how the situation was handled, and claimed that if the space for her talk had not been cancelled, the crowd would have been more controllable.

“The president should be ashamed of himself. He is not fit to run a university. Hopefully the next president is going to be better than this one,” said Widdowson.

People gathered in U Hall at the U of L and surrounded Indigenous drummers on February 1, 2023. (Photo: Sarah Jones | LNN)

Following the protest, Widdowson still held her talk, “How Woke-ism Threatens Academic Freedom” through a zoom meeting rather than in person, and still defended her speech on Wednesday evening.

“It’s not even on the residential schools,” Widdowson said about her talk, after police escorted her away from the protesters. “This is kind of the strange thing, is that everyone is talking about my talk about the positives of the residential schools, but that wasn’t even the subject.”

Widdowson explained, “The subject was ‘woke-ism’, which is this post-modernist type of belief system, and its subjectivity is prized over objectivity, and what that means is you are unable to evaluate claims in terms of reason, evidence and logic. That’s been lost in enlightenment values of reason, that’s been lost in universities.”

Widdowson concluded, “I have some views, they may be wrong, people can correct me. But I think what I say is true, and no one can stop me from saying what I think is true at this point. I guess there will be jail time soon when we go down this totalitarian path, but right now we can still fight as much as we can.”

The debate about speaker Frances Widdowson continues, and hundreds of U of L students and faculty made sure their opposing views were heard loud and clear during Widdowson’s visit to the U of L this week.