16 October 2024
Dear President Johnson,
We are writing as concerned SFU faculty and members of the Faculty Association (SFUFA) regarding the university’s failure to deal with the grievous interference with our democratic process that took place during our AGM votes over solidarity with Palestine and divestment from weapons manufacturers. This issue, which has long preoccupied our union membership, has also become a matter of public concern for SFU communities and university workers in BC more broadly, in the wake of the publication of an article in The Maple about the incident (Emma Paling, ‘Prof’s Palestine Motions Target Of Alleged Hack And Legal Challenge,’ 3 October 2024).
We believe that the university’s response to this matter has been wholly inadequate, leading to a crisis of confidence among many of our members in SFU’s willingness to treat the faculty association in the spirit of openness, accountability and communication laid out in our collective agreement. We would like to call your attention to Art. 7.1 ‘The Parties agree to the regular exchange of information required for effective bargaining and administration of the Collective Agreement’ as well as the commitment in Art. 14.1 ‘to ensure compliance with BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act regarding access to general information.’
While the university has communicated to SFUFA exec that it has concluded its investigation, it has not communicated to the exec or to the wider membership:
(a) whether the investigation identified the person(s) responsible for the interference with the motions;
(b) whether that individual(s) is a SFUFA member or SFU employee;
(c) what disciplinary action if any has been taken;
(d) whether the university deemed this fraudulent interference with a university-owned system to potentially amount to a criminal act, and whether it has contacted the RCMP.
While the university may plausibly claim confidentiality with regard to HR issues, it is perfectly possible to answer the abovementioned questions while not divulging the identity of the individual(s) involved.
Moreover, while the alleged fraud took place on a university system, this is a matter internal to SFUFA democracy and procedures, which the university has a responsibility to support and facilitate. Unless there’s a compelling legal reason to retain confidentiality, SFUFA has a right to know if one of its members engaged in a gross breach of the responsibilities attached to union membership, and to act on that knowledge.
It is therefore entirely insufficient to argue, as the SFU spokesperson contacted by The Maple did, that the matter is closed because no personal information was compromised and the voting system has now been changed. To downplay the harm to mutual trust and internal democracy in the FA that this breach of the voting system represents is deeply disrespectful to our membership; it neglects that this was above all an infraction against SFUFA and not against the university, and the university bears a responsibility of collaboration, transparency and accountability to the FA.
We look forward to your reply.
Juan Pablo Alperin, Associate Professor, Publishing Program
Ronda Arab, Professor, Department of English
Yildiz Atasoy, Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Clifford Atleo, Associate Professor, Resource & Environmental Management
Sabine Bitter, Professor, School for the Contemporary Arts
Nick Blomley, Professor, Geography
Sumercan Bozkurt, Term Lecturer, School for International Studies
Enda Brophy, Associate Professor, School of Communication
Clint Burnham, Professor, English
Mark Christensen, Librarian
Rosemary Collard, Associate Professor, Geography
Stephen Collis, Professor and Chair, Department of English
Heather De Forest, Librarian
Bran Eveland Cron, Archivist
Megan Crouch, Librarian
Sheila Delany, Emerita, English
Stephanie Dick, Assistant Professor, School of Communication
Zoe Druick, Professor, School of Communication
Eiman Elnoshokaty, Librarian
Sarah Christina Ganzon, Assistant Professor, School of Communication
Bruno Guindon, Senior Lecturer, Philosophy
Shane Gunster, Professor, School of Communication
Adair Harper, Librarian
Michael Hart, Professor, Biological Sciences
Leah Hopton, Librarian
Adel Iskandar, Associate Professor, School of Communication
Mohsen Javdani, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy
Genevieve Fuji Johnson, Professor, Political Science
Sharalyn Jordan, Associate Professor, Counselling, Faculty of Education
Julia Lane, Writing Services Coordinator, Library
Claudette Lauzon, Associate Professor, School for the Contemporary Arts
Carolyn Lesjak, Professor, Department of English
Sharon Luk, Associate Professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair, Geography
Stefan Maier, Assistant Professor, School of Contemporary Arts
Geoff Mann, Distinguished Professor, Geography
Miwa Matreyek, Assistant Professor, School for the Contemporary Arts
Kirsten Emiko McAllister, Professor, School of Communication
Eugene McCann, Professor, Geography
Cait McKinney, Associate Professor, School of Communication
Elliot Montpellier, Term Lecturer, Sociology and Anthropology
Tamir Moustafa, Professor, School for International Studies
Urooj Nizami, Librarian, Public Knowledge Project (PKP), VPRI
Gerardo Otero, Professor, School of International Studies
Roxanne Panchasi, Associate Professor, Department of History
Stacy L Pigg, Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Hazel Plante, Librarian
Simone Rapisarda, Associate Professor, School for the Contemporary Arts
Nicholas Reo, Associate Professor, Indigenous Studies
Bernhard Riecke, Professor, School of Interactive Arts and Technology
Chloe Riley, Librarian
Amyn Sajoo, Lecturer and Scholar-in-Residence, Political Science
Barbara Sanders, Associate Professor, Statistics and Actuarial Science
Michael T. Schmitt, Professor, Psychology
Paul Sedra, Associate Professor, History
Nadia Shihab, Assistant Professor, School for the Contemporary Arts
Tammara Soma, Associate Professor, Resource and Environmental Management
Kendra Strauss, Director, The Labour Studies Program
Andréa Tarnawsky, Archivist
Zoe Todd, Associate Professor, Indigenous Studies
Alberto Toscano, Term Research Associate Professor, School of Communication
Cecile Vigouroux, Professor, Department of French
Cathy Walker, Adjunct Professor, Labour Studies Program
Baharak Yousefi, Librarian
Kirsten Zickfeld, Distinguished Professor, Geography
Zoreen, Student Transition Educator, International Services for Students
Endorsements current as of October 16, 2024. For an updated list of endorsements, please see: