MacEwan students confront president over refusal to address Palestine, financial disclosures
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Students protested at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada on Thursday October 10, 2024, where university president and vice-chancellor Dr. Annette Trimbee delivered her state of the university address on Thursday October 10, 2024. (PHOTO BY LAUREN CARTER)
MacEwan University students protested during the Q&A session of President Annette Trimbee’s State of the University address on Thursday, accusing her of failing to meet with them and ignoring their concerns about the university’s financial holdings and the situation in Palestine.
The annual address, which highlighted the university’s achievements over the past year and outlined plans for the future, took a sharp turn when students began questioning Trimbee. One by one, they asked why she had not responded to their emails, declined meetings, and refused to release a statement on Palestine.
“This was frankly the only time we had access to Trimbee since she’s been relentlessly ignoring our emails and refusing to meet with us,” said student protester Nour Salhi. Students were unsatisfied with Trimbee’s responses.
Abdul Khaled, a Bachelor of Science student, said Trimbee’s decision to leave the stage shortly after being asked
about the university’s financial holdings made it clear she “had something to hide.” In response to questions about why she had not spoken out about Palestine, Trimbee said she remained silent because she believed nothing she said would have “satisfied”
the protesters.
When asked why she had spoken up about Ukraine and not Palestine, Trimbee added that she had only spoken about Ukraine in response to community outrage. Another student protester, Abraar Alsilwadi, called her stance “simply racism,” pointing out that Trimbee’s own students have been protesting for the past year and have even been harmed by administrative decisions while doing so.
The protest escalated when Craig Monk, provost and vice president, interrupted the session at around 3 p.m., cutting the event by 30 minutes and refusing to answer more questions. Students chanted, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” as the president and provost left the stage.
The venue was cleared out, and neither Trimbee nor Monk attended the reception scheduled to follow. Khaled later expressed frustration, saying, “It’s hard to show up to school knowing that she made no comment at all. Approached for comment regarding students’ accusations, Trimbee refused to comment.
this is the kind of reporting we need 🙂↕️🙂↕️ holding power accountable!! love to see it!
It’s a student Revolution! If MacEwan has nothing to hide why not disclose your very well hidden investments when asked about them?
Thank you to the journalists for covering this important issue, and thank you to the students for your steadfastness and courage in calling for MacEwan to do better. I’m very disappointed in President Trimbee for hiding. What kind of person doesn’t condemn genocide? And why would anyone in leadership at a university dismiss students who are asking to meet?
The president gets paid the big bucks to listen to questions that make her uncomfortable. Her behavior at this event and in general would be disgraceful even if it weren’t also racist. Thanks for this article.
Thanks for covering this, and kudos to the MacEwan students for their steadfastness and bravery. It’s disgraceful that their President won’t even meet with them, one year in.
Kudos to the students for standing up for whats right.
Solidarity with these students from U of A, where the violent silence also continues—absolutely shameful for universities to continue to ignore the CLEAR demands of the student moment. Disclose your investments in this genocide, divest, and declare your solidarity with your Palestinian students, faculty and staff. Stop your complicity! Who is the university for? What does it serve?
I remember my sister being extremely disappointed in the MacEwan administration when she was a student in 2020 demanding accountability from the university administration for racist lessons from one of her instructors. Unfortunately someone high in leadership at MacEwan supported the professor instead of the students who had experienced racism in their classes. It’s disappointing, but unsurprising to hear that Annette Trimbee is continuing MacEwan’s legacy of failing to listen to or address serious concerns from their students. It is telling that Trimbee “ignor[ed] their concerns about the university’s financial holdings.”
“In response to questions about why she had not spoken out about Palestine, Trimbee said she remained silent because she believed nothing she said would have “satisfied”
the protesters.” This statement from Trimbee disgusts me. Trimbee could simply make a statement that Palestine is experiencing a genocide. It’s true. But many university administrations, including MacEwan, seem to care more about their bottom line than truth despite purporting to be places of higher learning.
Many thanks to the journalists who reported on this.