I have just been made aware that a number of flags hanging outside the Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre have been vandalized. Representing the Indigenous communities from which many Queen’s students come, and including the rainbow flag that celebrates LGBTQ+ members of our university family, these flags were hung last year in the wake of, and in a statement against, racism and homophobia in the Chown Hall residence. Disgusting in itself, this new expression of racism and bigotry is all the more reprehensible for occurring in the context of that broader repudiation of racism and hatred that has gripped our society since the death of George Floyd in the United States. As encouraging as that mobilization of resistance to hatred has been, this act is dispiriting, reminding us all that racism is alive and amongst us and must be fought with all our energy and resolve.
Queen’s University will do everything within its power to identify the individuals responsible, and will redouble its efforts to effect broad and systemic change within our community.
Patrick Deane
Principal & Vice-Chancellor