Ryerson President should put his money where his mouth is: CCRF

TORONTO – Ryerson University President Sheldon Levy should put his money where his mouth is if he really believes in religious freedom on campus, says the head of the Canadian Council for Religious Freedom (CCRF).

Father Geoffrey Korz, the CCRF Chair, was responding to Levy’s hands-off approach to dealing with the anti-religious bigotry of the Ryerson Student Union, who recently banned a pro-life student club.

“President Levy claims Ryerson supports freedom of speech on campus, and that he is deeply troubled when any effort is made to restrict legitimate free speech rights, even when it is controversial,” Korz said.

“Yet the Ryerson University administration argue they cannot do anything to corral the anti-religious zealots who run their Student Union.”

The CCRF wrote to the University last week, calling on them to intervene to defend and protect the freedom of the campus club to operate freely, and to discipline the student union heads, if needed.

“Ryerson allows their Student Union to use their name and their logo. If the Ryerson administration is serious about protecting freedom on campus, it has to do more than to offer free room bookings to banned clubs.

The Ryerson administration must step in and compel their Student Union to respect the Charter, and the policies the University claims to uphold, including its own policy on free speech,” the CCRF head said.

The CCRF Chair questioned whether Ryerson is hiding behind a double standard.

“If the Ryerson Student Union banned a cultural group or an LGBT group from having a club, there would be hell to pay,” Korz said.

“This is the chance for the Ryerson administration to show that they still welcome people of faith on their campus.”

 

Read the original letter from the CCRF to Ryerson President Sheldon Levy here.

Read Levy’s response here.