Correction – We have previously reported Anthony Hall was a former University of Lethbridge professor but have corrected his title to Professor Emeritus.
Update: University of Lethbridge officials said they issued a trespass notice to Dr. Frances Widdowson around 5:15 p.m. Wednesday.
According to a statement from the university, Campus Safety and Lethbridge Police Service officers took steps to protect people on campus, noting that the safety and well-being of the campus community was the school’s top priority. The university said the response required a significant commitment of university and community resources.
The university said it issued the trespass notice after officials determined the interactions between protesters and Widdowson had no defined end and that continuing to deploy resources to maintain safety was no longer sustainable.
A statement from U of L officials read: “Universities are places where controversial ideas should be examined and critiqued through rigorous, evidence-based inquiry. In this instance, the University provided room for those in attendance to express their viewpoints and for those viewpoints to be contested.”
University officials said they will continue discussions about the event with students, faculty and employees.
A Lethbridge Police Service spokesperson said there have been no criminal charges laid to date in connection with the incident.
Former Mount Royal University professor Dr. Frances Widdowson appeared on the University of Lethbridge campus Wednesday to speak about residential schools.
This was not the first time the former MRU professor had attended the Lethbridge campus. In 2023, she was scheduled to give a talk titled “how ‘woke-ism’ threatens academic freedom,” but faced widespread student opposition that ultimately prevented the event from proceeding.
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, Widdowson shared via a live broadcast on X that she was at the post-secondary institution alongside Professor Emeritus Anthony Hall to debate whether Canada’s residential school system constituted genocide, a characterization Widdowson rejects.
The former educator said she planned to use spectrum street epistemology, a discussion method that invites participants to physically place themselves along a scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” to reflect their views.
Hundreds of students again gathered to protest Widdowson’s presence and oppose her views. During her livestream, as more students assembled in the atrium outside Iikaisskini Indigenous Services, Widdowson said the university no longer functioned as an “academic institution,” arguing students were unwilling to engage in debate. She described the protest as “totalitarian” and repeatedly criticized university president Dr. Digvir Jayas, whom she accused of condoning the behaviour.
In contrast, university officials described the demonstration as a peaceful protest.
In a statement, University of Lethbridge officials said that around 11 a.m. on Feb. 4, “a controversial individual — who has recently caused significant disruptions at other Canadian universities — began engaging members of the campus community in a public space at the University of Lethbridge.”
Officials said Campus Safety and Lethbridge Police Services responded to the situation and “implemented appropriate measures to help ensure the safety of all involved.”
The university said it expected everyone on campus to conduct themselves lawfully.
Throughout the day, university officials said they continued to monitor the situation.
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