UofT contacted rabble about this op-ed and their response is included at the bottom of the article.
At least five suicides have taken place at the University of Toronto’s (UofT’s) Bahen Centre for Information Technology. The building has become a cruel reminder for the university’s dark reputation for neglecting mental health care. Data from annual UofT Campus Safety reports show that cases of suicide/suicide attempts more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021 (14 vs 6).
Instead of addressing the root causes of mental health issues, the UofT administration is focused on introducing superficial reforms (such as changing the name of Campus Police to Campus Safety). Worse, they appear to be taking more carceral approaches to addressing student concerns. Racialized and international students are disproportionately more likely to be subjected to hostile actions by the UofT administration.
These problematic trends have been laid bare in the UofT administration’s response to the genocide in Palestine. In addition to systematically disregarding the wellbeing of Palestinian students, the UofT administration has opted to take punitive actions against students protesting UofT’s complicity in genocidal profiteering. In doing so, the UofT administration is critically worsening the mental health situation on its campuses.
It is historically common for students to become emotionally involved in political issues, especially those affecting their fellow students. Instead of trying to understand and support student activism, the UofT administration further harms students’ already fragile mental states. For example, students living inside the encampment calling for divestment from Israeli apartheid report of high voltage floodlights negatively affecting sleep patterns, infrared drone surveillance encroaching on privacy, and limited bathroom activity through invasive policing.
In a previous student advocacy event, campus security allegedly endangered pro-Palestine students occupying President Meric Gertler’s office with sexual harassment, voyeurism, intentional sleep deprivation, denial of access to food, denial of access to ventilation, and restricted access to press. Such damaging actions are detrimental to anyone, but students with mental health conditions, or who are grieving relatives killed in a genocide may be particularly vulnerable to a crisis.
The worsening suicide and mental health crisis is a direct consequence of UofT admin’s disturbing approaches to factors affecting mental health. Professor Sarah Dowling, who teaches at Victoria College and has lost two students to these tragedies in the past five years, says, “there are troubling indicators of students’ mental health plummeting with the genocide going on in Gaza, especially Palestinian students who have family back home.” Even before October 7, Dowling noticed a worrying difference in students’ wellbeing post-lockdown. “It’s gone from already bad to much worse,” she said.
Although Vice-Provost of Students, Sandy Welsh, acknowledged as early as 2019 that “students are angry and they want us to do more,” the Mental Health Policy Council in addition to UofThrive made little progress. One international student who served on the council explained that “after two years of hopeful meetings and false promises with admin, any plans to implement change fell through.” Demands for increased services resulted in $3 million being put toward employing more counselors. However, with a student body of 90,000, this increased funding only resulted in one counselor for every 1,000 students.
Instead of adequately funding services to meet student needs, the UofT administration has been steadily increasing the campus police budget from $3.8 million in 2017 to $4.2 million by 2021. Moreover, campus security have very limited training in harm reduction and trauma-informed approaches.
While building a “culture of caring” is strongly recommended to approach mental health concerns, the UofT administration is doing the opposite. Campus Safety, who prefer the safety of campus reputation to that of students, has led students going through crises away in handcuffs on multiple occasions. Dehumanizing actions like this coerce vulnerable students into silence. In a CBC article covering the mental health crisis in 2019, international student Youssef Metwally reported struggling with depression and anxiety, but not reaching out. He feared that school policy on involuntary leave would discriminate against his specialized needs, terminating his student visa to stay in Canada.
The U of T’s investments in mental health pale in comparison to the $13.4 billion the university holds in terms of investments and capital assets. Although the exact stocks have yet to be disclosed, the financial report on University of Toronto Asset Management (UTAM’s) investments found that no less than $3.95 billion has gone into external partners investing in 11 companies blacklisted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for building illegal settlements in Palestine. Further, 17 of the 44 external investment managers used by UTAM have direct connections to companies operating in arms. Instead of reinvesting in student wellbeing, UofT happily accepts tuition as their largest source of revenue and invests it in corporations and institutions responsible for the killing and displacement of Palestinian, Arab, and Global South’s students’ families.
In response to UofT’s deeply problematic investments, students united to create the current encampment at King’s College Circle as a form of protest. President Gertler’s response to this continues to be carceral. He filed trespass notices for the encampment, targeting identifiable students within it. Now, the UofT administration has filed for an injunction hearing on June 19-20. Looking at the increase of police brutality against Palestinian solidarity activists in recent months, especially those racialized, it is irresponsible of President Gertler to subject students to such violence and disregard its effects on mental health.
The administration argues that after the trauma of lockdown, students need convocation ceremonies in King’s College Circle to feel whole. In doing so, they disguise their worries of profit loss by divestment as a performative concern of mental health. But why can’t the administration recognize the trauma caused by tuition money funding genocide and apartheid? Why do they disregard the dangerous mental health effects of violent policing through security and surveillance? President Meric Gertler and Vice-Provost of Students Sandy Welsh continuously fail to make being on campus safe for students. It is essential that university administrators who have an ethical obligation to protect their students should treat students as vital members of the university community and not as disposable commodities. They also need to recognize the critical role that student advocacy has played in creating a more just world. In reforming their treatment of student protestors and their demands, they can expand humanity to those globally devastated by their investments.
Editor’s Note: 2024/06/27: rabble would like to issue the following correction and clarifications:
The University of Toronto states that the correct number of suicides that have taken place at the Bahen Centre for Information Technology is three rather than five. rabble regrets the error.
The number of suicides/ suicide attempts that took place on UofT campuses in 2023 decreased from the previous year from 14 to 10.
UofT statistics around suicides/ suicide attempts includes all those that take place on campus, whether the individual is a student or not.
UofT states that they have undertaken an overhaul of their mental health and support services since 2020 which can be found here.
In a statement published on April 8, president Meric Gertler stated that UTAM has no direct investment in companies that produce arms.
UofT states that tuition fees are not invested in stocks but are rather “held in cash and other non-corporate financial securities.”
UofT further claims that “steps we have taken to support the safety, well-being and free speech rights of all members of the University community, including encampment participants, throughout this situation.”
UofT rejects that it is mistreating or over policing students.
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