Message to community: Multifaith Centre incident

July 11, 2024

Dear UVic staff, students, faculty and community members,

As you may have heard, anti-Muslim and Islamophobic posters were hung on the doors of UVic's Multifaith Centre in the early hours of Friday, July 5. Graffiti, including unsanctioned posters, particularly that which includes harmful or hateful language, is not tolerated on our campus.

The university is committed to providing students, staff and faculty with a safe and supportive work and study environment. We take threats and harassment complaints very seriously. On Friday, the university worked with police to assess potential risks to our campus community and—out of an abundance of caution—we closed the Multifaith Centre on Friday and Saturday.

Earlier this week we shared the letter below with our Muslim community as a follow-up to the incident. We know, and have heard, that this has been a distressing experience for many and challenged some members of our community's sense of safety. We wanted to ensure the message reached all those impacted first and foremost. We are committed to continuing to do everything we can to make UVic a safe place to be for all of members of our community.

We are reaching out now to our broader campus community to reassure and remind our community that acts of hate like this will not be tolerated. If you feel you have experienced personal harassment or discrimination, please contact the Equity and Human Rights office. If you have concerns regarding your personal safety, please reach out to Campus Security at 250-721-7599 or call 9-1-1.

Sincerely,
Kevin Hall, President and Vice-Chancellor

Dear members of the UVic Muslim community,

As you may have heard, a concerning incident occurred on our campus late last week. Two anti-Muslim and Islamophobic posters were pasted on the doors of UVic's Multifaith Centre in the early hours of Friday, July 5. This is completely unacceptable. The posters were removed promptly upon discovery and Campus Security and Oak Bay Police were notified.

The university is committed to providing students, staff and faculty with a safe and supportive work and study environment. We take threats and harassment complaints very seriously. On Friday, the university worked with police to assess potential risks to our campus community and, out of an abundance of caution, we decided to close the Multifaith Centre on Friday and Saturday.

Graffiti, including unsanctioned posters, particularly that which includes harmful or hateful language, is not acceptable on our campus. When such graffiti is found, the university works quickly to remove the offending and harmful language, assess safety and minimize further harm. In this case, we had not shared the messages or notified those potentially targeted by the messages as doing so had the potential to cause additional harm and/or escalate risk to our community. We are reaching out to reassure our community as there has been some media coverage and social media posts about this incident.

An investigation has been initiated by Oak Bay Police and they are actively pursuing the matter. We have worked with police to determine that, at present, the risk to our community is low and UVic will continue to work with the investigating police. We urge anyone with further information on this incident to report to the Oak Bay Police Department at 250-592-2424.

We will continue to work with event organizers to assess risk levels and develop safety plans for the Multifaith centre.

If you have questions or concerns about your own safety, we encourage you to reach out to the Campus Security team at 250-721-7599. In addition to 24/7 security support, the team offers personal safety planning, SafeWalk and Campus Alone programs, and more.

If you feel you're in immediate danger, please call 9-1-1. There are a range of supports and resources on campus and in community as well.

Yours sincerely,

Elizabeth Croft, Vice-President Academic and Provost
Kristi Simpson, Vice-President Finance and Operations

Supports for all

If you feel you have experienced personal harassment or discrimination, please contact the Equity and Human Rights office.
Campus Security or 250-721-7599

Students

Download a list of student resources and supports

SupportConnect is a confidential mental health support service available free of cost to UVic students. Through this resource, you can be connected with qualified counsellors, consultants and life coaches anytime, anywhere.
- Toll-free (calls from North America): 1-844-773-1427
- International collect calls: 1-250-999-7621
Student Wellness Centre offers holistic wellness support for UVic students, including mental health and spiritual care
- Students can connect one-on-one with a spiritual care provider. Please call us at 250-721-8338 or email us to book an appointment.
Find information on seeking an academic concessionor speak with your instructor.