Conversation Cops Patrol Canadian University

By Matthew Little

A Canadian university has attracted a storm of controversy after introducing a program to have “student facilitators” monitor and possibly interrupt students having conversations on sensitive social issues.

On blogs and in newspaper editorials, the facilitators are already being compared to thought police.

Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario introduced the Intergroup Dialogue Program last week in efforts to make the university more inclusive.

Six student facilitators who live in residence will monitor conversations in dining halls and common rooms with an ear for talk about social issues or controversial topics.

If the conversations include racists or sexist language, or include slurs against homosexuals or disabled people, the facilitators are trained to intervene.

Although the program is being derided by the press as an invasion of privacy with the potential to quash free speech, university officials defend it as an effort to address intolerance and an opportunity for education.

An editorial in Queen’s student newspaper says the program’s goals are laudable but the method could prove divisive if the student facilitators don’t manage their roles well.

“…if they do become regularly involved in conversations, they risk hostility from students who don’t want to be approached in what they consider private social settings. The resulting dialogue likely won’t be productive or effective if students feel they’re being cornered and become defensive,” read the Journal.

The editorial warned the university to be careful the program doesn’t become “another knee-jerk response to social injustice.”
Intergroup dialogue programs do exist in universities in the United States but tend to take the form of classroom-based programs focused on dialogues between students who enrolled.

Queen's University did not return calls for comment late Friday afternoon.

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