Mac protestors drum up controversy

By: Daniel Arauz

The inaugural Academic Women’s Success and Mentorship lecture presented by Noble Energy Inc. executive vice president, Susan Cunningham was disrupted by environmental protestors in Convocation Hall last Thursday, Nov. 6.

The protestors marched into the lecture hall just before Cunningham’s introduction, carrying drums, pamphlets, masks, and pink-feather boas. They stood in front of a packed audience for over eight minutes, blocking out requests from AWSM members, administration and audience members to stop.

Event organizer Karen Bird, in between the drumming, addressed the protestors.

“Everybody respectable requests that we can listen to all sides of the story. This is a fundamental role of a university. It’s a culture that encourages open-discussion and thoughtful discussion on complicated issues. I think there are a lot of people here who would like to begin that discussion.”

She was met with cheers and applause from the room, but the protestors continued to drum.

A young woman from the audience ran up, took one of the protestor’s drumsticks and tried to hit her with it. She was pulled away by one of the event organizers.

Eventually one member of the protest group seized the microphone, and began reading off an open letter provided in the pamphlets handed out earlier. The microphone was cut off. One of the protestors exclaimed, “I thought it was an open discussion.”

Individuals in the audience continued to yell, until the security grabbed the protestor and dragged her out of the building. The woman, who was not a McMaster student, was questioned, and ultimately brought into a security car for trespassing.

The protestor’s criticisms were shared with about 200 students, professors and university administration members across Canada who signed onto an online, open letter addressed to McMaster President Patrick Deane.

Protestors stated that the talk, which was partially funded by the Forward with Integrity fund, is problematic because “there is no integrity in getting rich from an industry that promotes ecocide. Just this past June Noble Energy was responsible for spilling 7,500 gallons of crude oil into a river in Colorado, and in addition the company was responsible for spilling thousands of gallons of waste water in West Virginia and was ordered to cease its operations.”

Noble Energy Inc. is Texas based oil and natural gas exploration and production company with reserves of 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent and assets totalling $19 billion at the end of 2013.

The pamphlet handed out by protestors, titled “Tyranny And the Oil Patch” asserted that “someone who has dedicated their career to driving the earth ever further into the jaws of disaster should not be celebrated for their leadership. To celebrate them within the language of feminism is an insult to women and to everyone who struggles against the hegemonic order.”

Cunningham’s personal $1 million dollar donation to McMaster was another element of the lecture criticized by protestors, as noted in the open letter, “universities increasing reliance on corporate philanthropy and partnerships with industry may impact the kinds of questions we pursue in our scholarship as well as the kinds of initiatives our universities promote as high-profile.”

The controversial lecture, Leadership and the Oil Patch: How I Got There and What is Needed, was designed by AWSM as part of series to showcase successful women leaders, and to discuss their experiences and strategies when facing the infamous glass ceiling in their profession.

Meanwhile, Cunningham concluded her presentation: “this talk isn’t about the oil and gas industry. It’s about leadership and being who you want to be.”

Before the monitored question and answer period began, Bird commented in regards to the earlier disruption.

“There was strong support in the room having a dialogue, for expressing ideas and so we were able to move very quickly past a minor obstacle, and now begin a discussion of ideas.”

[adrotate banner="6"]