Lindsay Shepherd
Lindsay Shepherd (born December 7, 1994) is a Canadian columnist who became known for her involvement, as a graduate student and teaching assistant, in an academic freedom controversy at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) in Waterloo, Ontario, in 2017.
An independent fact-finder hired by the university reported that the meeting should not have taken place, that "no formal complaint, nor informal concern relative to a Laurier policy" had been registered, and that Shepherd had done nothing wrong by showing the clips.
[7] The following month she filed a lawsuit against the university, the two professors, the third staff member and a student, alleging "harassment, intentional infliction of nervous shock, negligence, and constructive dismissal".
She attended Cariboo Hill Secondary School, Burnaby,[9] before completing her undergraduate degree in communication at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.
In 2018 she received a Master of Arts degree in cultural analysis and social theory from Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU),[9] after joining the graduate program in September 2017.
[2][11] The first clip featured the host, Steve Paikin, discussing gender-neutral pronouns with Jordan Peterson, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto.
[2][12] A critic of Bill C-16 and "what he sees as an intolerant left-wing in higher education", according to The Globe and Mail,[4] Peterson was arguing against being legally compelled to use pronouns such as zie and zher or the singular they.
[2] The Rainbow Centre then spoke to Adria Joel, acting manager of gender violence prevention in the university's Diversity and Equity Office.
Arguing that the ideas had been presented as a valid perspective, the professor compared the Peterson clip to "neutrally playing a speech by Hitler or Milo Yiannopoulos from Gamergate."
"[27] In April 2018 she repeated that whatever issue had been raised about the clips, it "was not a complaint as the term is defined in the university’s Gendered and Sexual Violence Policy, which Mr. Centa reviewed in establishing his findings".
[4] In June 2018, Shepherd filed a lawsuit against the university, Rambukkana, Pimlott, Joel, and a graduate student for damages of $3.6 million, claiming "harassment, intentional infliction of nervous shock, negligence, and constructive dismissal".
[8][29] In December 2018, Rambukkana and Pimlott filed a third-party claim against Shepherd, alleging she had had control over the recording and should therefore be liable for any damages Peterson suffered as a result of its publication.
The mandate requires a definition of freedom of speech, a policy based on the Chicago principles, and annual reports to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.
[32] After the incident, Shepherd gave multiple interviews, including to newspapers and CBC News,[33] as well as on YouTube shows such the Dave Rubin Report[34][35] and Louder with Crowder,[36] discussing the implications for free speech and academic freedom.
I meant to use it to drive home a point about context by saying here was material that would definitely need to be contextualized rather than presented neutrally, and instead I implied that Dr. Peterson is like Hitler, which is untrue and was never my intention.
