In late January, McMaster University suspended an engineering student group called the Redsuits. This was due to the discovery of a songbook labelled “Engineer Cheers” that contained songs found to contain “sexist, violent and degrading material.”
The Redsuits are like a spirit group for McMaster Engineering and promote pride and spirit for engineering at the school and in the community. The volunteers are also the leaders for Welcome Week (their Frosh Week), and as such, the engineering Welcome Week in September has effectively been suspended as well.
The suspension of the Redsuits has not resulted in any student suspensions so far, and an investigation to be conducted by an external agency is being launched.
The songs weren’t written, distributed, or actively chanted by the Redsuits. In fact, apparently only a minority of them even knew about its existence. So is it fair that the university shut down an organisation that not only partakes in numerous charitable events, but also runs the orientation for all engineering first-years, all because a small group of students had a book with songs written in it that were created decades ago? I would say no, and not only is it unfair, but it is also arguably a violation of free speech which, by the way, is coming from a university– which are supposed to be environments of expression and ideas where people can discuss things objectively.
The book contains almost 30 songs. Most of which aren’t really that offensive. There are a couple that are rather explicit, a little dirty and just plain gross (“Bestiality’s Best” comes to mind) but for the most part not suspension worthy. The most contentious song in the book contained it’s own disclaimer and was called “The S&M Man.” I won’t repeat any of the lyrics but the disclaimer read: “there is no good place to sing this. People will be offended. The content of the next page includes: bloody rape, murderous incest, child mutilation, and fetal ingestion at the very least, proceed with caution.” That, unfortunately, is an accurate description. I’m willing to bet that if the book didn’t contain that one song, that the suspension would never have occurred.
You’re probably thinking that I’m not really helping my argument by outlining the vulgarity of the book but it’s the truth. However just because there’s a book with a bunch of vulgar songs doesn’t mean that an organisation, as well as frosh week that they run, should be cancelled.
First off, no one in the Redsuits created any of those songs. The book was compiled years ago by what appears to be engineers in the Class of 2010. Most of the songs are old songs that have been sung by engineers and other groups for decades. “The S&M Man,” for example, is a song that likely started in the 80s and is regularly sung by rugby clubs, frat houses, and the military. So what’s wrong with a book floating around that contains bawdy songs? They’re just songs, and it is just a book. Sure they are graphic in nature, but no one who sings them actually means that they’re are going to do the actions described. The songs are mostly meant to shock and provoke others, like most bawdy songs and limericks do. McMaster has no right to suspend a group just because some words in a book are distasteful to some. Well, they basically have the right to suspend any group they want for any reason; so I guess it would be better to say it wasn’t the right thing to do.
The main issue with McMaster’s decision is that it clearly violates freedom of speech. As mentioned before, places of higher learning are meant to promote the free discussion of all ideas and thoughts and not punish those just because their expressions are thought to be repugnant. In punishing the Redsuits, McMaster is in direct contradiction with a statement concerning freedom of speech made by their own Senate. They stated: “McMaster University is dedicated to the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge…Behaviour which obstructs free and full discussion, not only of ideas which are safe and accepted but of those which may be unpopular or even abhorrent, vitally threatens the integrity of the University, and cannot be tolerated.” Consider your integrity threatened McMaster, you specifically said obstruction of ideas considered unpopular or abhorrent cannot be tolerated but that is exactly what you are doing!
Early in 2013, McMaster was again preaching free speech when one of the librarians was being sued for a blog post he posted in 2010. In a statement McMaster said “McMaster University affirms the right of the academic community to engage in full and unrestricted consideration of any opinion…the university strongly supports the exercise of free speech as a critical social good.” McMaster even was a co-defendant because of their “respect for individual freedom of speech,” yet their current actions seem to suggest quite the opposite: McMaster only respects free speech when it is in their interest to.
McMaster seems to talk a lot about promoting free speech but their recent actions seem to speak otherwise. If the university is saying that they have a policy of freedom of speech then they should uphold it. Freedom of speech isn’t something that can be followed only when it’s convenient. It should be followed all the time. The solution to speech that is seen by some as morally wrong is not to silence it. Instead there should be more speech, not less. Counter “bad” speech with “good” speech. Academic institutions are meant to be places of open discussion, so why not have a discussion about the book? It’s clear that the current Redsuits didn’t write the songs and they don’t condone the actions described in them. The book is just a compilation of songs that an apparent minority of them had floating around.
Overall what McMaster did in suspending the Redsuits was wrong. Not only is it not fair to suspend the entire group because of a book that only a minority of people knew about, it’s also not fair to the new engineering students who’s frosh week is effectively ruined this fall. That unfairness, though, isn’t the main reason that McMaster did the wrong thing. The biggest reason is that an institute of higher learning clearly violated freedom of speech. And not only did it violate freedom of speech outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but it also violated it’s own policies on freedom of speech. On top of that, McMaster also completely contradicted its actions in the past when it went to court to protect the freedom of speech of its own employees. Last year, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Reforms gave McMaster’s freedom of speech a grade of “D” in terms of actions by it’s administration. McMaster’s integrity and reputation as a university which promotes free speech is not looking good at the moment and the suspension of the Redsuits is only hindering them further.
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