Rally at MUN supports hard-of-hearing student William Sears

Students and advocates rallied at Memorial University in St. John's Wednesday, to show support for a hard-of-hearing student who dropped a class earlier this month after a professor refused to wear a FM transmitter.

• MUN apologizes to hard-of-hearing student, says 1996 agreement under review
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• MUN prof refuses to wear device for hearing disabled student, cites religious reasons

Memorial apologized to William Sears this week, with president Gary Kachanoski saying the classroom exchange between Sears and professor Ranee Panjabi should never have happened in the first place.

Sears requested Panjabi wear the FM transmitter to allow him to hear lectures in the history of espionage class, but Panjabi refused, citing religious reasons.

On Wednesday, students gathered at the St. John's campus to send a message that accommodation for students with disabilities is not open to compromise.

"I'm here in support of my brother, but I'm here in support of everyone else that has faced similar challenges," said Morgan Sears, William's sister. "I think it's more of a societal issue than we realize."

Sears said her brother, who wasn't at the rally, is at the point where he just needs to move on, but that doesn't mean the problem is resolved.

"William has been … it's been a long road. It's been a long two weeks. It's taken a toll on him and I guess, mostly, he wants to get on with his studies, he doesn't want to let this impact the rest of his life," she said.

"He does believe that it is a big issue and it needs to be changed, but that doesn't mean that he needs to stop doing everything else, so I think it's important and for anyone who goes through this kind of thing to show that you're strong enough to keep going afterwards."

Meanwhile, Sears said there's still work to be done to ensure Memorial is inclusive for all students and people with disabilities.

"No one expects the system to be perfect, but it should not infringe on someone's education rights and this is the third incident that has been made public now. Who's to say how many more have gone through the cracks and haven't been brought forward?" she said.

"It's just making sure that every student that comes to MUN has the chance to get the education that they want to get, that they're paying for, and that they deserve."

Changes needed: MUNSU

Robert Leamon, with MUN Students' Union (MUNSU) and the national students with disabilities representative with Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), said the rally not only shows support for William Sears, but also pushes for changes at Memorial.

"That's what this rally is really about - it's making broader changes to Memorial University to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen to any student in the future," said Leamon.

According to Leamon, the students' union wants the university administration to conduct mandatory equity training for all employees, establish a human rights office on campus, and conduct an external review of accessibility policies — among other actions.

Leamon said the apology Memorial offered to Sears is an "important first step," but there are still no concrete measures in place to ensure something similar doesn't happen again.

"While this student was brave enough to make their concern heard so loudly and talk about it in such a public way, there may be lots of other students that we might be missing that may not have the courage to bring this kind of concern forward," said Leamon.

"No student should ever have to be put in that kind of situation."