The University of Victoria’s Multifaith Centre cancelled Friday Muslim prayers and two Islamic lectures scheduled for Saturday after custodial staff discovered threatening notes on the building’s doors early Friday, according to a UVic security official.
Jess Maclean, the director of campus security services, stated that the notes were found and removed immediately, with campus security being alerted shortly before 8:30 a.m. “Campus Security worked with Student Wellness and the police to assess the risk, and out of an abundance of caution, we decided to close the Multifaith Centre for the remainder of the day,” Maclean explained in a statement.
The two Islamic lectures, known as Halaqas and open to those interested in learning about Islam, were also cancelled on Saturday. The Multifaith Centre reopened on Monday.
Maclean, who was unavailable for an interview on Monday, did not disclose the content of the notes. “We have not and do not plan on amplifying the message as we feel doing so has the potential to escalate the risk and/or cause further harm to our community,” she mentioned in the statement.
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The Times Colonist reported seeing an image of one of the notes, which included text in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, and targeted the Islamic faith.
The incident has been referred to Oak Bay police for further investigation.
Deputy Chief Kris Rice indicated that the content appeared to be hate-motivated and was reviewed by a hate-crimes investigator before being forwarded to the RCMP hate-crime unit for further analysis. There are currently no suspects, and anyone with information is urged to contact Oak Bay police.
A Muslim UVic employee familiar with the situation, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, stated that the Muslim “spiritual care provider” at the Multifaith Centre was not initially informed about the reason for the cancellations on Friday. “They didn’t share information about the threat with her.” After a meeting with campus security on Monday, the spiritual care provider had to inform the affected community members of the incident. “Putting that responsibility on a volunteer spiritual care provider is unreasonable,” the employee said.
“There was sufficient risk to warrant cancelling the programs. Why was there no official communication from UVic?”
The responsibility of warning those on their way to Friday prayers fell to the community, spreading fear and uncertainty among the Muslim community at UVic.
Regular Friday prayers at the Multifaith Centre attract over 100 attendees, including university students, staff, faculty, and nearby high school students.
Shawn Ullah, the B.C. representative for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, acknowledged the incident at UVic but had no further information as of Monday.
Maclean assured that UVic will continue to collaborate with event organizers at the centre to assess risk levels and develop safety plans for the rest of the summer.
