University of New Brunswick – Paul Mazerolle (Petra Hauf, Dave MaGee, Bill Best, Kathy Wilson)

At the University of New Brunswick, President Paul Mazerolle has provided as much cover and institutional support for the ongoing genocide in Gaza as any university leader in Canada. His administration’s systematic suppression of voices supporting the Palestinian people has largely gone unnoticed, in part because of the university’s muted and indifferent public response to the atrocities taking place.

Within days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mazerolle sent an email stating:

“The UNB community stands in solidarity with Ukraine and calls for an end to violence and the return of peace and safety for all.”

Yet when peaceful protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza began on UNB campuses, his tone changed dramatically. Mazerolle declared:

“We are not a political entity and we will refrain from making political statements on this or other matters.”

In that same statement, he made clear his refusal to take any moral stance against Israel, emphasizing that UNB would not comply with demands from students and faculty calling for divestment from Israeli companies, for the end of institutional collaborations with Israeli universities, or for public statements condemning Israel’s actions.

Following the example of larger Canadian universities such as McGill and the University of Alberta, Mazerolle invoked the “violence” narrative to discredit dissent, warning that “violence will not be tolerated at our university” — a clear attempt to frame peaceful pro-Palestinian activism as a security threat.

He went on to condemn demonstrators resisting genocide for a confrontation that had in fact been initiated by a pro-Israel counter-protester seeking to provoke peaceful activists. Mazerolle even described the act of collecting signatures for anti-genocide petitions as “uncivil,” despite pro-Israel protesters having physically attacked those same petitioners.

As the death toll in Gaza continued to rise, Mazerolle and his administrative team — Petra Hauf, Bill Best, Kathy Wilson, and Dave MaGee — intensified efforts to silence any expression of solidarity with Palestine. The Palestine Solidarity Student Club was prohibited from using the Palestinian flag or map in its logo, deemed “too political.” Hanging posters supporting Palestine or condemning genocide was labelled “harassment,” and even the phrase “From the river to the sea”was branded as “genocidal hate speech.”

In one particularly revealing incident, a faculty member mistaken for a student was threatened with expulsion for putting up Palestine solidarity flyers. When the faculty member asked campus security which rule was being broken, the head of security replied that no written rule was necessary, stating:

“The university is the President’s house. If I tell my kids they can’t do something, I don’t need to write it down. He’s the President — he sets the rules.”

When a small group of activists established a peaceful daytime encampment on the Saint John campus — consisting mostly of a few people sitting on chairs and carpets with signs and banners — the administration quickly escalated. On the second day, after protesters set up a small tent for shade, two participants (a faculty member and a graduate student) were served with a trespass notice. The notice selectively quoted the law, omitting the key clause exempting individuals engaged in “peaceful public demonstration.”

The next morning, three police cruisers and the head of security from Fredericton arrived as the tent was being erected. Yet the Saint John police found no grounds to enforce the trespass order, confirming that the protesters were within their legal rights. Mazerolle was ultimately forced to withdraw the notice — not out of principle, but because his actions had no legal basis.

Undeterred, Mazerolle continued his campaign of repression. He banned keffiyehs at UNB convocation and graduation ceremonies, ordering security to search students, parents, and even faculty spouses to ensure none were wearing or concealing the Palestinian symbol. That spring, a staff member who wore a keffiyeh to convocation was disciplined, sent home, and fired the following week “without cause” — though the reason was obvious. Not a single member of the university community, including her own mother (a senior administrator), publicly supported her.

Paul Mazerolle and his inner circle — Petra Hauf, Bill Best, Kathy Wilson, and Dave MaGee — have been among the most egregious university administrators in Canada in their complicity with Israel’s crimes in Gaza. The pro-Palestine movement at UNB has received little attention locally and none nationally, allowing Mazerolle and his team to evade accountability. But their conduct stands as a chilling example of how far university administrators are willing to go to suppress conscience and align with power — the kind of people who, in another time, might have informed the Nazis where Anne Frank was hiding.