Spencer Izen

2 months ago | ubyssey.ca | Spencer Izen |Aisha Chaudhry

Four UBC professors and a recent PhD graduate student have filed a lawsuit against the university alleging official land acknowledgments done by UBC, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) hiring requirements and academic units' statements regarding Israel and Palestine violate UBC’s duty to “be non-sectarian and non-political in principle” under section 66 of the University Act.

2 months ago | ubyssey.ca | Spencer Izen |Saumya Kamra

This article contains mention and video of violence. As UBC’s Board of Governors (BoG) met in the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre to approve the university’s 2025/26 budget last Friday, a group of about two-dozen protesters called on the BoG from outside the locked and guarded Alumni Centre to divest from companies they say are complicit in genocide and human rights abuses in Gaza and the West Bank. This protest was the fourth demonstration in recent weeks pressuring the university to divest.

2 months ago | ubyssey.ca | Viyan Handley |Isabella Ma |Saumya Kamra |Spencer Izen

As students filtered into UBC on March 24 and 25 they were met with the booming chants — and at times songs — of pro-Palestine protesters. On March 14, the student-proposed referendum asking the AMS to endorse a two-day strike to demand UBC divest from companies students say are complicit in Palestinian human rights violations passed with 7,917 students (76 per cent of 11,365 voters) in favour of the action. On March 18, Israel broke a two-month ceasefire that began on January 19.

Mar 5, 2025 | ubyssey.ca | Spencer Izen |Stephen Kosar

Editor’s Note: Letters to the editor in response to this article were published on March 11 and March 12, respectively. On March 7, the Canadian Association of Journalists issued a statement regarding the RCMP’s conduct in relation to this story. Nathan Herrington’s February 14 began with him making his way to campus earlier than usual. Herrington, an international student recruiter and advisor working for UBC, was on his way to a meeting in the AMS Nest.

Feb 13, 2025 | ubyssey.ca | Spencer Izen |Lauren Kasowski

From January 30–February 2, UBC Opera put on their version of Street Scene at the Chan Centre and unfortunately, it was a slightly underwhelming affair — save for select standout performances. Street Scene was first written by Elmer Rice as a play — which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama — in 1929. Kurt Weill then adapted it into an opera of the same name, which premiered in New York in 1947.