Ewert is on parole<\/a> after four decades behind bars.<\/p>\nOn Friday, McGill provost Angela Campbell told students Ewert hadn\u2019t been on campus since early October following \u201cmeasured, decisive action\u201d by the school.<\/p>\n
But some within the law school oppose the university\u2019s decision. A petition calling for Ewert\u2019s return to class has gathered more than 120 signatures from current and former law students, while an email from the McGill Law Students\u2019 Association accuses the university of undermining the principle of rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are shocked by the reactive manner in which McGill University has responded to this issue,\u201d the association\u2019s executive wrote Saturday in an email obtained by The Gazette.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs law students, we are taught to recognize the injustices perpetuated by the criminal justice system and to understand the importance of rehabilitation and offenders\u2019 rights,\u201d the email said. \u201cIt is therefore especially disappointing when our university, presented with an opportunity to guide us through critical learning, fails.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition, which organizers plan to deliver Monday to university leadership, points to the parole board decision allowing Ewert\u2019s return to the community as evidence that he can participate in class.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand that there\u2019s a duty to keep students safe,\u201d said Raymond Johnson-Brown, one of the law students leading the initiative. But there have been no allegations of wrongdoing by Ewert at McGill, he added.<\/p>\n
Students may be uncomfortable with Ewert\u2019s presence in class, he conceded, but \u201cdiscomfort is not the same as a lack of safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally don\u2019t see somebody who has committed a crime, served (decades in prison) and is now out on day parole as impacting me or my well-being,\u201d Johnson-Brown said. Women\u2019s concerns about Ewert\u2019s history are reasonable, he added, calling on McGill to come up with a response.<\/p>\n
In a decision in June to continue his day parole, the Parole Board of Canada acknowledged Ewert has breached his release conditions multiple times since he was first granted day parole in early 2025, including those that pertain to his contacts with women.<\/p>\n
Johnson-Brown, who is pursuing a master\u2019s degree in social work alongside his legal studies, said he and other students have become friends with Ewert. On the day he was barred from campus, Johnson-Brown said he and others witnessed two security guards escort Ewert off the premises.<\/p>\n
\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n
The petition also references Ewert\u2019s experiences as an Indigenous man, calling his incarceration \u201cinextricable from the colonial institutions in which he was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJeff\u2019s situation is where our collective commitments to reconciliation and rehabilitation are tested,\u201d the petition says.<\/p>\n
As an infant, Ewert was taken from his home and adopted by a white family. The parole board decision from June said he was \u201craised in an environment marked by abuse, neglect and racism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat should be taken into consideration in understanding why we got the act of murder \u2026 that he committed,\u201d Johnson-Brown said, clarifying that Ewert\u2019s history doesn\u2019t excuse his crimes.<\/p>\n
McGill maintains it\u2019s committed to rehabilitation, with Campbell writing Friday that \u201ca past conviction does not on its own bar anyone from studying here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The university is reviewing the issue, she said, promising \u201ca fair process that balances the rights and interests of everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gazette\u2019s Paul Cherry contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
Clarification: Jeffrey George Ewert served four decades in prison and is on parole.<\/p>\n
jawilson@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 100 McGill law students, as well as their student association, are opposing a decision to exclude…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,16644,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-938976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-mcgill-university","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}