“ In spring 1968, six Caribbean students at Sir George Williams University (now a part of Concordia University) filed a complaint that biology professor Perry Anderson practiced racial discrimination in his courses by giving failing marks to all Black people, regardless of the quality of their work. The university formed a committee that examined the complaint and then rejected it on 29 January 1969. In response, all of the complainants and some 200 demonstrators decided to hold a sit-in at the computer centre on the ninth floor of the Henry F. Hall Building”
The affair was widely publicized as a “riot” and received international attention. This article in the Canadian encyclopedia writes about the riot and its legacy “More than just a student demonstration, the events must be seen in the broader context of racial tensions …they can also be seen as the foundation for a broader denunciation of institutional racism.”
In October 2022, as 1 of the 88 Task Force recommendations, President Graham Carr delivered an official apology on behalf of Concordia University for its role in the 1969 riots.
