MUN alumnus at heart of privacy breach hopes board chair's resignation is a sign of change
Becky Winsor, who has three degrees from Memorial University, emailed the board of regents in support of pro-Palestine protesters. She was shocked when the board chair forwarded her email to her father. (Submitted by Becky Winsor)
Memorial University's board of regents' chair has resigned after forwarding an alumnus's pro-Palestinian email to her father and Becky Winsor — who spoke out about Glenn Barnes's decision to alert her father to her political views — hopes it's a sign of change.
"I hope that they kind of continue their work [of] listening to more people who have, you know, expert opinions and just people in the community — alumni, students, especially — when it comes to lots of different things when it comes to Memorial University," she told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.
The controversy stems from Barnes forwarding an email sent in support of pro-Palestine protesters to Winsor's father.
Barnes was investigated and last month he was asked to take privacy training. On Thursday, Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell announced Barnes had resigned.
Winsor said she's glad the board of regents took Barnes' violation of its code of conduct seriously.
Winsor said she hopes Barnes' departure means the board will be more accepting of feedback in the future.
"If they're willing to do that going forward, that does make me more confident in, you know, the university administration and the board of regents' ability to govern and make decisions for the university and its students."
Barnes had received more than 100 similar emails as part of a campaign organized by the Newfoundland and Labrador branch of the Canadian Federation of Students. Student activists and others have been campaigning for the university to divest itself from "weapons manufacturing companies implicated in the genocide in Gaza."
In an email reply to Winsor's father, Barnes had said that he wanted to let parents know that he knows "just what their kids are doing."
Windsor, who is 35 and has three degrees from MUN, said she thinks that Barnes' decision to forward her email to her father was due to his frustration.
"It just seemed to me like that he was frustrated with this meeting that he had with students and then all the emails he was getting and just sort of looked for a way to express that frustration," said Winsor.
According to a Canadian Press report, Barnes forwarded Winsor's email to her father at 3:44 a.m. on June 22.
Going forward, Winsor said she'd like members of the board to keep open minds when it comes to hearing other opinions, especially as they are in positions of power.
"They really need to self-reflect and realize, 'It's not about me personally.' And it's about, you know, what's best for the university… and not involve ourselves in genocide."
However, after her privacy was breached she said MUN didn't keep her updated on the code of conduct investigation.
"I received nothing related to that except for an email from [interim university president Neil] Bose that said, you know, there will be an investigation. But nothing in terms of, you know, what that looks like or what the steps were."
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