SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report. This page provides a record of incidents reported up to that date. Learn more about the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project.

Date of Incident: February 06, 2025

Attack Types: Other

Institution(s):McGill University

Region & Country:Americas | Canada

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On February 6, 2025, a group of nearly 40 unidentified individuals smashed several windows in buildings located on McGill University’s campus.

Around 8:00 pm, Montreal police received multiple 911 calls reporting that individuals were smashing windows around campus. A university statement noted that the group smashed the windows of a total five university buildings, some of which were hosting night classes and exams. In addition, the words “free Palestine” were written in chalk at the entrance to the university.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about violent and destructive attacks on campus, apparently intended to affect the functioning of a higher education institution. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such actions undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/vandalism-spree-mcgill-university-1.7451975
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/06/vandals-windows-shattered-mcgill-university/
https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/video/2025/02/06/windows-smashed-graffiti-covers-mcgill-university/