Vanier College responds to racist comments by a professor in Zoom class

Following a video showing a professor scolding a student about his last name during a Zoom class, Montreal CEGEP Vanier College has announced that they are taking action to address the racist, xenophobic and/or discriminatory element of the incident. In the video, the professor comments on the student’s use of his mother’s Armenian last name in his Zoom profile and suggests using only his father’s non-Armenian name instead. He also questioned why the mother’s surname appeared first.

In a statement on Facebook, Vanier College Director General John McMahon explained that Vanier prides itself on creating a racism-free environment and is taking the issue very seriously.

“We have become aware of a recent video that has been shared on social media. We have mechanisms in place to address such situations and the College is addressing this issue immediately. Vanier is a diverse community of learners and prides itself on trying to create a learning environment free of racism, discrimination and hate. We are taking this very seriously.”

—John McMahon, Director General at Vanier College

---

For the latest news updates, please visit the News section.