Relight the Beacon:
Restoring the Fundamental Mission of Universities
We declare a state of emergency for the university.
In a world clouded by fear, cynicism, and polarization, the university is faltering. Its ability to fulfill its fundamental mission and serve as a pillar of democracy is increasingly under threat. Pressured to please or remain silent, too often reduced to its economic functions, it is being forced from all sides to abandon what defines its true mission: to think against the grain, to seek freely, to teach without fear.
In Québec and beyond, a storm is rising: chronic underfunding, subjugation of research and teaching to market imperatives, and alarming setbacks in academic freedom. Each day brings new efforts to stifle and muzzle the very institution that has historically illuminated our collective thinking.
But we refuse to resign ourselves to this new age of darkness.
The university is not a business.
The university is not the servile hand of partisan or ideological interests.
The university is not a space of intellectual conformity.
The university is a beacon.
It must remain a collective landmark through the fiercest intellectual and democratic storms.
A light for those seeking meaning, rigor, and debate.
A safe harbor for imagining new possibilities.
Today, against the fog and the drift, we call to relight this beacon—and to resist every force working to extinguish it.
A Silent Sabotage
We are not fooled. Fine words can no longer conceal the increasingly fierce attacks on the foundations of our places of learning.
In the name of profitability, public funding is being strangled.
In the name of managerial logic, collegial governance is being dismantled.
In the name of politeness, critical voices are being censored.
Everywhere, budgetary decisions become tools of blackmail, ideological pressures intensify, political interference proliferates.
Dialogue has ceased: now there is only imposition and constraint.
We no longer govern with—we govern against.
And the communities that make up the university are forced to comply or remain silent.
Academic freedom, recognized as a cornerstone of the advancement of knowledge, is in retreat.
To research boldly is now reckless.
To teach with conviction is now suspect.
To speak without self-censorship is now risky.
Under these circumstances, university professors are ordered to fall in line, universities are pressured to sell themselves, and knowledge must bend to the ideologies and fashions of the moment.
We are witnessing the silent sabotage of one of our most precious public goods: the university as a refuge for free and emancipatory thought, where it is possible to think differently, explore new ideas, and debate them openly.
Reigniting the Fire
We teach, we inquire, we debate, we dream. We think critically about the university, together with the university itself.
We come from every discipline, every region, every generation. And we share an unshakable conviction:
The university is—and must remain—a beacon.
We refuse to let political and economic powers turn knowledge into a commodity, campuses into brands, and professors into service providers. We refuse to let fear, complacency, or resignation dictate the rules of the game.
To those who still doubt, we say: You are not alone.
To those who no longer dare to speak, we say: Your voice matters.
To those who have given up hope, we say: Let us reclaim the torch—together—and act to ensure that the university becomes, and remains, the institution we so desperately need today.
A beacon only shines as bright as the strength of the fire within it that we feed together. And that fire is our shared commitment to a mission greater than ourselves. A mission that demands our lucidity, our courage, and our solidarity.
Rebuilding the University as a Common Good
Let us dare to imagine a future where the university reclaims its place at the heart of society.
Let us dare to imagine a university that is accessible, guided by collegial governance, nourished by a diversity of voices, and rooted in the pursuit of the common good and social justice.
A public and free university, funded in line with its mission, free from competition-driven logic, able to embrace uncertainty, foster disagreement, and imagine a brighter future.
Let us give the university the courage to challenge and the strength to resist.
Together, let us become the living beacons of democracy. Let us fight for a society that rejects intellectual impoverishment and refuses to surrender to short-term thinking.
To this end, we demand:
- A massive and sustained reinvestment in the university as a public good.
Because without public funding, the university ceases to be a lever for all the people and becomes one for only the most fortunate. - The full protection of academic freedom.
Because we cannot seek, teach, or debate freely when fear dictates the limits of knowledge. - Authentic collegial governance.
Because the public mission of universities cannot be defended if those who embody it are excluded from its decisions. - Concrete measures to ensure institutional autonomy.
Because a university subjected to external dictates cannot challenge, enlighten, or transform the world. - A united front of universities against the commodification of knowledge.
Because what lights our path to the future should never be sold to the highest bidder.
This is not the struggle of an isolated group. It is the struggle of all who refuse to let the next chapter of our story be written in the fog of misinformation and half-truths.
To you who teach, who study, who seek, who question, who dream of tomorrow:
This beacon will only shine if we relight it together.
