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In an interview, Mr. Dumas, 28, said he acted for the silent majority of students who opposed the walkouts that paralyzed many Quebec campuses in the spring of 2012. “I felt that I’d been wronged. I didn’t want to just hang my head and let them win without fighting,” he said.

When he would try to attend class at the Quebec City university, he said, there would be 15 protesters blocking the way of 80 students trying to get in.

“The vast majority of students were against [the strikes], but almost everybody did nothing, so they won,” he said. Student leaders declared victory after a Parti Québécois government was elected in September 2012 and immediately cancelled the Liberal tuition increases that had sparked the protests.

Mr. Dumas said he hopes other students will follow his lead and hold their student associations accountable. “I would love it if this could set a precedent and more people could have their rights respected,” he said.

He withdrew from his classes in March 2012 on the last day possible to avoid having a failing grade on his transcript. He said he could not run the risk of classes being extended into the summer and interfering with the summer job he depended on to support his household.

Jean-François Morasse, who won a 2012 court injunction permitting him to attend his classes at Université Laval, said the decision in Mr. Dumas’ case should be a wakeup call for the province’s student leaders.

“Young people were taken hostage during the spring of 2012 by activists who wanted to bring down the government at any price and did not respect the rights of their classmates,” he said.