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Such behaviour has become commonplace in the university, the political science professors wrote in their letter last week. A semester does not go by without classes being lost to disruptions, usually provoked by a minority of students, the professors said. “This objectively harms the quality of the education and the value of the degree, notwithstanding the bandages applied to save appearances,” they wrote.

“Research, reflection and debate are also seriously affected by the climate of intimidation and harassment that has set in,” they continued. “The atmosphere in certain classrooms suffers from this climate; it hurts learning and makes the job of teaching frankly unpleasant.”

Jean-Guy Prévost, one of the signatories, said he has had masked protesters enter his classrooms several times. “It is pretty intimidating, because it’s a way of saying, ‘OK, we’re going to do something illegal, that’s why we are masked.’ That is extremely troubling,” he said in an interview.

A group of 24 students writing in a student newspaper dismissed the professors’ complaints. They accused them of seeking to “sterilize the political spontaneity” of the student body. Strikes may disturb the academic calendar, they acknowledged, “but we choose to see in them an alternative learning opportunity rather than a handicap to our studies.” A group called GAPPA that took part in the Jan. 20 protest against the Natural Resources civil servant defended the action. The recruiting event was in fact promoting “the commodification of education, the rape of aboriginal lands, the destruction of the environment and citizen apathy,” the group said on its web site. Its silencing of Mr. Des Rosiers was a display of “citizen power against the authoritarianism of these criminals in neckties.” (Mr. Des Rosiers declined to be interviewed for this story.)

We have a tiny minority of people who truly believe that the role of a university is to create a mess

The university has tried to downplay the seriousness of the professors’ claims. Robert Proulx, the rector, wrote in Le Devoir that “unacceptable acts” had been occurring at UQAM for some time, but they were the work of a minority and were impossible to guard against. “UQAM is neither a battlefield nor a place dominated by masked commandos,” he wrote. Rather, it contributes to Quebec society and is “a jewel of which we must be proud.” Marc Turgeon, a vice-rector, issued a reminder to students last week that debates must be conducted respectfully. He said vandalism, intimidation and violence would not be tolerated and the administration “takes all measures that it judges appropriate” to maintain a climate of respect.

Mr. Bauer, who in 2012 saw his office door defaced by anti-Semitic graffiti because he defends Israel, said the administration has essentially caved in to a minority of student troublemakers.

“They’re afraid of their own shadow, and as long as it’s not too extreme, they will close their eyes,” he said. He feels sorry for the majority of students who want nothing to do with the radical agenda. “We have a tiny minority of people who truly believe that the role of a university is to create a mess,” he said, “that to demonstrate is as much a part of their training as following courses with a professor.”