Queen’s University has confirmed that Chance Macdonald, a former student who was convicted of Assault in 2017, was engaged by the university as a guest lecturer the following year. Macdonald, who following his conviction now goes by the name Andrew Macdonald, was initially charged with confining and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in a 2015 incident. He subsequently pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of Assault and was sentenced to 88 days in jail and 2 years of probation.

“Mr Macdonald did speak to a class of Accelerated MBA students about crypto currencies via Skype in May 2018,” confirmed Mark Erdman, Queen’s University’s Acting Director, Media Relations and Issues in an email response.

“Professors often invite specialized industry professionals to speak to students,” Erdman explained.

Erdman says such speakers are not paid for their participation in lectures.

“There was quite a bit of flak about it (Macdonald’s appearance),” Erdman stated in a telephone interview, “and he hasn’t spoken to another class at Queen’s since then.”

Queen’s University was aware of Macdonald’s trial and released a statement at the time of his conviction. The statement read, in part:

“Through a recent media report, the university was made aware of a court case in which a “hockey player” was convicted of assault; while this individual has never been a member of the varsity hockey team or involved with any Queen’s athletic programs, the university was extremely disheartened to learn that he is a Queen’s student. The university understands and sympathizes with the emotions that people are expressing about this case. When the university becomes aware that a member of the Queen’s community has been charged with or convicted of a violent crime, an assessment is conducted to determine if there is a risk to the Queen’s community. Due to privacy considerations, we will not speak publicly about specific students or the outcomes of such matters.”

It remains unclear as to how, despite his conviction and the University’s knowledge thereof, Macdonald came to speak as a guest lecturer at Queen’s. Kingstonist inquired about what policies and procedures the University has in place that are designed to screen lecturers and prevent such issues from occurring, and how those failed in this instance. Those inquiries remain unanswered as of publication time.