A renowned Canadian physician claims that her talk at New York University (NYU) was postponed because it was deemed to be “anti-government.” Dr. After her scheduled lecture at NYU was abruptly canceled last week, Joanne Liu, an associate professor at McGill and Université de Montréal who is also a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Sainte-Justine hospital and formerly served as the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), revealed to Global that she was left stunned. She stated that the topic of her lecture would be humanitarian aid during times of crisis and the difficulties aid workers have encountered in Gaza and other war zones. Her presentation was also going to talk about the recent cuts that President Trump’s administration has made to foreign aid, especially USAID. In an interview with Global on Friday, Liu stated, “I was told that discussing the USAID cuts could be perceived as an anti-governmental narrative.” She added that her alma mater, New York University, had also stated that her lecture could be interpreted as antisemitic. Liu’s presentation was scheduled to take place on March 19. Liu was informed that it had been canceled by the school’s vice-chair of the education department the night before when she arrived in New York. She claimed that the vice-chair expressed concerns regarding some of her slides, which cited databases compiled by aid workers and depicted the number of humanitarian casualties in Gaza in 2024, in addition to the most recent significant cuts made to USAID, a civilian foreign aid and development assistance agency. According to Liu, she was informed that both subjects could be perceived as antisemitic or anti-government. She offered to modify the lecture, but NYU decided to cancel it entirely. Liu asserts that she believes NYU was afraid of suffering the same fate as the Trump administration, which has recently reduced grants to American universities. She added that it reflects the current state of fear at American universities. After claiming that Columbia University failed to safeguard students from “antisemitic harassment,” the Trump administration withdrew $400 million in federal funding. After agreeing to a number of demands, including placing academic oversight on the Middle Eastern Studies Department, the university has since restored funding. I was asked to give a scientific lecture at NYU’s Department of Emergency Medicine almost a year ago. In an opinion piece that was published on Thursday in the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir, which is written in French, Liu wrote, “I did my fellowship there, my specialty was pediatric emergency medicine in the 1990s.” Liu continued, “Presidential cuts are targeting elite universities.” I sympathize with those who experience insecurity on campus. Additionally, I have a great deal of sympathy for university administrators who are attempting to safeguard funding, jobs, research, and teaching. She went on to say that academia in the United States is currently in a vulnerable situation.
World-renowned Canadian doctor says NYU cancelled talk for being ‘anti-government’
