A University of Waterloo professor who was stabbed in her gender-studies class last year says the incident has left her in a state of perpetual vigilance while teaching and stoked fears that others may be inspired to commit similar acts of violence on campus.
The professor, whose nose and arm were slashed, laid out the emotional, physical and professional impact of the attack on Monday morning in a Kitchener, Ont. courtroom, as part of a sentencing hearing for Geovanny Villalba-Aleman.
She described regularly waking up in tears in the immediate aftermath of the June 2023 stabbing, and worrying that she had not done enough to protect her students.
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The professor said she remains in a “persistent mode of surveillance” in class, monitoring the doors and always thinking of what items she could grab to use as a weapon if needed.
Villalba-Aleman, a former University of Waterloo student, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm in the attack, which also injured two students.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada says those offences constitute terrorist activity in his case.
An agreed statement of facts previously read in court said Villalba-Aleman told police he carried out the attack because he believed post-secondary institutions were “forcing ideology” on people.
It said he told police he went into the gender studies class because of the subject matter that was being taught, and that he specifically targeted the professor.
Villalba-Aleman, who was 24 at the time of the attack, initially faced 11 charges.
In her victim impact statement, the professor said the attack stirred fears not just for her own safety and that of her students, but for the broader community as well.
“His attack normalizes anti-queer and anti-trans violence and legitimizes violence within the university,” she told the court.
“I fear that others may feel emboldened to commit similar acts of violence.”
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