At approximately 4pm on December 6, 1989 an armed gunman* entered the engineering school at École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec. He entered a classroom and separated the 9 female students from the approximately 50 male students. He ordered the men to leave, and then shot the women, killing 6 and wounding 3. He claimed that he was fighting feminism, and he believed that female engineers personified what he was fighting against. The gunman then proceeded across the campus, killing another 8 women and wounding an additional 7 women and 4 men before shooting himself.
I know that incidents like this have sadly been repeated many times since, with many other targets. Places like Columbine, Virginia Tech, Dawson College and Knoxville Unitarian Universalist Church have been coloured by violence in the same way that École Polytechnique was. Mercifully, these events are actually very rare, although I certainly wish that none of them had ever happened.
I myself entered engineering school less than 5 years after that day in 1989. Because of that some part of me feels like the Montreal Massacre is my incident. I have sat in many rooms, at school and at work, where there were 50 men and 9 women. And while I would not say that I have encountered overt or undue discrimination, I would also say that it has always been apparent to me that my choice to pursue engineering is unusual. That it sets me apart, in some small way. And that because of it I feel a particular kinship with the women who were killed.
Today, I remember them.
Geneviève Bergeron, 21
Hélène Colgan, 23
Nathalie Croteau, 23
Barbara Daigneault, 22
Anne-Marie Edward, 21
Maud Haviernick, 29
Barbara Maria Klucznik, 31
Maryse Leclair, 23
Annie St.-Arneault, 23
Michèle Richard, 21
Maryse Laganière, 25
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22
Sonia Pelletier, 28
Annie Turcotte, 21
It is my greatest hope that we can create a world that is free of this kind of violence, gender-based or otherwise. I believe that it is possible, and that only we can do it.
* Yes, I know the gunman’s name. I have not used it, because I am remembering his victims here, not him.
Thanks for this post Amber…I've shared it on my wall too…it's been front of mind all weekend.
Oh my god. I admit, I have never heard of this incident (maybe because I was only 11 years old at the time and do not live in Canada) – but it does horrify me. I am a female engineer as well and cannot imagine the hatred that has led to such a tragedy.
I am with you in remembrance, hoping that no one will ever feel threatened again based on gender issues. You are right, we all can change the world by teaching our kids. I hope we will do the right thing.
I remember when this happened. I was in junior high. It made me so angry and so sad. Thanks for remembering too.
Capital Mom´s last post ..Anti-social
Scary! I never heard of this before. I’m glad you’re remembering the victims here.
You would think in all of my research about gender-equity in the sciences, this would have come up somewhere. Wow.
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This happened in my first year of university, and I remember it vividly. There was an interview with one of the survivors in our paper yesterday. She has four children and has tried very hard to think of the murderer as a baby and someone’s child, and to forgive him. I know he must not have been in his right mind to do what he did, but I don’t think I could be that forgiving. I find that these women are remembered much more often and more clearly than many other female victims of violence (in Canada, anyway)– but I’m sure that’s cold comfort to their families.
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Great post…I feel exactly the same way about this incident, it happened the very year I entered engineering at Waterloo. It was so scary and real, and I so completely identify with the victims. It was so real for us, in fact, that we just didn’t know how to deal with it — the other women in my class and I had to pretend it didn’t happen or else we just wouldn’t have been able to function.
Thanks for the reminder.
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Great tribute to these women. It was such a horrific event in Canadian history, and Canadian women’s history. Thank you for this. ((hugs))
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Ug, how horrible. This hits close to home, when I think how few of “us” there are in engineering. Thank you for remember these women.
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Good for remember and talking about this and other similar incomprehensible events.
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I read a very moving interview in this month’s Chatelaine with Monique Lepine. She too is a victim of that day, whom is often forgotten.
Thank you for remembering these women. I was young when it happened, but I remember the news vividly. My mother cried, and it took me awhile to understand what had happened.