Why did McGill fail to defend poor Andrew Potter? Well what do you think? Money made them do it -- or rather, the lack of it. Today's underfunded universities are in a tough spot, now that provincial funding has begun to wither away. They have to resort to "expediencies" in order to please certain people. They can no longer be the lofty "disinterested" places Cardinal Newman or (in another op ed piece in today's G&M about the same problem ) Michael Byers want them to be. 

When one lacks reliable financial bedrock and one's house is built upon the sand, one is prone to error. Two errors, maybe more, were made here. Pleasing too many people all at once can be a tricky situation. When one of McGill's professors makes the mistake of kicking sand in Quebec's face, its president knows what must be done in order to salvage at least a dribble of its revenue stream. But whether poor Andrew Potter jumped or was pushed, we do not know. Yet.