In 2024, Manfredi made the decision to cancel a semester of the
McGill Faculty of Law in order to prevent the school's faculty from unionizing. In response, the school's students union stated that "It has now become clear that McGill recklessly jeopardizes our semesters and the quality of our education in pursuit of its own interests." During the strike, he inadvertently copied a law student and journalist on an internal email to President
Deep Saini and Dean
Robert Leckey, writing, "Are our students incapable of reading?" and that “I’m a bit worried about the people we’re sending into the legal profession.” The message, which appeared to question student ability amid widespread support for the strike, drew criticism from faculty and students. Manfredi apologized, though neither Saini nor Leckey publicly distanced themselves from the remarks. In April 2024, after Manfredi liked a tweet on
Twitter defending
Dave Chappelle for making jokes at the expense of trans people, the student group Queer McGill launched a "Remove Manfredi" campaign.{{Citation ==References==