UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESIDENT ROBERT PRICHARD REPORT TO THE ACADEMIC BOARD ON THE APRIL BUREY MATTER, OCTOBER 09, 1997
To the Governing Council,
University of Toronto.
Your Board reports that it held a meeting on Thursday, October 9th, 1997 at 4:15 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Simcoe Hall. An attendance list is attached to this report. In this report, items 6, 7 and 8 are presented to the Executive Committee for confirmation, and the remaining items are reported for information.
1. Time of Adjournment It was duly moved and seconded,
THAT the meeting adjourn no later than 6:30 p.m. The vote was taken on the motion. The motion was carried.
... 3. Business Arising from the Report
Item 3: Report of 69 of the Agenda Committee
A member reminded the Board that he had brought to its attention at the last meeting an open letter from an unsuccessful candidate in a tenure-stream search in the Faculty of Law. This person had alleged racism was involved in her not being chosen for the appointment. The President had indicated at the time that this was not the forum to deal with this issue. The member reported that since the last meeting, a small group had met with the Dean of the Faculty to discuss systemic racism in hiring practices at the Faculty. The Chair cautioned the member to temper his language. His allegations were not proven and the Chair sensed that some members were taking offense at the speaker's unsubstantiated comments. The member continued, calling for an independent review of hiring practices in the Faculty of Law and other faculties and of the exclusion of black and other minority students in the professional programs. His second point concerned the report on Dr. Chun's case and specifically the remark attributed to Professor Graham that UTFA had no knowledge of any racism in the Department of Physics. He said that Professor Graham also informed the President that UTFA had not investigated the matter. The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) had done an investigation. The member said that the President has not responded to the Yip Report or to CAUT. It was clear to him that the remedy offered to Dr. Chun was unsatisfactory. The member also stated that a person had been hired by the Department of Physics using improper procedures, bypassing the Provost.
The Chair referred the member to the section in the Agenda Committee Report in which the last matter was discussed. It had been ascertained that the Provost at that time clearly remembered being consulted about the appointment and had approved it. There had been no irregularities. Professor Sedra confirmed that he had written to the Chair on this matter giving the response as noted by the Chair in his comment.
The member noted that he had not received any written response from the President in answer to his questions asked at the last meeting concerning the application of appointment policies. The President reported that he had replied to the member in a letter dated today.
The President expressed his concern about the comments made by the member without substantiation. The allegation from the unsuccessful candidate in the Faculty of Law was handled exactly as it should have been. At the last meeting of the Board, he had said that the Dean had been asked to reply to the complaint. The Dean had reviewed the matter and provided the candidate with a seven-page detailed response. The Dean had also met with a group of individuals concerned about this matter as noted by the member and had asked the group to provide in writing steps that could be taken to reach out to black students. The group would then be invited to meet with the Faculty's minority outreach committee. The President wanted the Board to be clear that his view was that the allegations were without substance and that they were unfair to the Faculty.
The member drew to the Board's attention a report on issues relating to representation of blacks in the Faculty of Law. It was, in his opinion, quite damning. He suggested that the President make the report available to the Board. It stated that the Faculty was exclusive and systematically excluded blacks. The report condemned the treatment of blacks. He noted that what he said could be supported.
The Chair responded that the President had answered the member's allegations. He has assured the Board that the conduct of the search was thoroughly investigated. The Chair had reviewed a copy of the response to the candidate and there was no unfairness in the process. The Chair also sensed no feeling among the members to pursue this matter further.
The member asked the Board to consider who was speaking on this issue. He said that the members did not know the experience of black students. They did not know what it was like to be excluded and shut out. He referred to an incident the previous evening when a number of black students had tried to enter a building. The building caretaker had stated that "all blacks were sons of bitches". Concerning the last matter, Professor Finlayson said that he was conducting an investigation of the incident. He had received a copy of a letter from the member to the Provost as well as statements from two other students. The member of the caretaking staff was being interviewed. A report would be prepared in due course.
A member returned to the previous comments and asked whether the Board was being accused of racism. The member who had raised the matter said no, but he suggested that the members did not know what it was like to be excluded, harassed and treated in a disrespectful manner and he suggested that this lack of knowledge would make the members less inclined to support the concerns of those who have had these experiences. A member suggested that the Board members should not be judged without knowing what they had experienced. It was wrong to judge without the proper knowledge. Another member said that even if the member knew every member's personal history, the point was irrelevant. The question was - was there racism? The focus should be on the reports not on the people. The reports said no racism was involved.
The Dean of Law addressed a number of the comments made by the member. The report referred to was commissioned by the former dean and written by a student who has since graduated. The member implied that it had had no impact on the Faculty. The Dean recalled that one of the first groups he met with when he became dean was a group of black students and graduates who wanted his reaction to the report. Although he did not agree with everything in the report, he had found much that was useful and thought it should shape the recruitment of minority students. In the time he has been dean, there have been a number of new initiatives. The Faculty has adopted a new outreach program to high school students involving summer mentorships linking law students with high school students. He regularly reviewed LSAT results and wrote to students unsolicited letters about the opportunities available in the Faculty of Law. The Dean also mentioned the Distinguished Lecture on Critical Legal Theory. In summary, a whole host of initiatives have been shaped by the report. It was true that some of the efforts would not bear fruit immediately but the Faculty has trained its sight on improvements.