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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Dear members of the FDU list,</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>At her request, I am posting the
following important communication from Prof. Denise Reaume
of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. <br>
</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>***** <br>
</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Colleagues will have heard that the
Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) on April 22
imposed
<a
href="https://www.caut.ca/latest/2021/04/caut-council-imposes-rare-censure-against-university-toronto-over-azarova-hiring"
moz-do-not-send="true">
censure</a> on the University of Toronto over its decision
to terminate the candidacy of Dr. Valentina Azarova for the
Directorship of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP)
at the Faculty of Law. The consequences of censure are
detailed
<a
href="https://www.caut.ca/about-us/caut-policy/lists/administrative-procedures-and-guidelines/procedures-relating-to-censure"
moz-do-not-send="true">
here</a>. The President’s response is <a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1weJ2rbf0LrFel2IKug5DjwipxiInqqdb/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true">
here</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The University tried to stave off censure
by commissioning a report on the controversy from former
Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell. The
<a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LZlD6NDN7M2_KE68-frmfrXZyZr9O-fC/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true">
report</a> is flawed by factual inaccuracy and misleading
assertions. It failed in the ambition to exonerate the
administration. In some ways, it made matters worse.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The history: In September, 2020, then Dean
of Law, Ed Iacobucci terminated the hiring process for the
Director of the IHRP. Dr. Valentina Azarova was the unanimous
and enthusiastic choice of the selection committee, but
negotiations to finalize an offer to her were abruptly cut off
after communications from a wealthy alumnus, donor, and
sitting judge made plain that some donors would not tolerate
the appointment of someone whose scholarship included study of
Israeli conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Members of the search committee, and the Program Advisory
Committee, resigned in protest. Complaints against the conduct
of the alumnus—a sitting Federal judge—were lodged with the
Canadian Judicial Council.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cromwell was commissioned to determine the
basis for the Dean’s decision not to proceed with Azarova’s
appointment. Cromwell declined to draw any inference that the
Dean may have been improperly influenced in his decision. The
University’s
<a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BaSXJANEzrkoRs5MqzxL2Eu0oqD-Xa3L/view?usp=sharing"
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response</a> trumpeted the report as vindication of (now
former) Dean Iacobucci. President Gertler also fully embraces
policy recommendations in the report that would have
destructive effects across the University. This response has
been now been echoed by the newly appointed Dean, Jutta
Brunnée. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cromwell’s assessment is comically inept.
Here is an <a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JVbgzGReZE4cGgqAKpF3sAbGJqqA3TyQ/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true">
executive summary</a> of one critique of his error-laded
document; the full analysis is<a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/14nCDW6R32E7R80pFtbmrFcDOpJk57xty/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true"> here</a>. Professor Joe Carens,
Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, U of T
provides another take on the report: <a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wV2ySQx3bcsMMiKWPCz1V_ZI_tY5Zpxp/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true">
executive summary</a>; <a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nxlP4O2rONDuc_RwmwrjMXXEi-nY5RV5/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true">
full essay</a>. Those interested in a deep dive will find
informative Caren’s <a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gxP09J1sAuKFqJdZl1LrfM1YgcuOBIc7/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true">
annotations</a> to the Cromwell Report. And Professor
Richard <a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1upC-uELjGzNmkXRpp0Hi8u36Sg_z74gO/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true">
Moon</a>, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor exposes
information of which Cromwell was aware, but declined to
pursue.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not only does Cromwell absolve the former
Dean, he does what he can to downplay the shocking attempt by
a wealthy donor to derail a University appointment by treating
it as a simple ‘heads up’ to university officials about the
unacceptability of a hiring decision to “the Jewish
community”. Professor Anver Emon provides a detailed analysis
of this part of the report
<a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w3xWm1I08Ueiy9AMJYrRZsU667AfJFvJ/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true">
here</a>. The bare facts outlined in the report reveal
outside VIPs putting in ‘a quiet word with University
officials.’ Yet the University does not seriously acknowledge
the need for change.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A further dangerous aspect of Cromwell’s
report is its recommendations about confidentiality - these
would make it harder in future for a whistleblower to reveal
interference with a search. Professor Ariel Katz provides a
critique of this part of the report <a
href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RGh5JafLP-YTlvaSvK0lWOeoHs7mlvWu/view?usp=sharing"
moz-do-not-send="true">
here</a>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though the reasons offered in September for
terminating the process no longer have purchase, the
University has so far refused to simply offer Dr. Azarova the
job. Doing so seems the least the University can do, unless it
wants to reinforce the impression that donors, not academics,
call the shots at U of T.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All in all, the Cromwell report is a
disaster for academic integrity and academic freedom; the
University’s response is deeply worrying. Censure is not
imposed lightly by the CAUT. The University would have us
believe that there is nothing there; that CAUT is being
unreasonable. Don’t buy it, at least not without seeing for
yourself whether the Cromwell report describes an institution
of which you want to be a part.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For those wondering what you can do, the
most urgent action point is putting pressure on the
administration to renew negotiations with Dr. Azarova. Far be
it from me to tell university professors what they should say,
but just to make life a little bit simpler, here is a rough
form of words you can use if you are inclined to test whether
the University really is immune to pressure from donors.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear President Gertler,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I support CAUT’s call for the University of
Toronto to reopen negotiations with Dr. Valentina Azarova to
become Director of the International Human Rights Program. Mr.
Cromwell concluded that negotiations were aborted because of
her inability to start work quickly enough to meet the
Faculty’s needs. No one challenged her qualifications;
everyone said her political views were irrelevant. The new
Dean has committed to reviving the International Human Rights
Program, and the Director position remains vacant. There is no
legitimate reason not to revive her candidacy now and enable
her to begin in September 2021. Raising new bureaucratic
impediments now can only fuel the ongoing suspicion that the
real reason for not offering her the job was and is a desire
not to offend donors who object to her views. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Censure by CAUT stands to inflict damage on
all sectors of the University. But the remedy is simple: offer
Dr. Azarova the job. Now.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <br>
</o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Denise Réaume<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Faculty of Law<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">University
of Toronto</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<br>
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