In a rare move, delegates to the Canadian Association of University Teachers voted on April 22nd to censure the University of Toronto. Massive irregularities in terms of academic freedom with regard to the cancellation of hiring of Dr. Valentina Azarova in the Faculty of Law for the role of the Director of UofT’s Human Rights Program led to the measure.
Censure is a sanction in which academic staff are asked to not accept appointments or speaking engagements at the institution until satisfactory changes are made, and is a very rare sanction.
Already, many academics have heeded the call for censure, resulting in numerous cancellations to various events and conferences at the University of Toronto, including Harsha Walia, and the panelists of an event by the Centre for Study of the United States, which was cancelled.
Read more about the CAUT Council Censure:
Procedures Relating to Censure | CAUT
The University of Toronto Law Union is currently calling upon the Hon. Michaëlle Jean to respect CAUT’s Censure and cancel her upcoming speaking engagement at the University of Toronto. You can sign on to their letter here:
Sign-On Letter to the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean (google.com)
Read more on other cancellations resulting from CAUT’s censure:
CAUT censure of U of T leads to slew of cancelled events across campus – The Varsity