It seemed innocent enough—the head of the law school, then the president of the university sitting down for a Jan Wong-style interview over food called “Lunch with Samer.”
Perhaps it was the playful questions about what sort of animal they like, perhaps they weren’t aware the Samer in question was Samer Muscati, a law student who previously worked for the Globe and Mail, but it appears the top administrators may have slipped up.
In fact, according to supporters of embattled law professor Denise Réaume, comments made by Dean Ron Daniel and President Robert Birgeneau may have broken an agreement made with the U of T’s Faculty Association (UTFA). During the course of their interviews with Muscati, the dean and president made remarks that associated Réaume with last year’s law school scandal where 17 students were suspended for falsifying grades.
At the time, a passing quip made by Réaume in one of her classes—to the effect that law firms could not rely on marks if all students submitted straight As—resulted in the university investigating her, despite the fact that only two students involved in the scandal were even in her class. After much public outcry about the importance of academic freedom, the university signed a legal document with the University of Toronto Faculty Association, apologizing for their conduct.
The U of T website states, “The University of Toronto accepts that Professor Réaume did not counsel or intend to counsel students to cheat or otherwise commit an academic offence. No student who has committed an academic offence has implicated Professor Réaume in the explanation of their conduct.”
They terminated the investigation into Réaume’s conduct by the law school fact-finding committee.
But in the Ultra Vires article published October 16, law school dean Daniels says, “As to the investigation, however, of Prof. Réaume, I don’t regret that for a moment.”
The Faculty Association says there is a lot to regret, including tarnishing the record of a well-regarded professor, and has since expressed their concern to senior members of the U of T administration. Réaume is even more angry, saying the comments violate the spirit of the settlement. She is most disturbed that the dean said he is not regretful.
“In effect, what he did was to start the university on what we all know now to be a complete wild goose chase that brought international opprobrium down upon the institution. Yet he can say that he has nothing to regret.”
James Phillips, a friend and colleague of Réaume’s, wrote a letter to the next issue, stating, “The distinction drawn in the interview between the investigation and the publicity surrounding it is spurious—the University’s apology covers both.”
While few in the academic community believe that Réaume is even remotely to blame for what happened, Réaume is worried how new students will perceive her if the administration feels comfortable continually associating her with the incident.
“To just kind of lob out there the bald assertion that the dean has nothing to feel sorry about creates an impression that maybe I did do something wrong.”
Birgeneau’s interview was equally upsetting for Réaume. In the November 12 issue, he said, “I cannot think of any conditions under which it’s appropriate for a professor in class to recommend to students that they misrepresent their grades, whether it’s for political purposes or not. I personally don’t believe that’s within the range of what we call academic freedom.”
The university has maintained that the students should take responsibility for their actions. Réaume believes that the administration should follow their own advice, citing “the unwillingness of people in positions of power at the university to actually own up to their own mistakes. This is, ironically, even as they are insisting that others do exactly that.”
“When [the university] responds in this heavy handed a way, it does create a climate of mistrust about what is safe to say and what is not safe to say, and that has got to be a violation of academic freedom in the sense that it creates a chilly climate,” said Réaume.
