Amidst the swirl of controversy and rumours surrounding the resignation of Provost Shirley Neuman, the Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students (APUS) is calling for an investigation into her departure.
APUS is upset about the loss of the provost because she was supportive of APUS’s equity agenda, and concerned about any possible link between the two. Chris Ramsaroop, president of APUS, said that in contrast to the “adversarial relationship” that often exists between students and the university’s administration, “the provost was someone who advocated for an equity agenda.”
Ramsaroop cited a number of areas where Neuman had been more supportive than others in the administration of APUS’s agenda, including promoting faculty diversity, more cultural diversity in curricular material, and advocating a national day-care system. With the provost gone, he said, “we’re worried that this agenda will not be implemented.”
When asked why he suspected that Neuman might have been pushed out because of her support for this equity agenda, Ramsaroop seemed hard-pressed to provide any specific evidence. He only claimed that “it’s very possible” and suggested that “maybe this [the equity agenda] is too much change for some people.” He did say, though, that he has heard many rumours about the situation, and that a number of faculty members also have similar suspicions.
“It seems that she was kind of pushed out,” he said, and argued that “it really remains to be seen” what really happened.
Even if Neuman’s departure was unrelated to equity issues, APUS would still like the fate of its work with the provost in those areas to be investigated. “There has to be a clear statement from the university on these issues,” he said. “Simcoe Hall has always been a troubling place.” APUS is particularly concerned because the white papers on U of T’s academic future, which contained much work on these topics, are still in progress and subject to revision.
Ramsaroop will be making a more public statement this week calling for an investigation, and also plans to write a letter to the president of the Governing Council to that effect.
The official story from Neuman and the university is that she resigned because of “compelling personal reasons.” Recent issues of The Varsity have reported that some sources are saying that she left amidst, and possibly even because of, disagreements with other members of the administration. Publicly, though, none of these rumours seem to relate to diversity or APUS’s equity agenda.
Administration sources whom Ramsaroop suggested that The Varsity contact would not comment on this question before APUS made a more public statement. Rona Abramovitch, director of the Transitional Year Programme, who has worked on a number of equity issues, said that although she has heard rumours, they have mostly not dealt with issues of equity or diversity. “Personally, I doubt very much that that was what was going on.”
