The Governing Council’s approval of a Multi-Faith Centre on campus is facing opposition from U of T’s secular community. The newly formed University of Toronto Secular Alliance (TSA) has called the project “disconcerting,” and says little was done to inform students of its creation.
“The organizers of the Multi-Faith project didn’t go as far as to publish anything seeking student input,” said TSA member Justin Trottier. In a press release to the media, the TSA said that the Multi-Faith project is endorsing religion and is thus discriminatory against other lifestyles that do not involve faith, including atheists, agnostics, and humanists.
Nouman Ashraf, a Student Affairs officer and supporter of the Multi-Faith Centre, disagrees. “There have been committees that have had student membership, that have had faculty membership…people from various backgrounds have contributed to this [Multi-Faith Centre project].”
The TSA is criticizing the use of public money to fund the project, which they argue, will be indirectly funded by students through tuition fees.
In a memo released to the Governing Council responding to the issues raised by the Multi-Faith Centre’s opponents, Vice-President and Provost Vivek Goel wrote that the use of university funds is completely within the school’s mandate. U of T, the memo asserts, has “an obligation to respond to the broad range of aspirations and needs that our students, staff and faculty bring with them to the university.”
Although the TSA commends U of T’s desire to accommodate and support interfaith dialogue, they believe the use of public money in the funding of the project contradicts U of T’s status as a secular institution. They also question its commitment to diversity, claiming that secular groups would not fall under the banner of faith, and would thus feel “alienated and sidelined.
“The Multi-Faith Centre would set an entirely new precedent that draws a dangerous line within a secular institution,” said Trottier.
Instead, they endorse a Student Centre that would be open to all students, religious or otherwise. Ashraf, however, says he looks at the Multi-Faith Centre from a larger perspective. “I see this as an incredible opportunity for us to expand the campus and to invite the entire campus community to come together and ask questions, some of which will be difficult.”
The Multi-Faith Centre is not the only development which has put spirituality on the school’s agenda. The Governing Council’s Committee on Academic Policy and Programs introduced a proposal recommending that Council approve a policy to accommodate students who observe holy days not recognized on the U of T calendar. The policy would mean the publishing of a list of dates of a number of holy days to assist instructors in “anticipating when students would seek accommodations for religious observances.”
Deputy Provost and Vice-Provost of Students David Farrar said such a proposal would formalize a practice already in place. According to the Committee on Academic Policy and Programs, the policy would coincide with the approval of the Multi-Faith Centre, “demonstrating complementarity with other elements of religious accommodation [at U of T].”
