A large student response has grown in the last week expressing opposition to the university’s decision not to grant tenure to the popular religion UTSC professor Robert Campbell.
Denial of tenure is a de facto academic death-sentence. Though uncommon at U of T, it does happen from time to time.
With an official statement of support from the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union, students have been leading efforts to show the popularity, support and high demand for Campbell’s teaching.
As one of the student organizers, Mustafa Jilani asserts “Professor Campbell has always been there for us as students, now we’re being there for him. And were not going down without a fight.”
Jilani has started a Facebook group, and circulated a petition with 1,100 signatures.
“I’m impressed. Certainly in my time I haven’t seen a kind of student movement like this [for a professor]. But while I am Chair of Humanities, the decision to grant tenure was ultimately president Naylor’s,”said Humanities Chair Bill Bowen.
Bowden and UTSC’s Vice-Principal & Dean Ragnar Buchweitz, both commented on the amount of enthusiasm shown by students.
“The role of administration at Scarborough campus is limited in presenting the recommendations of the tenure committee and their evaluations on teaching,” said Buchweitz, who was on temporary leave during the tenure process. “But it is the President who makes the final decision.”
Last semester, Campbell’s Religions of the West class drew 800 students, with many on the waiting list. He won the UTSC Teaching Award in 2005 and last year placed in the Top 30 for TVO’s Top Lecturer Competition.
The Scarborough Campus Student Union is spearheading an email campaign to various members of administration, and fashioning a large banner they plan to present to university president David Naylor later this month.
