On December 19, U of T’s Governing Council met to discuss a budget update for the 2024–2025 academic year. During the meeting, U of T President Meric Gertler updated the council on a review of the summer’s student encampment in support of Palestine. Members also continued to debate a motion to condemn antisemitism that was raised during the council’s November meeting.
President’s report
In his president’s report, Gertler gave an update on the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian Discrimination Working Group’s formation. This included its mandate to review U of T’s current programming, processes, and practices and to make recommendations to advance the inclusion and belonging of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian community members.
The group will consult with the university community, commencing in early 2025 and delivering a final report with recommendations to senior leadership.
Gertler mentioned that the university has launched consultations for a draft Guide to Law and Policy regarding Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Discrimination at U of T. This follows U of T students and groups calling on the university to better address antisemitism on campus.
Gertler added that “input and comments from all corners of our university community are indeed welcome” with a deadline for submitting input of January 31. Submissions can be made online and require a UTORID and password.
Gertler concluded his report with an update on the university commissioning a retrospective analysis on the student encampment that took place over May and June last year.
The university finalized its selection of the consulting firm, enlisting Deloitte LLP — one of the four major global accounting firms — to assist with the analysis.
Gertler noted that the firm will review the university’s critical incident response based on its handling of the encampment to improve future response. Deloitte is expected to complete its analysis by spring 2025.
Budget update
During the meeting, Vice-President and Provost Trevor Young gave an update on the university’s 2024–2025 budget.
Anna Kennedy — chair of the Governing Council — mentioned that typically the council doesn’t give mid-year budget updates but decided to because it’s “hearing a lot recently about universities running deficits, particularly in Ontario.”
U of T currently has a balanced budget — where expected revenue and planned expenses are the same — of $3.52 billion. 67 per cent of its revenue comes from tuition and fees, with international tuition making up 42 per cent of revenue.
In terms of enrolment, U of T saw a six per cent decrease in international students, going from 5,320 in fall 2023 to 5,012 in fall 2024. This follows the federal government imposing a two-year cap on international student study permits in January 2024, with tighter restrictions announced in September last year.
“This is significantly better than other institutions that are talking about 30 per cent or higher changes,” said Young. “This is remarkably different from that.”
There was also an eight per cent increase in the number of domestic students enrolled at U of T from 11,041 in fall 2023 to 12,010 in fall 2024, which “reflects a return to strong retention rates after a dip towards the end of the pandemic,” according to Young.
Lieutenant Governor in Council Member David Jacobs shared concerns over international tuition, stating “that [the] volume of money as compared to what it probably costs to educate those students is grossly imbalanced.”
Young responded, “We know there [are] risks going ahead, and we are looking at how we’re going to manage that. So that’s where we are. But you’re right, it’s a big number and it’s a major issue.”
Call to condemn antisemitism again
Kennedy provided an update on a motion brought forward at the November Governing Council meeting to condemn antisemitism on campus.
The motion reads, “The Governing Council of the University of Toronto condemns the acts of antisemitism that occurred at the encampment as well as ongoing antisemitism on its campuses. We advise the administration to implement strategies to effectively protect students, faculty and staff from this form of discrimination.”
The judge presiding over the university’s injunction case stated in his ruling in July that there is no evidence suggesting any named protesters or encampment members were involved in antisemitism.
During the last meeting, there was a debate over the difference between putting forward a motion and a matter. This eventually led to the motion being pushed to the December 3 Executive Committee — the committee responsible for setting the agenda of meetings of the Governing Council — for review on whether the motion would go to the latter.
“In the discussion, [the Executive Committee] members were clear in their condemnation of antisemitism and their support of the university’s anti-discrimination efforts,” said Kennedy. “Based on the discussion, there was broad consensus that the motion should not be brought forward to this Governing Council meeting.”
Before the end of the meeting, Jacobs mentioned that eight months ago this motion was brought forward and failed two to 10 at the Executive Committee, but “we do have a tremendous amount of acts of antisemitism that have happened over those eight months.”
“The correct amount of antisemitism at the University of Toronto should be zero,” said Jacobs. “I think that given the fact that despite the good work that the administration has done, it behooves us as the governing body of the university to both recognize and condemn antisemitism.”
Jacobs asked the board to agree to hear the motion at the next meeting so that it could be voted upon.
Kennedy added that Jacobs is invoking section 53 of the governing bylaws, which states that for the motion to be heard by the Governing Council, it requires a vote with a two-thirds majority.
After debate over the purpose of the motion and clarity on what members would be voting for, the motion to discuss the antisemitism motion didn’t pass and will not proceed to the Executive Committee.
Editor’s note (January 12): This article has been updated to reflect that the consultation for the draft Guide to Law and Policy regarding Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Discrimination at U of T allows for online submissions, not voting, and is open to all U of T community members, not just students.
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