THE STUDENT N EWSPAPER OF THE
VOLUME
2,
I SSUE
6
•
M ARC H
u N I VERSITY
2 0, 2001
•
OF T O R ONTO F ACULTY OF L AW
w w w. In w. u t o r o n t o .c aI u
It r av i rcs
Third Prof Leaving for York Departure raises concerns U of T losing progressive faculty BY MEussA KLuGER
at York, Professor Hudson Janisch observed that when three faculty "move to York it Professor Janet Mosher has accepted a posi- means, presumably, that they must be movtion at Osgoode Hall Law School- making ing to get to a university environment that her the third U ofT professor in less than a they find more desirable." year to head north to York University- raisMosher, who currently teaches Evidence ing concerns that U ofT is losing its progres- and Civil Procedure at the law school and is sive faculty members. the director of the combined LL.B./Master in Mosher says she didn't see herself as very Social Work program, is a poverty law expert well-suited to many of the "future directions" whose current research focus is on wife abuse ofU ofT and felt that her new positton as and welfare receipt. academic dtrector ofOsgoode's intensive proFor Maggie Wente, a student in the com.gram on poverty law at Parkdale Legal Clinic bined program, Mosher's current courseload will be "a better academic and political fit." is "reflective of the way she and other proHer feelings echo those of international law gressive faculty have been marginalized and professor Craig Scott, who left U ofT for unable to teach the courses in which they Osgoodc last summer in order to find a better really have expertise." "cultural fit" that was more in keeping with Wente worries about the future of the LL.B./ his 0\1.'11 goals of legal education. M.S.W. program since she doesn't know "if When asked to comment on the recent there are any other professors who are willing departures of Mosher and Scott as well as or able to take on the responsibility." Professor Rosemary Coombe, who left the faculty in January to accept a research chair
Probe into Scandal Raises Concerns Reaume inquiry may have chilling effect
Students implicated may have innocent excuses
BY MElissA KLuGER
On Feb. 20, Vice-Provost Paul Gooch announced that the university was "striking a
BY TIM WILBUR
Allegations that Professor Denise Reaume may have played a role in the law school's grade scandal has raised serious concerns that it could have a chilling effect on academic free speech. The investigation into Reaume has changed to a much more general "fact finding" project in what appears to be backpedaling by the university, raising additional concerns about due process.
committee to investigate allegations that Reaume made statements" that may have contributed to the grades scandal, involving as many as 30 first-year students who may have misrepresented their results of their December tests in their applications to Bay Stteet firms. The investigation was met with outcry ftom law professors around the world. However, the response ftom Reaume's colleagues at U ofT was muted. For Professor Hudson Janisch the silence among his colleagues "is palpable." As support for R~aume rolled in to the university from all over, including colleagues from other universities irt Canada, as well as Harvard, Oxford and Yale, to name only a few, and fifty recent graduates and almost 300 current U ofT law students also weighed in with their support, U ofT Professor Jim Phillips was only able to find three professors within the Faculty to sign his letter.
After weeks into University ofToronto's irtvestigation of about 30 students who allegedly lied about their grades, there are still many unanswered questions. Many students have been wondering how many students deliberately falsified their grades, and how many simply made honest mistakes. "The sense is there were four sorts of situations," said Trish McMahon, who serves on faculty council as a student represensative, "outright falisification, students who took the higher of a split grade, students who averaged their December test result with their small group assignment, and students who put down a letter grade for a pass/fail bridge paper." McMahon concedes that she does not know the numbers of each category, but the admirtistration is quick to reassure that most of the potential innocent mistakes were identified before the present investigation.' Associate Dean Mayo Moran said that "where [the administration] knew that people had given split grades, we did our best to weed out cases
INSIDE • Human Rights Day, p2 • Marriott & Private Prisons, p4 • New SLS Executive, p8 • LL.B. v. J.D., pl3 • Love & Law School, p1o, 11 • The Simpons & the Law, P16 • Krazy Karaoke Night, p17 • Not,So,Real News, pJ9,20
Please see "University," page 3
where split grades were the only problems. At least 90 per cent of those cases were weeded out." According to Moran, the investigation thar is under way with Bruce Chapman, which involves meeting with each of the suspected student, is "cl05e tO bemg over. There are cases ofvery different severity. There are denials and there are admissions." After this meeting, ifChapman believes that an academic offense has been committed, the student will meet with Chapman and the Dean. "The Dean can then tmpose sanctions or find that there was no offence," Moran explained. "There are certain sanctions that the Dean could impose at this point, including suspension and/or a notation on the [student's) transCript." Following this meeting, if no resolution is found, the cases can go to the tribunal phase, where expulsion is a possible punishment. Many students feel that the process could have been handled differently. "The admin-
Please see "First-year," page 4