This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Head of UBC’s Board of Governors, John Montalbano, has vacated his position on Tuesday for the time a fact-finding process is agreed to investigate allegations whether he interfered with academic freedom or not. In an agreement between UBC and the university’s faculty association, it has been settled that an independent fact finder will work according to the terms of reference for the process and reach a conclusion in October.
According to the terms of reference, the fact finder is tasked to investigate whether Montalbano or anyone else in the Sauder School of Business violated university policies or impeded with academic freedoms when dealing with a blog post by Professor Jennifer Berdhal, which discussed the departure of former UBC president Arvind Gupta. Berdahl had mentioned on her blog that Gupta had “lost the masculinity contest among the leadership at UBC, as most women and minorities do at institutions dominated by white men.” However, she claims that Montalbano and two associate deans of her faculty contacted her about the post and “I have never in my life felt more institutional pressure to be silent,” adding that “I have never felt more gagged or threatened after expressing scholarly viewpoints and analysis of current events.”
Former B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lynn Smith has agreed to take on the role of fact finder and “the Fact Finder will undertake a full and complete investigation of the matter … and will be required to make findings of fact and reach conclusions on this matter.” The terms say that “the Fact Finder will not make any recommendations pertaining to any actions to be taken by the Parties related to her findings or conclusions.”
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