York U. chief denies 'threat of reprisal'
September 24, 2009
Louise Brown
EDUCATION REPORTER
York University President Mamdouh Shoukri says he did not in any way threaten to punish a professor for opposing York's practice of cancelling classes on Jewish high holidays.
During questioning yesterday before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, Shoukri said he simply referred Professor David Noble's letter last year about his plan to hold unauthorized classes on Rosh Hashanah to the dean of arts, because the dean oversees academic matters, not because the dean also oversees discipline.
"That referral was in no way, shape or form a threat of reprisal," said Shoukri yesterday at the hearing into Noble's claim that York retaliated against him.
In questioning officials, including former president Lorna Marsden and Shoukri, a former dean, and even some students, Noble is trying to show York threatened him with punishment for his outspoken criticism of the university.
Yesterday, Noble asked Shoukri, head of Canada's third-largest university, why he did not come and unlock the classroom door himself when Noble arrived to hold his forbidden class on Rosh Hashanah. Noble had asked Shoukri in writing to ensure his classrooms would be left open for him despite the university's policy of not teaching on that day.
Shoukri replied that he did not believe it was the president's job to unlock classroom doors.
Noble, a 64-year-old history professor who is Jewish, led the opposition to the holiday policy, which has since been scrapped.
But he maintains he has suffered reprisals and the threat of reprisals for his stand.
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario is required to hear all complaints, but the Ontario Human Rights Commission has withdrawn as a "party" to the case, leaving Noble to represent himself.
Testimony wraps up today, with closing arguments Nov. 3.
Toronto Star