Dr. Valentina Azarova

Overview

• On April 22, CAUT Council unanimously voted to censure the administration of the University of Toronto for failing to uphold academic freedom by cancelling an offer of employment to Dr. Valentina Azarova following pressure from a donor. This case has drawn international attention and garnered solidarity from academics across the country and internationally.
• On September 17, in response to the University of Toronto’s decision to re-offer Dr. Azarova the position of Director of the International Human Rights Program, CAUT’s Executive Committee called for a suspension of all actions related to the censure, pending a vote on the formal lifting of censure by the CAUT Council, in November.

Media Coverage

Globe and Mail

• “U of T law school under fire for opting not to hire human-rights scholar after pressure from sitting judge” (September 17, 2020) 
• “U of T law dean denies offering scholar job, caving to Tax Court judge’s pressure” (September 18, 2020) 
• “Canadian Judicial Council urged to investigate judge accused of blocking senior U of T appointment” (September 19, 2020) 
• “Tax Court judge accused of pressuring U of T law school not to hire human-rights scholar identified” (September 23, 2020) 
• “University of Toronto dean shuts down questions over rescinded job offer” (October 7, 2020)
• “U of T law professors blame dean Edward Iacobucci’s ‘rule by fiat’ for Azarova controversy” (October 13, 2020)
• “University of Toronto launches inquiry into Valentina Azarova hiring controversy” (October 14, 2020)
• “Canadian university teachers begin process to censure U of T over the Azarova law school affair” (October 15, 2020)
• “University of Toronto commits to increased transparency in Valentina Azarova hiring inquiry” (October 29, 2020)
• “University of Toronto’s new law dean Jutta Brunnée to arrive amid Valentina Azarova controversy” (December 3, 2020)
• “Leader of inquiry into aborted hiring at University of Toronto law school resigns” (December 7, 2020)
• “Tax Court judge accused of pressuring university to rescind job offer faces disciplinary review” (January 11. 2021)
• “University of Toronto hiring decision not affected by judge: report” (March 30, 2021)
• “U of T report underlines troubling relationship between donors and academia” (April 1, 2021)
• “Canadian Judicial Council finds judge’s intervention in university hiring process was ‘an error’ but should not cost him his job” (May 21, 2021)
• “Groups challenge decision allowing judge involved in U of T controversy to keep job” (June 24, 2021)
• “CAUT votes to censure University of Toronto over hiring dispute” (April 22, 2021)
• “Cancelled speech, resignation are latest fallout from Azarova affair at University of Toronto” (May 6, 2021)
• "Professors’ association puts its University of Toronto boycott on pause" (September 17, 2021)

Toronto Star

• “Search for new director of U of T law faculty’s International Human Rights Program leads to resignations, allegations of interference” (September 17, 2020) 
• “Scandal-hit U of T law school internal emails contradict dean’s new email to staff over key hiring decision” (September 18, 2020) 
• “Pressure mounts on U of T law faculty as Amnesty, National Council of Canadian Muslims seek investigations into alleged inappropriate influence” (September 22, 2020) 
• “‘I was very, very mad’: U of T law school students feel powerless amid hiring fiasco” (September 29, 2020)
• “U of T Law School failed minorities in hiring scandal” (September 30, 2020)
• “What the U of T Law dean is not telling about the school’s hiring fiasco is very telling” (October 8, 2020)
• “U of T orders ‘impartial’ review of human rights program hiring fiasco” (October 14, 2020)
• “University teachers’ association calls for rare censure of U of T administration over law faculty hiring scandal” (October 15, 2020)
• “Lobbying universities over their hiring decisions is shameful and unethical” (October 16, 2020)
• “Controversies at U of T Law, York University highlight escalating suppression of moderate voices criticizing Israel” (October 25, 2020)
• “Federal judge faces possible removal over accusations he interfered in U of T hiring for international human rights position” (January 11, 2021)
• “External review exonerates U of T in faculty hiring fiasco, but exposes what critic calls a ‘gold mine of impropriety’” (March 31, 2021)
• “U of T could right the wrong — by hiring the ‘highly qualified’ human rights scholar whose appointment it scuttled” (April 1, 2021)
• “Tax Court judge committed a ‘serious error’ in University of Toronto hiring fiasco, a judicial review finds. But it won’t remove him” (May 21, 2021)
• “University teachers body issues rare censure against U of T law school for ‘serious violations of academic freedom’” (April 22, 2021)
• “Michaëlle Jean faces mounting pressure to boycott U of T after law school’s hiring fiasco” (May 5, 2021)
• “Michaëlle Jean pulls out of planned lecture at U of T over law school hiring fiasco” (May 6, 2021)
• “Amnesty International suspends ties with University of Toronto law program” (May 19, 2021)
• “University of Toronto hiring fiasco shows reliance on donors limits university’s role in challenging ‘cherished beliefs'” (July 1, 2021)

Other news outlets

• The Intercept, “The real cancel culture: pro-Israel blacklists” (October 4, 2020)
• The New Yorker, “Did a University of Toronto Donor Block the Hiring of a Scholar for Her Writing on Palestine?” (May 8, 2021)
• CTV News, “Amnesty International suspends relationship with U of T over decision to rescind job offer to human rights scholar” (May 19, 2021)
• CityNews, “Boycott of U of T growing amid hiring scandal” (May 20, 2021)
• CBC News, “Following controversy, U of T resumes search for International Human Rights Program director” (June 7, 2021)
• CBC News, "Censure against U of T temporarily suspended after school reverses course in hiring controversy" (September 17, 2021)

Background

• Ultra Vires - the independent student newspaper of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Documents, resources, and media coverage (September 25, 2020)
• Canadian Association of University Teachers, CAUT Report on Academic Freedom at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto (October 2020)
• Canadian Association of University Teachers, CAUT Council passes motion of censure against the University of Toronto (November 30, 2020)
• Canadian Association of University Teachers, CAUT Council imposes rare censure against University of Toronto over Azarova hiring controversy (April 22, 2021)
• Canadian Association of University Teachers, CAUT calling for ‘pause’ of censure after U of T reverses course on Dr. Azarova case (September 17, 2021)

Support for censure – examples of actions taken. If you have one to share, please email comms@caut.ca.

• Amnesty International suspends ties with UoT law program (May 19, 2021)
• Letter from Amnesty International (May 18, 2021)
• For more information on actions: See https://censureuoft.ca/events-cancelled/ and follow @CAUT_ACPPU, @censureutoronto and @AltIhrp on Twitter.
• Letter from Faculty of Law Professors to President Gertler on the Cromwell Report and President’s Response to the Report on March 29; President’s Response to the letter (April 20, 2021)
• Joint Letter to U of T: Reject Censorship on Palestine, Hire Dr. Azarova (April 21, 2021)
• Professor Kent Roach’s Resignation Letter as Faculty Chair of the Advisory Group for David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights (April 23, 2021)
• Letter from Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network) to President Gertler and Dean Brunnée (April 23, 2021)
• Request from Black intellectuals and students asking Michaëlle Jean to respect censure of the University of Toronto (May 3, 2021)
• University of Toronto Law Union Statement of Support for CAUT Censure (May 5, 2021)
• The Shift’s Letter to President Gertler and Dean Brunnée (May 5, 2021)
• HIV Legal Network’s Letter to President Gertler and Dean Brunnée (May 6, 2021)
• Letter from National Lawyers Guild (undated)
• Rights Review Magazine Editorial Comments on the IHRP’s Future (undated)
• Indigenous Education Network Response to CAUT Censure of University of Toronto (undated)

Frequently asked questions about censure imposed on the University of Toronto