University of Alberta ‘stands by’ decision to give David Suzuki honorary degree
EDMONTON—The University of Alberta’s president is standing by a decision to grant David Suzuki an honorary degree regardless of his stance on the oilsands.
In a public letter posted online Tuesday, president and vice chancellor David Turpin said it isn’t the university’s place to censor the famed environmentalist’s views.
“We will stand by our decision because our reputation as a university—an institution founded on the principles of freedom of inquiry, academic integrity, and independence—depends on it,” the statement read.
The decision comes amidst an increasingly tense fight between Alberta and British Columbia over the fate of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, which has been interpreted by many Albertans as an attack on the oilsands and the province’s economic engine.
Some critics have argued that Suzuki, an active critic of the oilsands, shouldn’t be recognized by an Alberta institution.
The Calgary office of tax law firm Moodys Gartner announced Monday that it had pulled the remaining two years of a five-year $100,000 donation to the university’s law school. Members of the university’s faculty of engineering and school of business have also spoken out against the honourary degree.
Andrew Leach, an associate professor of marketing and economics, wrote on Twitter that he’s glad his students won’t be convocating on June 7, the day Suzuki is scheduled to recieve the honour.
“It saves me from a horrible decision I’d have to make: There’s no way I’d share a stage with David Suzuki as he receives an honourary degree from (the University of Alberta),” Leach wrote.
Fraser Forbes, dean of the faculty of engineering, issued a statement Monday saying he felt “betrayed” by the decision to honor one of the oil industry’s most vocal critics.
Turpin acknowledged that Suzuki is unpopular among many Albertans. But, he said, universities shouldn’t fear controversy. Instead, they should champion it.
“Stifle controversy and you also stifle the pursuit of knowledge, the generation of ideas and the discovery of new truths,” Turpin said. “Take uncomfortable ideas, debate and conflict out of the university and its fundamental role in society disappears.”
https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/20...ovesial-honorary-degree-for-david-suzuki.html
EDMONTON—The University of Alberta’s president is standing by a decision to grant David Suzuki an honorary degree regardless of his stance on the oilsands.
In a public letter posted online Tuesday, president and vice chancellor David Turpin said it isn’t the university’s place to censor the famed environmentalist’s views.
“We will stand by our decision because our reputation as a university—an institution founded on the principles of freedom of inquiry, academic integrity, and independence—depends on it,” the statement read.
The decision comes amidst an increasingly tense fight between Alberta and British Columbia over the fate of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, which has been interpreted by many Albertans as an attack on the oilsands and the province’s economic engine.
Some critics have argued that Suzuki, an active critic of the oilsands, shouldn’t be recognized by an Alberta institution.
The Calgary office of tax law firm Moodys Gartner announced Monday that it had pulled the remaining two years of a five-year $100,000 donation to the university’s law school. Members of the university’s faculty of engineering and school of business have also spoken out against the honourary degree.
Andrew Leach, an associate professor of marketing and economics, wrote on Twitter that he’s glad his students won’t be convocating on June 7, the day Suzuki is scheduled to recieve the honour.
“It saves me from a horrible decision I’d have to make: There’s no way I’d share a stage with David Suzuki as he receives an honourary degree from (the University of Alberta),” Leach wrote.
Fraser Forbes, dean of the faculty of engineering, issued a statement Monday saying he felt “betrayed” by the decision to honor one of the oil industry’s most vocal critics.
Turpin acknowledged that Suzuki is unpopular among many Albertans. But, he said, universities shouldn’t fear controversy. Instead, they should champion it.
“Stifle controversy and you also stifle the pursuit of knowledge, the generation of ideas and the discovery of new truths,” Turpin said. “Take uncomfortable ideas, debate and conflict out of the university and its fundamental role in society disappears.”
https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/20...ovesial-honorary-degree-for-david-suzuki.html
