Open Letter to Peter Kruyt
Open letter to:
Mr. Peter Kruyt
Chair, Board of Governors
Concordia University
In light of the unexplained and arbitrary dismissal of Concordia University president Judith Woodsworth, we the undersigned members of the Concordia community demand a thorough and public review of the governing structures of Concordia University, with particular attention to the constitution and the powers of the Board of Governors. In light of a series of dismissals and departures from the university’s senior administrative ranks – specifically, the firing of two university presidents in three and a half years and the resignation of five vice-presidents in six years – the Board appears to have assumed the role of a modern-day star chamber, acting according to its own dictates, accountable and answerable to no one. It is an abuse of power. As evidence of the Board’s cavalier governing style, the press release announcing Dr. Woodsworth’s departure was released on Dec. 22, just as the university was to close for the Christmas holidays, and sought to deceive the university community and the public by stating the president resigned “for personal reasons” when we now know her resignation was forced by the Board.
These dismissals and departures cost money that faculty members, staff and students are constantly told the university does not have. They hurt Concordia’s reputation within the academic world and in the eyes of the public at a time when we are supposed to be building that reputation. They hurt the chances of recruiting future leaders; who would want to be a senior administrator at Concordia knowing the rug can be pulled out from under them at any time and with no explanation? And these decisions run the risk of rendering cynical and jaded the university’s front-line workers — staff, students and faculty members alike — who work in so many ways to make this institution one we can be proud of.
What is particularly distressing about these dismissals and departures is that they serve to overshadow and detract from all the good things going on at Concordia University.
The Board of Governors is the senior governing body at Concordia University, responsible for its legal and administrative framework. Twenty-three of the 40 members of the board represent the “community-at-large,” but in fact represent a very narrow segment of that community given that the vast majority are from the corporate sector. At its upcoming meeting in February, the Board seeks to cut faculty membership – from six to four members. Five external Board members sit on the all-important Executive, Nominating and Senior Salaries committees, constituting an elite clique within the Board itself.
As a significant first step in this review, we ask that the Board of Governors issue a clear statement of its vision for Concordia University and how its actions – including its recent personnel decisions – serve that vision.
Sincerely,
Charles Acland
Professor and Concordia University Research Chair, Communication Studies
Amir G. Aghdam
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Arshad Ahmad
Associate Professor & 3M National Teaching Fellow, Department of Finance
Ali Akgunduz
Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Martin Allor
Professor, Communication Studies
Gisele Amantea
Associate Professor, Studio Arts
Aishy Amer
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Vered Amit,
Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Ingrid Bachmann
Associate Professor, Studio Arts
Lady Rojas Benavente
Associate Professor, Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Sabine Bergler
Associate Professor, Computer Science and Software Engineering
Beverley Best
Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Sandeep Bhagwati
Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor, Music and Theatre
Yves Bilodeau
Professor, Studio Arts
Peter H. Bird
Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Pascale Biron
Associate Professor, Geography, Planning and Environment
Frederick Bode
Professor, History
Kathleen Boies
Associate Professor, Management
Eleanor Bond
Associate Professor, Faculty of Fine Arts
Marc André Brouillette
Professeur agrégé, Études françaises
Terence Byrnes
Associate Professor, English
William J. Buxton
Professor, Communication Studies
Eric Buzzetti
Associate Professor, Liberal Arts College
Jason Camlot
Associate Professor and Chair, English
Saul Carliner
Associate Professor, Educational Technology
Jarrett A. Carty
Assistant Professor, Liberal Arts College
Owen Chapman
Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
Maurice Charland
Professor, Communication Studies
Yogendra Chaubey
Professor, Mathematics and Statistics
Vasek Chvatal
Canada Research Chair, Computer Science and Software Engineering
Tim Clark
Associate Professor, Faculty of Fine Arts
Ailie Cleghorn
Professor, Education
Sandra Cochrane
Assistant to the Chair, Journalism
Roy Cross
Associate Professor, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema
Giuliana Cucinelli
Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
Galia Dafni
Associate Professor, Mathematics and Statistics
Daniel Dagenais
Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Valérie de Courville Nicol
Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Danielle Dennie
Librarian, Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry and Physics
Michael Despland
Professor, Religion
Jill Didur
Associate Professor, English
Mary di Michele
Professor, English
Ivana Djordjevic
Assistant Professor, Liberal Arts College
Ali Dolatabadi
Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Isabelle Dostaler
Associate Professor, Management
Peter Downie,
Senior Lecturer, Journalism
Charles Draimin
Associate Professor, Accountancy
Andrew Dutkewych
Professor, Studio Arts
Mary Esteve
Associate Professor, English
Evergon
Associate Professor, Photography
Mehdi Farashahi
Associate Professor, Management
Carolyn Fick
Associate Professor, History
Debbie Folaron
Associate Professor, Études françaises
Maximilian C. Forte
Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Jane Francis, PhD
Associate Professor, Classics, Modern Languages & Linguistics
Barry Frank
Professor, Physics
Marcie Frank
Professor, English
Mariana Frank
Professor, Physics
Andre Furlani
Associate Professor, English
Brian Gabrial
Associate Professor, Journalism
Monika Kin Gagnon
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Chantal Gagnon
Lecturer, Études françaises
Mike Gasher
Associate Professor, Journalism
Pierre Gauthier
Associate Professor, Geography, Planning and Environment
Wahid Ghaly
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
José Antonio Giménez Micó
Associate Professor, Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Peter Gossage
Professor, History
S K Goyal
Professor, Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems
Patrick Gulick
Professor and Chair, Biology
Cynthia Hammond
Assistant Professor, Art History
Richard J. Hancox
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
George W.M. Harrison
Scholar-in-Residence, Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Ibrahim Galal Hassan
Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Hugh Hazelton
Associate Professor, Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Judith Herz
Professor, English
Dr Kristina Huneault
Associate Professor and Concordia University Research Chair, Art History
Norman Ingram,
Professor and Chair, History
Mikhail Iossel
Associate Professor, English
Andrew Ivaska
Associate Professor, History
Wilson Chacko Jacob
Assistant Professor, History
Christine Jamieson
Associate Professor and Chair, Theological Studies
James E. Jans
Associate Professor, Psychology
Christine Jourdan
Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Sylvia Kairouz
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Sara Kennedy
Assistant Professor, Education
Gregory Kersten
Professor and Concordia Research Chair, John Molson School of Business
Nawwaf Kharma
Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Ed King
Associate Professor, Political Science
Hershy Kisilevsky
Professor, Mathematics and Statistics
Stan Klasa
Associate Professor, Computer Science and Software Engineering
Anna Kruzynski
Assistant Professor, School of Community and Public Affairs
PK Langshaw
Associate Professor, Design and Computation Arts
Jean-Roch Laurence
Associate Professor and Chair, Psychology
Barbara Layne
Professor, Studio Arts
Greg LeBlanc
Associate Professor, Economics
Claire Le Brun-Gouanvic, Ph. D.
Professeur titulaire, Études françaises
Martin Lefebvre
Concordia University Research Chair, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema
Benoit Léger
Professeur agrégé, Département d’Études françaises
Loren Lerner,
Professor, Art History
Jason E. Lewis
Associate Professor, Computation Arts
Denis Liakin
Professeur agrégé, Études françaises
Michael Lipson
Associate Professor, Political Science
Edward Little
Professor, Theatre
Lisa Lynch
Assistant Professor, Journalism
Shiping Ma
Associate Professor, Exercise Science
Sheila Mason
Professor, Philosophy
Mia Massicotte
Systems Librarian
Rosanna Maule
Associate Professor, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema
Andra McCartney
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Jennifer J. McGrath
Associate Professor, Psychology
James S. McLean
Assistant Professor, Journalism
Shannon McSheffrey
Professor, History
Mamoun Medraj
Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Margie Mendell
Associate Professor, School of Community and Public Affairs
Nikos Metallinos
Professor, Communication Studies
Elizabeth Miller
Professor, Communication Studies
M. Ayaz Naseem
Associate Professor, Education
Françoise Naudillon
Associate Professor, Études françaises
Brad Nelson
Associate Professor and Chair, Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Ursula Neuerburg-Denzer
Assistant Professor, Theatre
Greg Nielsen
Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Chitu Okoli
Associate Professor, Management Information Systems
Olga Ormandjieva
Associate Professor, Computer Science and Software Engineering
David Pariser
Professor, Art Education
Kevin Pask
Associate Professor, English
Virginia Penhune
Associate Professor, Psychology
Martin Racine
Associate Professor, Design and Computation Arts
Goretti Ramírez
Associate Professor, Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Norma Rantisi
Associate Professor, Geography, Planning and Environment
Enn Raudsepp
Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Journalism
Elena Razlogova
Associate Professor, History
Shelley Reuter
Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Luis Rodrigues
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Christopher A Ross
Professor, Marketing
Lorna Roth
Professor, Communication Studies
Alison Rowley
Associate Professor, History
Catherine Russell
Professor, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema
Andrew G. Ryder
Associate Professor, Psychology
Jonathan Sachs
Associate Professor, English
Daniel Salée
Professor, School of Community of Public Affairs and Political Science
Lionel J. Sanders
Professor, Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Kimberly Sawchuk
Professor, Communication Studies
Rosemarie Schade
Principal, Loyola International College
Richard F. Schmid
Professor and Chair, Education
Tim Schwab
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
David M. Secko
Assistant Professor, Journalism
Leslie Regan Shade
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Mahesh C. Sharma
Associate Professor, Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems
Frances M. Shaver
Professor and Chair, Sociology and Anthropology
Eric Shragge
Principal, School of Community and Public Affairs
Bart Simon
Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
Sherry Simon
Professor, Études françaises
Matt Soar
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Reza Soleymani
Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Crawford Spence
Assistant Professor, Accounting
Rae Staseson
Associate Professor and Chair, Communication Studies
Kate Sterns
Associate Professor, English
Jeremy Stolow
Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
Katharine Streip
Associate Professor, Liberal Arts College
Leila Sujir,
Associate Professor, Studio Arts
Mark Sussman
Associate Professor & Chair, Theatre
Gavin Taylor
Lecturer, History
Annette Teffeteller
Associate Professor, Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Patricia A Thornton
Professor, Geograpy, Planning and Environment
Craig Townsend, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Geography, Planning and Environment
Pavel Trofimovich
Associate Professor, Education
Joanne Turnbull
Associate Professor and Chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Pouya Valizadeh
Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Peter C. van Wyck
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Michael von Grünau
Professor, Psychology
David Waddington
Assistant Professor, Education
Haidee Wasson
Associate Professor, Cinema Studies
Xavier Ottenwaelder
Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Thomas Waugh
Concordia Research Chair, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema
Janet Werner
Associate Professor, Studio Arts
Joanna L. White
Associate Professor, Education
Rolf Wuthrich
Associate Professor and Concordia University Research Fellow, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Vladimir Zeman
Professor, Philosophy
Yong Zeng
Professor and Canada Research Chair, Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering
William Zerges
Associate Professor, Biology
Wei-Ping Zhu
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
