Source: Fredericton Tourism
A recent controversy surrounding UNB professor Dr. Ricardo Duchesne has sparked a discussion of academic freedom of speech across the campus.
Duchesne, who announced an early retirement this month, was under fire for his views on immigration, which drew accusations of racism and white nationalism.
Many of these views and thoughts were published on an online blog, and started spilling over into classrooms and lectures. Students and faculty were upset; they were vocal.
For UNB history professor Bob Whitney, Duchesne crossed an ethical line.
“It was a question of professional standards,” he said.
“Is it okay, is it ethical for someone to be teaching ideas in a classroom that are not academically vetted? It was a matter of thinking that is he abusing his status as a professor?”
He believes Duchesne’s nonacademic, unfounded views have no place in a university.
“His views, especially on multiculturalism, and on immigration are not vetted, they’re not conditions by the academic standards of how universities are supposed to work,” he said.
Whitney and many other professors at UNB signed a letter condemning Duchesne’s actions.
“Our objection was to what we regard as his racism and his non-academic work that was being used in the university. At no stage in anything that we wrote or said did we ask that he resign, or be fired, or retire.”
That’s why when the university announced Duchesne’s retirement earlier this month, Whitney and many others were surprised.
He says just because Duchesne is no longer at the university, that doesn’t mean the issue stops.
Whitney thinks the discussion of academic freedom is one that should always be on going, especially among professors, who hold a lot of power in their relationships to students.
“There is a constant fine line, and a line that we all have to struggle with.”
The letter penned by UNB profs can be read below:
In response to the 18th May 2019 article by Nick Robins-Early concerning Professor Ricardo Duchesne, we the undersigned faculty members from the University of New Brunswick wish to condemn Professor Ricardo Duchesne’s views about multiculturalism and immigration as racist and without academic merit. In this view, we are joined by the larger academic community. Professor Duchesne’s recent writings on these topics have not been published by established peer reviewed academic journals or publishers.
We are glad to work in a university that takes academic freedom seriously and we are acutely aware of the special responsibilities that come with a faculty position. It is important to remember that academic freedom does not protect one from challenge by peers or the public. Indeed, it is a hallmark of academic freedom that one’s views are subject to critique. Faculty, students, staff and the wider public have the right to publicly condemn Dr. Duchesne’s racism. We are exercising that right.
Racism in the university causes real harm and undermines the rights of students and colleagues to a working and learning environment free from discrimination. We are deeply concerned about the negative impact that his public statements may have on all students in his courses, and especially Indigenous and racialized students. We therefore explicitly condemn Duchesne’s racist positions on multiculturalism and immigration. Cloaking these views in academic legitimacy is an abuse of his status as a professor at UNB.
Signed:
Allan Adam (Chemistry), Funké Aladejebi (Gender & Women’s Studies/History), Jennifer Andrews (English), Mira Bachvarova (Renaissance College), Bruce Balcom (Physics), John C. Ball (English), Katherine Barclay (Biology), David Bell (Law), Jason Bell (Philosophy), Sandra Bell (English), Amanda Benjamin (Education), Barry Blight (Chemistry), Mustapha Ibn-Boamah (Economics), Andrea Bombak (Sociology), Jeffrey Brown (History), Caroline Brunelle (Psychology), Donna Bulman (Nursing), Casey Burkholder (Education), E. Sandra Byers (Psychology), Branimir Cacic (Mathematics), Mary Ann Campbell (Psychology), Emin Civi (Business), Sarah-Jane Corke (History), David Creelman (English), Dan Lawson Crouse (Sociology), Lauren Cruikshank (Culture and Media Studies), Tia Dafnos (Sociology), Christopher Doran (Social Sciences), Daniel Downes (Social Sciences), Scott Dunham (Philosophy), Dion Durnford (Biology), Adam Dyker (Chemistry), Elizabeth Effinger (English), Patrick Eldridge (Philosophy), Hadi Eslami (Business), Triny Finlay (English), Cheryl Fury (History), Joseph Galbo (Social Sciences), Anna Hamling (Culture and Media Studies), Abdelhaq M Hamza (Physics), Nick Hardy (Sociology), Stephen Heard (Biology), Rod Hill (Economics), Virginia Hill (Linguistics), Suzanne Hindmarch (Political Science), Cathy Holtmann (Sociology), Gabe Hrynick (Anthropology), Jula Hughes (Law), Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy (History), Viqar Husain (Mathematics), Bonnie Huskins (History), Mostaq Hussain (Business), Anna Ignaszak (Chemistry), Lee Jolliffe (Business), Miriam Jones (English), Zahra Katami (Physics), Sean Kennedy (History), Bill Kerr (Classics), Robert Larmer (Philosophy), Sophie Lavoie (Culture and Media Studies), Ross Leckie (English), J. P. Lewis (History and Politics), Debra J. Lindsay (History), Jacqueline Low (Sociology), Brian Lowry (Engineering), Carolyn MacDonald (Classics), June Madeley (Social Sciences), Elizabeth Mancke (History), Randall Martin (English), Hepzibah Muñoz Martínez (History and Politics), Morris Mendelson (Business), David Mercer (Philosophy), Marc Milner (History), Koumari Mitra (Anthropology), Erin Morton (History), Janet Mullin (History), John Neville (Chemistry), Ben Newling (Physics), Obed Nkunzimana (Humanities and Languages), Magdalen Normandeau (Physics), Janine Olthuis (Psychology), Nicole O’Byrne (Law), Amy Parachnowitsch (Biology), Karen Pearlston (Law), Patricia Peterson (Education), Carmen Poulin (Psychology), Ahmad Rahmanian (Philosophy), Valerie Reeves (Chemistry), Chantal Richard (French), Scott Ronis (Psychology), Stephen Ross (Physics), Roger Saul (Education), Stephen Schryer (English), Amy Scott (Anthropology), Alan Sears (Education), Matthew Sears (Classics), Sue Sinclair (English), Edith Snook (English), David Speed (Psychology), Phil Taber (Libraries), Ajit Thakkar (Chemistry), Luc Theriault (Sociology), Lisa M. Todd (History), Lucia Tramonte (Sociology), Daniel Tubb (Anthropology), Daniel Voyer (French), David Wagner (Education), Gary K. Waite (History), Barry Watson (Economics), Robert Whitney (History), Julia Woodhall-Melnik (Social Sciences), Donald Wright (Political Science), Hilary Young (Law)
