U of T rejects report, recommendations on anti-Muslim, anti-Arab discrimination

Detailed summary

The nearly 300-page report is based on consultations with 85 people and small groups as well as 525 responses to a survey of students, staff, faculty and librarians.

A review of the University of Toronto’s policies and practices has found the school has a “general pattern of over-policing and under-protecting” Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians, with a report laying out dozens of recommendations related to academic freedom, on-campus security methods, institutional autonomy and other concerns.

The school nonetheless promises to take immediate actions to address discrimination against those groups at the university.

The nearly 300-page report is based on consultations with 85 people and small groups as well as 525 responses to a survey of students, staff, faculty and librarians across the school’s three campuses. These were carried out between March of last year and January.

The university says it received the working group’s final report a month ago and is releasing it as part of its commitment to transparency. Both the report and the school’s response were shared online Thursday.

The report describes restrictions on speech and events, inconsistent processes in dealing with complaints, and double standards in enforcement related to protests and postering, as well as repeated complaints about the university’s successful litigation to get rid of a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus two years ago.

Similarly, there were recurring concerns that “the university’s institutional commitment to radical, critical teaching and research suffers from a Palestine exception,” the report said.

The working group also heard about bigoted attitudes and assumptions steeped in stereotypes painting Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians as terrorists, misogynists and antisemites, it said.

“The most prevalent pattern we encountered, however, was a generalized ignorance of the histories, cultures, and lived experiences of Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians, and the ways in which anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian discrimination and harassment take shape,” the report said.

“Relatedly, we learned about instances when innovative research or outreach activities on…

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