Toronto university scraps title of 'Master'
York University in Toronto has decided to scrap the academic title of “College Master” in an effort to strip bias and discrimination from the official language used on campus.
The move, which takes effect on Jan. 1, means that the academic leaders of York’s eight colleges — Bethune, Calumet, Founders, McLaughlin, New, Stong, Vanier and Winters — will be known as “College Heads.”
“We are all in agreement in enthusiastically supporting this change,” reads a memo from Lisa Philipps, interim vice-president academic and provost at York.
She said all soon-to-be-former “masters” were consulted in advance, along with faculty deans.
It is an ever more frequent discussion on modern campuses, about whether the Latin roots and common academic usage of the word “master” have been eclipsed by newer connotations of racism and slavery, and what to do about it in a climate of growing vigilance to language.
“Responsibilities and reporting lines will not alter as a result of this title change, which reflects York University’s long-standing commitment to principles of affirmative action, equity and inclusion,” Philipps wrote. “Those principles have led us to examine the language we use, including the language of position titles, to ensure that we, as an institution, express ourselves in words that are clear and non-biased.”
She said she hopes the switch will “enhance the supports and sense of community we offer to our students.”
Harvard University made the same switch last year, preferring to change the title to “faculty deans,” for much the same reasons. Yale did the same, finding that the reasons to change “proved more compelling than the reasons to keep it, and the current masters themselves no longer felt it appropriate to be addressed in that manner.” Princeton also made the change, with one dean referring to the “anachronistic, historically vexed titles.”
In Canada, the University of Toronto was roiled by a controversy at its Massey College in September, after Michael Marrus, a college fellow and Holocaust scholar, made a quip to a black junior fellow when the Master of the College, the former Senator Hugh Segal, joined them for lunch.
“You know this is your master, eh? Do you feel the lash?” Marrus said. A letter of protest drew hundreds of signatures and led Marrus to resign in October.
“To say that I regret the event that created the need for your letter would be a serious understatement,” Segal wrote to Marrus shortly after his resignation. Segal also changed his own title to “Head” of the college.