U of T dean resigns, will return to teach history
Rick Halpern, the dean of the University of Toronto Scarborough, announced his resignation Friday amid criticism over the school’s handling of an investigation into a course that taught antivaccination materials. Weeks ago, the university said in a report the course was not “unbalanced” because the students had learned of the benefits of immunization in other classes.
“Students taking (the course) ... are in their final year of study and are expected to approach controversial topics with a critical lens,” the report said. However, those conclusions were met with heavy criticism from a group of students at the school’s Faculty of Medicine.
These students penned an open letter two weeks ago calling for an independent investigation into the course.
“We still believe that the university has failed to address the concerns outlined in our letter,” the students said in a statement to the Star, citing “how the course in question came to be approved, and to why the university continues to defend the pseudo-science taught in this course.”
Part of the course’s syllabus was titled “Vaccination: The King of Controversy,” and it included an interview with Andrew Wakefield, co-author of a now-discredited study that linked autism with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, as required viewing.
Halpern, appointed dean six years ago, joined faculty as a history professor in 2001, and will return to his position as a tenured professor after an administrative leave. His wife, Beth Landau-Halpern, taught the controversial fourth-year course, “Alternative Health: Practice and Theory,” in 2014 and 2015. Landau-Halpern is no longer teaching at the university, and the course was discontinued. The Star could not reach the couple for comment on Friday.
“We owe (Rick Halpern) a tremendous debt of gratitude for the astute and progressive leadership he gave,” the university said in a press release Friday. A spokesperson for the university said it could not comment on possible reasons for Halpern’s resignation, citing confidentiality rules.
“I think the university needs to be pushed into giving an explanation, they owe that much to the public,” Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, said. “It was just an outrage to have (Landau-Halpern) as a teacher, and the explanation that they gave is ridiculous. You don’t have a university course that teaches improper science and justify that by saying you have courses that teach proper science.”