Editorial: U of S harmed by overreaction

Senior brass at the University of Saskatchewan forged a mighty sword when they marched a dean off campus for opposing their top-priority TransformUS initiative.

“You have damaged the reputation of the university, the president and the school and have damaged the university’s relationship with key stakeholders and partners, including the public, the government and your university colleagues,” U of S provost Brett Fairbairn wrote in the letter of dismissal that stripped Robert Buckingham of his directorship, tenured faculty position and “all benefits and pensions.”

It wasn’t Mr. Buckingham’s criticism of TransformUS that seriously “damaged the reputation of the university, the president and the school,” however. It was the reaction out of the central administration.

That was clear from the widespread condemnation Mr. Buckingham’s firing drew from across the country. This condemnation was so severe that Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris was forced to stand in the legislature Thursday, head bowed, and assure the Opposition that the government took the matter of Mr. Buckingham’s dismissal gravely seriously and has insisted the university’s board of governors convene an early meeting to discuss it.

This is itself a serious act. Saskatchewan has a long tradition of keeping the operation of its universities at arms-length from the government. That the minister felt compelled to step in over this issue illustrates how serious the decision was.

Premier Brad Wall even told the legislature he expected the university to be making an early announcement on the matter, which turned out to be a withdrawal of the most serious conditions of Mr. Buckingham’s firing — the stripping of his academic position and benefits.

Even with that, however, U of S president Ilene BuschVishniac was far from conciliatory. “The University of Saskatchewan has been on the receiving end of inaccurate and undeserved criticisms launched from across the country,” she wrote. That is to say, the damage done to the institution’s reputation by sacking a tenured professor for the crime of speaking out — a decision that was reversed within 30 hours of being made — was not the fault of the administration but came about as a result of undeserved criticisms.

Of even greater concern in the president’s message was that this entire incident had nothing to do with free speech. “Academic freedom and tenure are sacrosanct at the University of Saskatchewan,” she wrote. “This case, however, is not about academic freedom.”

But the clear message for the university community is that it cannot expect its deans and directors to speak forcefully in support of their units but to instead back at all costs decisions made by central command. Given the controversy that has swirled around TransformUS from the beginning, this is not likely to inspire confidence among faculty, staff and students.

Former deans and senior administrators have told The StarPhoenix that this policy does not reflect that of previous administrations.

This leaves the board of governors with a hard decision when it gets around to its meeting: Does it have the courage to wield the sword of accountability forged by the president and top vice-presidents?

The editorials that appear in this space represent the opinion of The StarPhoenix. They are unsigned because they do not necessarily represent the personal views of the writers. The positions taken in the editorials are arrived at through discussion among the members of the newspaper’s editorial board, which operates independently from the news departments of the paper.