To: UBC faculty, staff and students in Vancouver and the Okanagan
Today UBC released the summary of a report by the Honourable Lynn Smith, which outlines her findings relating to allegations that, following the publication of a blog post by Professor Jennifer Berdahl on August 8, 2015, the Chair of the Board of Governors or individuals in the Sauder School of Business interfered with her academic freedom or violated relevant UBC policies.
We have received the report and we accept the findings. The report summary can be found at http://president.ubc.ca/files/2015/10/Summary-of-Process-and-Conclusions-Final.pdf.
Further details, including UBC’s response, are available at http://news.ubc.ca/2015/10/15/ubc-accepts-the-findings-in-honourable-lynn-smiths-report/.
UBC is committed to meeting its positive obligation to protect and defend the principle of academic freedom.
Protecting academic freedom demands both a degree of courage and a commitment to collaboration, involving every person at every level of the University. It means that each of us must stand up for the rights of people to pursue every argument – including those arguments we might find abhorrent. It is equally our right, and our responsibility, to challenge those positions on the basis of good scholarship, the only caveat being that we challenge what people say, not their right to say it.
An open letter from the Interim President to the UBC community has been published at http://president.ubc.ca/files/2015/10/Open-Letter-from-Dr-Piper-Oct-15.pdf.
On behalf of the University of British Columbia, thank you to the Honourable Lynn Smith and all those who took part in this thorough and independent fact-finding process.
Martha C. Piper
Interim President and Vice Chancellor
Angela Redish
Provost and Vice President Academic Pro Tem