Dear members of the law school community,
I wanted to take advantage of this last week of the term to thank you – faculty, students and staff – for meeting with me last week. It was very helpful to begin the conversation around reconciliation and moving forward after a difficult and divisive period for our Faculty. As I indicated last week, these meetings were meant to be an initial step in what will inevitably be a longer process. There will be many more opportunities for those who were unable to attend to participate and provide input.
For those who haven’t yet had a chance to do so, I invite you to read the independent review by the Hon Thomas Cromwell into the search process for the Director of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP), as well as the President’s response, both available here.
I welcome Mr. Cromwell’s report, which sets out in detail the sequence of events around the search process that then-Dean Edward Iacobucci and the University were constrained from providing last year. Based on his review of the relevant facts, Mr. Cromwell concludes that the inference that external influence played a role in the decision to discontinue the recruitment process is not justified.
I fully embrace Mr. Cromwell’s findings, as well as his comprehensive recommendations. I believe that it is now time for us to move forward on the basis of the independent review and I will work with the University and within the Faculty to implement its recommendations. I will also continue to work with all members of the Faculty community to allow us to come together around the key values of the University we all care about very deeply.
We know that we are all also eager to relaunch as soon as possible, and strengthen, the IHRP. The Faculty will shortly be able to consider recommendations put forward by Professor Emerita Rebecca Cook, who founded the program in 1987 and which grew to encompass Canada’s first human rights clinic. In addition, we will want to have a broader conversation around our clinics and experiential education programs and their governance. The goal is to take advantage of this opportunity for reflection in order to position the IHRP to be even more creative and effective in the future.
I would like to end on a slightly broader note, and return to the priorities that I outlined in January, when I began my term as Dean. I was buoyed by the broad support for these priorities. And so I look forward to moving ahead as a Faculty community, continuing our important work around Inclusive Excellence, and further expanding our role as a publicly engaged law faculty, a hub for innovative thinking on the central challenges of our time.
We are fortunate indeed to be members of a world-leading institution, surrounded by the very best scholars, working with creative and dedicated staff, and teaching and mentoring tremendously talented students.
I wish you all a good end of term and, our students, a successful exam period. We’re all rooting for you!
Best wishes,
Jutta Brunnée
Dean, University Professor & James M. Tory Professor of Law
