U of T professor resigns from Massey College committee after it appoints controversial columnist Margaret Wente as fellow

A professor at the University of Toronto has resigned from her position at Massey College following the recent appointment of media columnist Margaret Wente, formerly of The Globe and Mail, as a senior fellow at Massey College.

In a letter of resignation issued on Thursday, Alissa Trotz, an associate professor of women and gender studies and Caribbean studies, said she was “dismayed” to discover that Margaret Wente had been appointed a 2020-21 Senior Member of Massey College.

“Margaret Wente is someone who has demonstrated consistent and outright hostility to questions of equity, women and gender studies and anti-racism, and moreover someone who has demonstrated such a glaring lack of professional integrity,” Trotz’s resignation letter reads.

Trotz, a member of Massey College’s Governance and Nominating Committee, says she was not aware that Wente was being considered for the position prior to her appointment.

“I understand, to my utter and complete dismay, that I must take some responsibility … that has led to Margaret Wente becoming a member of Massey College,” she wrote.

Wente, who spent decades writing for The Globe and Mail before taking a buyout in 2019, has been the subject of controversy due to columns in which she’s plagiarized material or promoted pseudo-science claiming genetic racial differences.  (more...)

U of T professor resigns from Massey College committee after it appoints controversial columnist Margaret Wente as fellow

A cautionary precedent:

Massey College professor resigns over racially offensive remark, cites lack of ‘due process’

Some relevant background on Vincent Massey:

Collapse of the British Empire, The Round Table Movement, Canada’s Untold History