5 Fascinating Stories from 20 Years of Ultra Vires
This year, Ultra Vires is celebrating its 20th anniversary. To commemorate this occasion, we have gathered excerpts from five of our more memorable stories in the archive. If you want to read more, you can find all of our previous issues at www.ultravires.ca/archive.
1. Student complaint leads to review of faculty’s admissions policy: Human Rights Commission to investigate use of LSAT (November 1999)
“The claim that the Faculty of Law’s admission policies are discriminatory will be reviewed by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Selwyn Pieters, an unsuccessful applicant to the law school and a person of African Canadian descent, recently filed a human rights complaint against this law school as well as Windsor, Queen’s, and Osgoode law schools. He also applied for an injunction to prohibit Ontario law schools from using the LSAT in their admissions decisions until the ORHC has reached its decision.
Mr. Pieters states on his web page: ‘I believe that because of my race and colour, I have been subjected to racial discrimination by the Admissions Committee of the Faculty of Law.’ The policies of the admissions committee and specifically its use of LSAT effect adverse discrimination, Pieters alleges. The fact that he was denied admission and that visible minorities are, he claims, underrepresented at the law school, illustrate this discriminatory effect.”
The OHRC ultimately rejected Pieters’ application. In the interim, Pieters was accepted into Osgoode Hall Law School; however, he still appealed to the Ontario Superior Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal. He now practices in Toronto.
2. Probe into scandal raises concerns: Réaume inquiry may have chilling effect; students implicated may have innocent excuses (March 2001)
“After weeks into University of Toronto’s investigation of about 30 students who allegedly lied about their grades, there are still many unanswered questions […]
Allegations that Professor Denise Réaume may have played a role in the law school’s grade scandal has raised serious concerns that it could have a chilling effect on academic free speech. The investigation into Réaume has changed to a much more general ‘fact finding’ project in what appears to be back-pedaling by the university, raising additional concerns about due process.
On Feb. 20, Vice-Provost Paul Gooch announced that the university was ‘striking a committee to investigate allegations that Réaume made statements’ that may have contributed to the grades scandal, involving as many as 30 first-year students who may have misrepresented the results of their December tests in their applications to Bay Street firms.”
3. Court to rule on suspension: SAC intervenes on behalf of student (September 2001)
“The authority of the University of Toronto and the dean of the faculty of law was put to the test on August 23, as Roxanne Shank appealed the dean’s decision to suspend her from school for one year. The case, heard at the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court, could have wide-ranging implications for all the students involved in the grades scandal last year.
A packed courtroom listened as lawyers for Shank, Dean Ronald Daniels, the university and the Students’ Administrative Council debated the definition of ‘academic record,’ whether Shank had admitted to misrepresenting her grades, whether the dean had the legal authority to suspend her, and the reasonableness of his decision.
The Court issued an interim stay of proceedings on August 31, allowing Shank to return to school pending a ruling in the case. Shank said that she was ‘really glad to be back.’ Daniels and the lawyer for the university declined to comment.”
4. Law student investigated in bookstore theft: Just over half of missing books found stashed (January 2005)
“A University of Toronto law student was recently under investigation by campus police in relation to the November theft of nearly $14,000 worth of law texts, but campus police say the investigation is on hold until they receive new leads. ‘At this point in time we’re not ruling anyone out,’ said Sam D’Angelo, Operations Manager for the campus police, ‘but the investigation will not be active until we receive new information.’
The books were discovered by UV staff in an alcove next to the UV office in the basement of Falconer, not far from where they went missing. Numbering in the hundreds, they were meticulously stacked in boxes, placed behind an old metal desk and carefully covered with a blanket.
The find occurred several days prior to the publication of the November issue of UV. Campus police requested that UV not publish news of the discovery for fear of tipping off the main suspect in their investigation. Following the discovery of the books, police composed a note urging the student suspect to report to the authorities […]
Campus police later learned that the student suspect was advertising books for sale in a note posted around the law school.”
No one came forward, and the police ultimately did not have enough evidence to lay charges on the suspected student.
5. A Possible End? Is this goodbye? (November 2008)
“It’s been an interesting month here at UV, replete with intrigue and controversy. It all started approximately a month ago when a group of students, on behalf of the University of Toronto Law Union (‘UTLU’), sent UV a demand letter accusing our operating practices of being ‘ethically unacceptable.’ (Editor’s note: the complete UTLU letter is reproduced on page 4 of the November 2008 issue.)
The ULTU, with the stated mission of ‘promoting accountability, fairness and independence from corporate influence in academic space,’ was concerned about:
a) UV’s practice of raising revenue through primarily corporate advertising;
b) UV’s alleged bias towards corporate-oriented content; and
c) UV’s longstanding, industry standard practice of distributing any remaining advertising revenue to the editorial team in the form of honoria or stipends. […]
The Dean’s Office has decided to form a ‘Task Force comprised of student and Faculty representatives who will be charged with establishing a common set of guidelines and procedures.’ […]
At this time, we are unsure about UV’s future. We hope to continue bringing you this well-loved public service in the coming year. Thank you for your support over the last 10 years.”
In light of the accusations, UV went on to take a year-long hiatus. It returned in November 2009.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a special feature to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ultra Vires. A letter from our founding editor, Melissa Kluger, and an article about recurring trends in the paper can be found here and here respectively.
