The "rapenomics" of sexual assault

The Ontario Court of Appeal heard arguments on Thursday, March 16, in the case of Mustafa Ururyar, the York University graduate student who was found guilty of sexually assaulting PhD student Mandi Gray in 2015. Ontario Court Justice Marvin Zuker sentenced Ururyar to 18 months. His lawyers immediately appealed, and he was released on bail pending that appeal. Superior Court Justice Michael Dambrot will hand down his decision on June 8, but it's a no-brainer that the conviction will be overturned.

Ururyar's grounds for appeal focus on what his lawyers claim were errors in Zuker's decision. These included judicial bias (although there were no defence objections to bias during the trial); Zuker's criticism of defence lawyer Lisa Burstow's use of what he identified as rape myths; and the "uncontested academic material" (read "feminist") that Zuker partially relied on in making his finding of guilt.

Jewish group attacks York University over ‘anti-Semitic’ move to divest from weapons manufacturers

In the latest caustic outbreak in an ongoing cultural war, a prominent Jewish organization Wednesday urged Jewish Canadian high school students to think twice about applying to York University.

In a blistering statement, the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) accused the university’s faculty association of endorsing “a campaign of censorship against Israel and the Jewish People.”

'Historic' agreement reached in York University strike

Graduate student workers at York University have reached a tentative agreement with their employer and the union is hailing the deal as a "historic victory."

The 3,700 members of CUPE Local 3903 have been on strike since March 3. Over the course of the strike, the membershipvoted down previous offersproposed by the administration. Their concerns centred around two main issues: (1) they wanted graduate student funding levels indexed to tuition for all current and future students so that funding levels would increase proportionally with the cost of tuition, and (2) they wanted recognition of LGBTQ as an employment equity category.

Heated clashes at York University picket line captured on video as classes resume despite labour dispute

Violence erupted Tuesday on picket lines between striking teaching assistants and students heeding York University’s invitation to return to class despite the continuation of a labour dispute.

With picket lines still in place, union organizers are concerned about the safety of those on strike after reports of heated confrontations and say the university’s decision will create a tumultuous environment for both picketers and students trying to get to class.

York University student's request not to work with women stirs controversy

A York University student taking an online course is seeking to be excused from group work because his religious beliefs forbid him from meeting with female classmates.

His professor at the Toronto university, Paul Grayson, rejected his request, which ignited a controversy at the university about human rights.

"I was quite shocked," Grayson told CBC-Radio's Ontario Today. He said he did not know the religion of the student, but fundamentally did not agree with accommodating him.

York Federation of Students passes divestment resolution against Israel

On March 21, 2013 I was waiting outside the campus restaurant's dance hall at York University. It had been converted into a York Federation of Students meeting room when the originally planned room in the Students Centre reached full capacity. There were at least a few hundred York University undergraduate students attending the meeting on a windy, snowy day at the Keele Campus.

I'm not an undergrad student which is why I had to wait outside the enormous makeshift meeting room, only able to see two large crowds sitting across from one another with Israeli flags and red and white keffiyahs.

York University students allege racial profiling

Following yet another string of assaults at York University, attempts to quell concerns over campus security have backfired, with some students alleging racial profiling at the hands of Toronto police.

The allegations stem from the increased presence of uniformed officers at York’s Keele campus in response to four crimes on university property in less than two weeks, including one sex assault, two armed robberies and an assault with a metal pipe.

York University’s $60 million deal with Jim Balsillie’s think tank cancelled over lack of faculty support

After eight months of controversy, York University has dropped plans for a joint international law program with Jim Balsillie’s think tank, having failed to convince its law professors that academic freedom would be guaranteed.

And the collapse of the deal underscores how tricky public-private partnerships with the Ivory Tower can be, even as Queen’s Park is calling on the private sector to invest more in higher learning.

York officials announced the $60 million deal was off late Monday, just hours after the faculty council of Osgoode Hall law school voted 34 to 7 against working with Balsillie’s Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) to create 10 research chairs in international law and funding for 20 PhD students. Eight members of the council abstained.

Although the program did not require the approval of York’s blue-chip law school to proceed, York officials said that without Osgoode’s blessing it would make little sense to proceed.

“We’re certainly disappointed; we had made major changes to safeguard academic freedom and integrity but it doesn’t make sense to run an international law program without the participation of one of the leading law schools in the country,” said York vice-president Patrick Monahan on Monday night.

The initiative collapsed despite York’s efforts to address concerns over CIGI’s influence. In particular, the school had agreed to remove the role of a steering committee with two CIGI representatives in the creation of short lists for hiring — something the original deal inked last summer had contained.