The Real "Big Chill" at Ryerson--and Who's To Blame For It

Last month, after an intensive probe of Ryerson University, a task force released a semi-hysterical report concluding that there was a distinct racist "chill" at this most "diverse" of institutions. An article in the National Post not only pokes holes in task force's conclusions, it offers an intriguing snapshot of how the task force conducted its fact-finding. In the case of Israeli Apartheid Week, for example--the kind of event one might have expected the task force to take to task for adding to the " racial chill"--the probers asserted that the majority of Jewish professors were in favour of the event--purely for the sake of honouring "free speech," of course. Not so, says Ryerson academic Avner Levin. What really happened is that the task force listened to what Israel-loathing Jewess Judy Rebick and her anti-Zionist ilk had to say, and froze out any Jew who disagreed with her. No surprise there, since Grace-Edward Galabuzi (who's a man, baby, despise the chick-sounding name), the report's co-chair, is one of the ilk (though not, as far as I know, a Jew):

...Mr. Levin also said a group had concerns Ms. Rebick and Mr. Galabuzi [the report's co-chair] had been involved in organizing Israeli Apartheid Week, and said those concerns should have been disclosed in the report. Mr. Galabuzi denied the allegations, and said he felt the issue had been cleared up in the meeting.

"I have not been a part of organizing Israeli Apartheid Week. I have not heard of Judy Rebick organizing Israeli Apartheid Week. If there's some evidence, if some evidence is brought forward, (it's) not true," he said.

Ms. Rebick has been a panelist and moderator in past Israeli Apartheid Weeks. And both Ms. Rebick and Mr. Galabuzi signed an open letter in defence of Israeli Apartheid Week activities and the use of the word "apartheid" to debate certain polices of the Israeli government.

The report says that the Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Services Office gets 100-130 complaints a year. Thirty per cent are race-and ethnicity-based.

If there's a racist "chill" at Ryerson, it seems to me Mr. Galabuzi (who apparently remains unconcerned about the possible conflict of interest here--an IAW backer "investigating" support for IAW) and the IAW faction are at least partly responsible for it.