Tenured Canadian professor fired after saying BLM ‘destroyed’ her university

A tenured Canadian professor who was fired after criticizing Black Lives Matter (BLM) has a proposed arbitration date set throughout which she intends to put out her grievances towards her former college.

“All of my grievances are going ahead collectively right now,” Frances Widdowson mentioned throughout a current interview with The Faculty Repair. She confirmed to Fox Information Digital that the proposed dates are Jan. 16-27, 2023, however they haven’t been confirmed.

Widdowson, who taught economics, justice and coverage research, was fired from Mount Royal College (MRU) in Calgary, Alberta, final December after stoking controversy for feedback criticizing BLM, which she mentioned “destroyed MRU” to such an extent that she “doesn’t acknowledge the establishment anymore.”

Widdowson, who studied Indigenization initiatives for 20 years, additionally took flak for claiming that Canada’s controversial residential college program provided Indigenous kids the chance “to get an schooling that usually they wouldn’t have obtained.” Her feedback got here amid a nationwide backlash over the invention of unmarked graves on the Kamloops Indian Residential Faculty in British Columbia.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits the makeshift memorial erected in honor of the 215 indigenous kids stays discovered at a boarding college in British Columbia, on Parliament Hill, June 1, 2021 in Ottawa.
(DAVE CHAN/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)

A petition later circulated calling her a “racist professor” and demanding her termination, which prompted a response from the college.

Widdowson informed The Faculty Repair that she needed an open arbitration in order that journalists can attend as she appeals for her rehiring and presents documentation she has been maintaining since 2019 concerning points she has with Mount Royal College.

Professor Frances Widowsson
(Credit score: MOUNT ROYAL UNIVERSITY)

“With out upholding tutorial freedom, we’ve got no means to discover concepts and pursue the reality,” Widdowson mentioned.

The Society for Educational Freedom and Scholarship, which is a free speech advocacy group, supported Widdowson in a letter, and he or she informed The Faculty Repair that a few of her former colleagues expressed assist for her privately.

Mount Royal College didn’t instantly reply to request for remark.