VANCOUVER – The chairman of the University of B.C.’s board of governors is stepping down, effective immediately following an early exit by former University president Arvind Gupta and a probe into the chairman John Montalbano’s conduct regarding academic freedom.
The announcement came Thursday morning, minutes after a retired BC Supreme Court judge found the university failed to protect a professor’s academic freedom after her blog post about the sudden resignation of Gupta.
The investigation began after the professor alleged the BC-Liberal appointed chairman Montalbano had accused her of embarrassing the university and threatened her funding for writing that Gupta had “lost the masculinity contest” at UBC.
Retired judge Lynn Smith found the university failed to protect and support Berdahl’s academic freedom but the probe also found Montalbano — on his own — did not cross UBC’s collective agreement or its Statement on Respectful Environment.
