Nov 10
18
Outrageous reputation of socialist rejected as U. of Windsor dean of law
The Windsor Star – November 12, 2010
Law prof ‘disruptive,’ U of W says: Failed dean candidate’s complaint disputed
By Joseph Brean, with files from Frances Willick, Postmedia News
In response to a human rights complaint of racism and sexism in its search for a new dean of law, the University of Windsor has fired back at failed candidate Emily Carasco, saying she has a reputation for being vindictive and vengeful, that she “lacked sufficient scholarly gravitas” and that her “divisiveness and inability in key requisite areas” meant she would be “incapable of establishing trust and understanding in the faculty.”
Carasco, a one-time NDP candidate who teaches family and immigration law at the U of W, has asked the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to stop the search for a new dean, appoint her to the position and award her payments for “injury to dignity” of $60,000 from the school, and $15,000 from her colleague, hate-speech expert Richard Moon. She alleges Moon “sabotaged” her candidacy last March. She said he raised concerns about plagiarism in early drafts of a book she co-edited with another law professor, who is now Moon’s wife.
In its response to Carasco’s human rights complaint, the school contradicts her claim that she was the best of two failed short-list candidates, saying the search committee scored her lower than her white male competitor “despite being granted extra points due to her gender and self-identification as a visible minority.” Those bonus points boosted her from 58.5 out of 100 to 62.5. The other candidate, Scott Fairley, scored 63.4, with no bonus points, far less than the historic average of 80 to 90 for deans.
The search committee received mostly negative feedback about Carasco, the response says, including the views that she was “a disruptive and divisive force” and would condemn the law school to “years of acrimony, division and dysfunction.” One faculty member said her hiring would be a “critical mistake.” Other reports raised concerns about “a pattern of vindictiveness and a willingness to mete out retribution for perceived slights” and suggested her “equality activism was uneven towards certain equality-seeking groups.” The committee also found Carasco lacking a strong enough academic research record and sufficient administrative experience, and it questioned her ability to carry out leadership, management, fundraising and alumni relations duties.
In its response, the university accused Carasco of taking a “selective” view of its past hirings to leadership positions, which she alleged are mostly “in the hands of white males” creating a “culture of privilege which white men expect to have continue, and will defend with impunity.” Far from a conspiracy of old white men, the school says these negative opinions of Carasco represent the majority of a search committee composed of six women, “four persons of racialized origins,” one person with a disability, a female Superior Court judge, and a non-voting equity assessor who is African Canadian, and later judged the process to be “excellent” in terms of fairness to minority candidates. The committee’s chair was Kathleen E. McCrone, Windsor’s acting provost, a scholar of female emancipation in 19th century England, and the founder of Windsor’s women’s studies program.