‘The silencing of Trent’
Profs speak out against secrecy by board of governors
By Lee Berthiaume
Peterborough Examiner – July 17, 2004 p. B3

Several prominent Trent University professors say the school is being run like a private business and are calling for more transparency and better rapport with the top levels.

“Universities are in the business of serving students and the community,” Prof. Don Mackay said yesterday. “We’re not in the weapons of mass destruction business. This is education.”

Mackay is a professor emeritus with the university and is now the director of the Canadian Environmental Modelling Centre, which examines chemicals used around the world. He was named to the Order of Canada in January.

His comments were in response to Examiner articles about the removal of prominent Peterborough businessman Daryl Bennett’s term from Trent’s board of governors.

[OurTrent Editor's note: If Mr. Bennett's contributions were not appreciated or recognized by Trent's Board of Governors, they were most definitely acknowledged by the Peterborough community at large. Mr. Bennett was named the Citizen of The Year by the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce.]

Bennett, the owner of the Liftlock Group of Companies, said he does not know why he has not been asked back for a second term. He said he has missed one meeting in four years and has consistently donated funds to the university.

Bennett told the Examiner two weeks ago that he suspects it might have something to do with the pointed questions he has asked about the DNA Cluster Project, the closing of the downtown colleges and land use matters.

The board’s chairman, former Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Reid Morden, said that was “hogwash” though he didn’t comment on why Bennett was not invited back.

Mackay said there has been a serious breakdown of communication between different levels of the university, with students and faculty often learning about board and administration decisions after they have already been made.

“What should happen at the university is there should be a two way flow of information,” he said.

For example, he said, many faculty members are still in the dark about the details of the DNA cluster.

“Many of the faculty are presently upset because the details of the DNA cluster are heard in The Examiner first,” he said. “The university should be a place where lots of dialogue, conversation, controversy and arguments happen. Too many of the faculty, I think, are restrained.”

While Mackay acknowledged the need for the board of governors and felt those who sit on it do have the school’s best intentions in mind, he questioned the way they operate.

“It’s a public institution and it should be handled as such,” he said.

Mackay said in his nine years with Trent, he’s only been invited to have a meaningful conversation with on member of the board – Bennett.

“I certainly have an impression that he was regarded as a thorn in their side.”

Prof. Tom Hutchinson, who teaches environmental and resource studies, said the lack of communication and apparent secrecy has become progressively worse. “It’s a very strange thing,” Hutchinson said. “The administration seems to have isolated itself.”

While Hutchinson said he was aware the school’s senate and board of governors meetings are open, he didn’t feel the institution encourages anyone to attend.

Geography Prof. George Nader agreed Trent’s board of governors and administration have not taken the faculty, and more importantly the students, into consideration.

“I agree with the comment of administration alienating itself from faculty,” Nader said. “This administration and the board have a simple policy of not releasing any information that could create dissent or opposition.

“What we have is an effort to stamp out dissent.”

Nader pointed to the closing of the downtown colleges as an example and also felt it may have been the catalyst for even more secrecy at the top levels.”

“No one knew it was being discussed,” said Nader, who was one of the loudest voices against the closing of the colleges. “In effect, a secret committee was set up to produce a report.”

Nader said the board of governors is a self perpetuating board because it appoints its own members and isn’t really accountable to anyone. This is being amplified by the lack of transparency.

“The absence of information is unparalleled at any university,” he said. “It’s a tragedy to see the silencing of Trent.”

Bennett said during his time on the board he was astonished by its apparent disregard for those it serves.

“I took great interest in the lack of consideration for our clients – the students and the people who pay the bills,” he said. “The clients are being referred to as head counts or FTEs, full time equivalents, even with students in the room.”

Board chairman Reid Morden and university president Bonnie Patterson could not be reached for comment.