Racism, Sexism, and the University: The Political Science Affair at the University of British Columbia

Alexander D. Gregor is associate dean of the Faculty of Education at the
University of Manitoba and co-editor of Postsecondary Education in
Canada: The Cultural Agenda.

Racism, Sexism, and the University provides a detailed review of the
farcical and tragic scandal that occurred at the University of British
Columbia in 1995, when charges of racism and sexism were leveled against
the department of political science. The author, who was then dean of
arts and a major player in the event, argues persuasively that the
underlying forces and issues are one that face all Canadian
universities.

In Marchak’s view, the attack on the political science department was
“a conflict over power with the appearance of something more
elevated.” It was also an attack based on “identity politics” and
rejection of the Western traditions of rationality and objective truth.
The very essence of the academic process—the search for
knowledge—was dismissed by this competing tradition as an unacceptable
imposition of Eurocentric male values. The investigation of the charges,
Marchak argues, was itself based on postmodern principles whereby the
normal canons of evidence and due process were ignored. The consequent
controversy brought into the public arena the two opposing traditions
and the implications of both for the university and its mission.
Marchak’s engaging and articulate book provides an excellent starting
point for debate regarding that mission.