The current controversy regarding Western’s President Amit Chakma has the potential to be destabilizing to the university; however, it also presents us with an opportunity for open dialogue with a leader who has publicly committed to listen.
President Chakma has acknowledged that internal affairs must become a priority. He has made several apologies, and has pledged to engage with students, staff and faculty across campus in order to hear about our concerns and priorities. It isn’t clear to us what more we could ask from a leader in this situation.
A vote of non-confidence in our leadership at this time would work at direct cross-purposes to our collective goals as a university well into the future. We have the right – the duty – to engage and question our leaders. They, in turn, have a duty to listen and respond. Let’s use this opportunity to foster productive discussion that will move Western forward, and not to squander the progress we have made.
Now that an open dialogue has begun, we should make the most of this opportunity to achieve positive change for Western.
Shantanu Basu, Professor and Chair, Physics & Astronomy
Paul Beamish, Professor, Ivey Business School
Glen Belfry, Professor, Kinesiology
Trevor Birmingham, Professor, Physical Therapy
Peter Brown, Professor, Physics & Astronomy
Colin Campbell, Associate Professor, Law
Subrata Chakrabarty, Professor and Chair, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Charles Chunbao Xu, Professor, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Blaine Chronik, Professor, Physics & Astronomy and Medical Biophysics
Mark Daley, Associate Professor, Computer Science
Bertha Garcia, Vice Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Horia Hangan, Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
David Holdsworth, Chair, Musculoskeletal Research, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Fraser Johnson, Professor, Ivey Business School
Simon Johnson, Professor, Ivey Business School
Doug Jones, Vice Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Bryan Neff, Associate Dean, Science
Rajni Patel, Distinguished University Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Shiva Singh, Professor, Biology
Robert Solomon, Distinguished University Professor, Law
Kem Rogers, Professor and Chair, Anatomy & Cell Biology
Jane Rylett, Professor and Chair, Physiology & Pharmacology
David Sharpe, Associate Professor, Ivey Business School
Bill Tucker, Associate Professor, Education
Ram Valluri, Professor Emeritus, Physics & Astronomy
Bruce Welling, Professor, Law
Rod White, Associate Professor, Ivey Business School
Jesse Zhu, Distinguished University Professor, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering