(OTTAWA, March 2, 2011) – The University of Ottawa will discuss a motion to freeze a new scholarship-endowed joint law degree venture with the University of Haifa, Israel, at its March 7, 2011, meeting (3pm, Tabaret Hall Senate Room, 550 Cumberland Ave.).
The motion was put forth by student senator Joseph Hickey. It is the only motion on the Monday agenda and is expected to be duly discussed in view of a vote.
Senate meetings are open to the public. Hickey has invited three groups to speak to the motion:
(1) Members of the Jewish student group Hillel-Ottawa.
(2) Members of Students for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), Ottawa.
(3) The donors of the scholarship program, Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman.
The motion is posted on Hickey’s senate blog here:
http://studentseyeview.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/march-7-motion-on-ottawa-haifa-exchange-program/
Hickey is concerned that the program was not duly approved by university Senate and will not be available without discrimination against Arab students of the University of Haifa.
Hickey wants clarification regarding Senate powers to approve all new academic programs, an affirmative action guarantee to disallow any discrimination, and for the donor agreement with Schwartz-Reisman to be made public.
In 2008 the media reported that Allan Rock participated in a trip to Israel at the start of his mandate as U of O president that “yielded immediate results” including this exchange law program. The trip was reported to have been “partially financed by the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) and private donors.”
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For more information please contact:
Joseph Hickey
B.Sc. (Hon., Co-op, Suma Cum Laude), University of Ottawa
M.Sc. candidate, University of Ottawa
Graduate student representative to university Senate, Sciences section
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