Report on UPEI allegations describes 'dire, toxic' issues, calls for 'urgent action'

The authors of a third-party review looking into allegations of workplace misconduct at the University of Prince Edward Island have concluded the university "has failed to create a safe, respectful, and positive environment for working and learning for all members of its community."

In its report, released in a redacted form Wednesday,the firm of Rubin Thomlinson described "dire" problems on campus that it said "should raise alarm bells and spark urgent action."

The firm was hired afterformer UPEI president Alaa Abd-El-Azizresigned in December of 2021, citing health reasons. Abd-El-Aziz's resignation came after fresh allegations of misconduct were brought forward against him; he had been the subject of two previous complaints years earlier.

But Rubin Thomlinson's investigation into those allegations is not included in the report UPEI made public Wednesday. A separate report on that investigation was finalized on April 28 and provided to the university, but has not been made public.

Insofar as the public report speaks to the allegations against Abd-El Aziz, the authors said thatbecause of the university's use of non-disclosure agreements with complainants who came forward, "we are unable to answer a key question that arises as part of our mandate: Did the former president engage in repeated sexual misconduct?"

Two complainants who came forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Abd-El-Aziz in 2013 were unable to be released from their NDAsdespite extensive negotiations among the parties involved.

Thus, Rubin Thomlinson said it could not "provide the university with a clear picture of the former president's behaviour or [UPEI's] response to it."

Abd-El-Aziz's contract was renewed in 2015, and again in 2018 and 2021.

"We were able to establish that at a minimum, members of the board who were charged with reviewing the former president's performance in advance of the 2015 renewal of his appointment, were aware of the allegations, and of the settlement of them," the Rubin Thomlinson report said.

Board chair responds on contract renewal

Board of governors chair Pat SinnottsaidWednesday that the 2013 incidents led to an investigation that included "a few board members," and resulted in a legal settlement.

Afterwards, he said, the board members involved told the rest of the board that there was no reason why the president should not continue in his role.

Hindsight is always 100 per cent. At the time, the board acted on the information it had.Pat Sinnott, chair of UPEI Board of Governors

"Hindsight is always 100 per cent," Sinnott added. "At the time, the board acted on the information it had."

CBC News reached out toAbd-El-Aziz about the contents of theRubin Thomlinsonreport, but has not heard back.

Overall the report confirms prior allegations, some reported by CBCNews in 2021, of a workplace environment "that is toxic, where bullying and harassment is widespread and condoned at an institutional level."

The report describes policies at the university to deal with harassment which are almost two decades out of date, and not compliant with provincial law including the Human Rights Act or the Workplace Harassment Regulations under P.E.I.'s Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The report recommends that the university's board of governors "publicly acknowledge that there is a serious problem at the university and undertake and set out its plan to fix it."

Butgiven that many staff and students on campus have lost trust in figures of authority who held officeat UPEIover the time period covered by the report, the report says an independent auditor should be appointed to monitor how much progress is being made.

The board was quick to release a statementto the university community after the report's release on Wednesday.

"Although the report is not specific as to when events occurred, it does recount troubling incidents and expresses important concerns about the need for improved policies and procedures onharassment, discrimination, and unfair treatment," the statement said in part.

"We deeply regret that, as an institution, we have not always lived up to our values, particularly in the time period covered by the review. We must do better, and we will. We will to continue to work hard to create a safe, respectful, and positive environment for all members of the UPEI community."

As first steps, the board pledged to:

• develop an action plan to implement the consultant's recommendations,
• create a new position for avice-president, people and culture, as a first step in developing a new organizational structure for UPEI, and
• give more resources to the Equity, Diversity, and InclusionOffice; and the Sexual Violence, Prevention, and Response Office.

The statement said counsellors will be on campus from Wednesday afternoon through Friday "to provide confidential one-to-one support for staff and faculty during this time," given that: "The contents of the report are difficult to read and we realize that some may find them triggering."

'A childish, toxic place'

Some of that "triggering" content came from a survey of current and former students, faculty and staffthat brought 1,295 responses. That level of response indicates "roughly 61% of current faculty participated in the review, 53% of current staff, and 7.7% of current students."

UPEI had 5,500 students from 92 countries during the2023-24 academic year, and 853 full-time employees.

Researchers from Rubin Thomlinson followed up with 163 interviews conducted virtually.

Then there are the accounts of people who signed non-disclosure agreements connected to the university29such documents in the past decade alone. It was a struggle to track them down because UPEI said their names were protected by privacy laws, but the consultants did end up speaking to 13 people who signed NDAs.

The experiences captured in the report are chilling in many cases, describing racist, sexist and otherwise harassing behaviour on the part of faculty, staff and students.

Warning: Some readers may find the content below disturbing.

Some of the comments:

• "There is an institutional acceptance of bullying at UPEI some awful things got ignored the university is a childish, toxic place."
• Some female participants said that they had been excluded from "all-male" meetings in their department, and that during these "all-male" meetings, their male colleagues had discussed issues and made decisions related to their female colleague's work without consulting with them.
• "UPEI is the most miserable, soul-sucking place of work I have ever experienced. Managers talk about other employees behind their backs to other staff members, harassment and bullying is acceptable."
• "I was raped on campus. I had sexually explicit images taken of me without my consent and sent around campus."
• "Sexual assault happened in the residence community and was not taken seriously by senior staff."
• "There was a known predatory male teacher working within my program that the female faculty advised students to not go into his office alone. This man would sniff girls' hair and told my entire class that he wanted to spank all the girls for using the word 'just' in a presentation. Previous allegations against him were never pursued because he scared the girl so bad, she left the university."
• "The dean and male colleagues commented on my pregnancy and post-pregnancy body."
• "I attended a student presentation, at the end of which a male faculty member told a student in front of the group, 'I find it inappropriate what you're wearing, I couldn't hear anything you said.' The student was female and was wearing an above-knee skirt."
• "In a class at a UPEI open house day before starting at UPEI, the prof put a picture of a female leader in the field on the screen and said 'Boys! Isn't she hot?!?!?'"
• "I was told that women don't go into computer science as often as men because women don't like keeping up with new technology."
• "A friend of mine was given an extra 15% on a final after keeping silent when a professor groped her while answering a question about the exam."
• "A casual racism is prevalent at UPEI student leaders would use [the] n-word... [it's] not seen as a problem."
• "I was called terrorist by a white guy in meal hall. I was shocked and left the meal hall promptly."
• "A professor said to a friend of mine...she finished her essay, and he returned it and said, 'You wrote very well for someone who speaks ESL,' but she speaks English as a first language."
• One participant said that when she asked a male decision-maker why she was passed over for a leadership opportunity in favour of a less qualified male, she was told, "I am a little bit sexist." The male decision-maker then advised the participant that she should be "less efficient" and "less intimidating" if she wanted to appear appealing for leadership roles.

The report went on: "Given the relatively few racialized women on campus, we cannot provide even anonymized examples of what they have experienced because they will be identifiable. Suffice it to say, they described a state of affairs in which they were profoundly disrespected, 'othered,'and subjected to unwelcome conduct."

The board's statement on Wednesday acknowledged that "throughout the report, concerns with clarity and consistency of our policies, processes, and practices were identified. And as expected, the report makes recommendations to significantly strengthen these.

"Many of the recommendations involve areas in which we have made progress in the last 18 months, including equity, diversity and inclusion, and sexual violence prevention and response. We welcome thethoughtful recommendations from the report. We must continue to improve, and we will."