Rhonda Lenton

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Rhonda L. Lenton
Rhonda Lenton.png
A screengrab of President Rhonda Lenton in a promotional video by York University in 2018
8thPresident of York University
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 1, 2017

Rhonda L. Lenton is a Canadian academic administrator and professor. She became the 8th and current president and vice-chancellor of York University in Toronto, Canada, upon succeeding Mamdouh Shoukri on July 1, 2017 for a five-year term. She previously served as Dean of Atkinson College and later as York's Vice President Academic and Provost. Prior to her role in academic administration, Lenton was a Professor of Sociology. During her research career, Lenton led randomized public telephone surveys of social issues such as Internet dating, sexual assaults, and continues to examine Judaism in Canada.

Contents

Career

Research

Lenton completed her Ph.D in sociology at the University of Toronto in 1989. The title of her dissertation was Parental Discipline and Child Abuse. [2] Before becoming an academic administrator, she published research on a range of topics related to antisemitism, [3] [4] family violence, feminism in academia, and online dating. [5] Her work included a 1999 national telephone survey of randomly selected women, asking them about their experiences with sexual harassment and assault. [6] She has also researched the impact that the inclusion of women's studies within academia has had on feminism, determining that it had made feminism more conservative. [7] She also conducted randomized robocalls regarding Internet dating behaviours of the Canadian public in 2001. [8] In 2018, Lenton collaborated on a landmark study with her husband Robert Brym [9] and Environics, titled 2018 Survey of Jews in Canada. [10] The report was based on phone surveys of up to eighty questions [11] and presents a "portrait of the identity, practices, and experiences of Jews in Canada". [12] As university Provost, Lenton supported male students in their requests to keep them away from female students due to their religious preferences. [13]

York University president

Lenton's appointment as university president became effective on July 1, 2017. As the university's chief spokesperson during a divisive part-time faculty strike in 2015, during which time she was also on the university's negotiating committee, Lenton's anticipated presidential appointment generated widespread opposition from an alliance of university students and faculty members prior to its announcement. [14]

In 2018, during her first year, a second strike occurred at the university under her leadership. [15] Undergraduate students occupied the University Senate in support of the strike for several months. During the sit-in, the participants highlighted potential expense account spending issues from Lenton's term as Vice President Academic and President, in addition to various other tuition-oriented concerns. [16] [17] [18]

On May 1, 2018, an official letter by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) admonished both Lenton and Richard E. Waugh, the Chair of the Board of Governors (BoG), for their concerted and repeated attempts to undermine academic self-governance at York University. At that time, several York University faculty councils and student associations also carried non-confidence motions in the conduct and leadership of Lenton as president. [19] [20] On May 11, the union representing the full-time tenured faculty stated the strike had lasted more than two months due to Lenton and the board's desire to break the union. [21]

On June 6, 2024, the York University administration, under Lenton's leadership, called dozens of police forces to dismantle an encampment that protestors had set up the day before to demand the university to disclose its investments and divest from and cut ties with Israel; CBC News noted on that day that another encampment at the University of Toronto remained. [22] Among the protesters were students and Indigenous elders according to a statement from the protestors. [23] Three weeks later on June 30, she was appointed the Chair of Council of Ontario Universities. [24]

Recognition

In 2015, the Women's Executive Network named her one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada during her past role as Provost of York University. [25]

Personal life

Lenton married Robert Byrm, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto and her Doctoral supervisor, in 1987 and converted to Judaism. [9] [26] They have three daughters.

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References

  1. ↑ @yorkuniversity (August 10, 2018). "Wishing our President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Rhonda Lenton (@YorkUPresident) a wonderful birthday! We are excited..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ↑ Neil Sutherland (1992). Contemporary Canadian Childhood and Youth: A Bibliography . Greenwood Publishing Group. p.  322. ISBN   9780313285868.
  3. ↑ Brym, Robert J.; Lenton, Rhonda L. (1991). "The Distribution of Anti-Semitism in Canada in 1984". The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie. 16 (4): 411–418. doi:10.2307/3340962. ISSN   0318-6431. JSTOR   3340962.
  4. ↑ Brym, Robert J.; Lenton, Rhonda L. (1992). "Anti-Semitism in Quebec: Reply to Langlois". The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie. 17 (2): 179–183. doi:10.2307/3341195. ISSN   0318-6431. JSTOR   3341195.
  5. ↑ Chiose, Simona (February 28, 2017). "York University selects provost Rhonda Lenton as new president". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  6. ↑ Michele Antoinette Paludi and Florence Denmark (2010). Victims of Sexual Assault and Abuse: Incidence and psychological dimensions. ABC-CLIO. p. 246. ISBN   9780313379710.
  7. ↑ Robyn Wiegman (2002). Women's Studies on Its Own: A Next Wave Reader in Institutional Change . Duke University Press. p.  52.
  8. ↑ George Ritzer and Neil Guppy (2013). Introduction to Sociology: Canadian Version. SAGE Publications. p. 92. ISBN   9781483301600.
  9. 1 2 "Robert Brym | Department of Sociology". www.sociology.utoronto.ca. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  10. ↑ "2018 Survey of Jews in Canada". Environics Institute. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Understanding Canada's Jews". The Economist. March 14, 2018.
  12. ↑ Brym, Robert; Neuman, Keith; Lenton, Rhonda (March 11, 2019). "Survey of Jews in Canada - Final Report" (PDF). Environics. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 19, 2024.
  13. ↑ "York University dean who granted student's request to keep from female classmates says he wishes he 'had another choice'". National Post.
  14. ↑ Chiose, Simona (April 7, 2017). "York University urged to make search for the new president more transparent". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  15. ↑ Joshua Freeman (March 5, 2018). "Contract staff represented by CUPE begin strike at York University". CTV.
  16. ↑ Matt Dionne (March 7, 2018). "York university strike: Confusion on campus - With professors contradicting official communications, attendance for some classes is sparse while others are still full". MacLeans.
  17. ↑ Matt Dionne (April 2, 2018). "York University Strike: students occupy senate chamber for second week - Frustrated by the administration's refusal to cancel classes, students stage a sit-in". MacLeans.
  18. ↑ Brennan Doherty (March 23, 2018). "York University students stage occupation to force labour talks". The Toronto Star.
  19. ↑ "York U admin faces mounting criticism as summer term threatened by strike | YUFA". www.yufa.ca. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018.
  20. ↑ "With summer terms in jeopardy, York University slams door shut on talks to resolve strike". Canadian Insider.
  21. ↑ Muriel Draaisma (May 11, 2018). "Faculty, students call on York to return to bargaining talks amid 'unprecedented' strike". CBC.
  22. ↑ Carter, Adam (June 6, 2024). "Police dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment at York University". CBC News . Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  23. ↑ "York University Administration Called Toronto Police Services to Clear York's Popular University for Palestine". York Popular University 4 Palestine (YPU4P). Retrieved July 21, 2024– via Instagram.
  24. ↑ lmacadam (June 30, 2024). "President Lenton takes on role as Chair of eminent advocacy council for higher education in Canada". YFile. York University. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  25. ↑ "PSE leaders named among Canada's 100 Most Powerful Women". Academia Group. November 27, 2015. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Young, Canadian and Jewish: The shift from religious to cultural identity | University of Toronto". www.utoronto.ca. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
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