Dear Editor:

It is no surprise to anyone who has carefully studied the local
university scene that the University of Waterloo's President, James
Downey in his Aug. 26 letter, would leap to the defence of John Stubbs,
the beleaguered President of Simon Fraser University.

After all, both Downey and Stubbs played integral roles in flawed
attempts to fire men accused of sexual harassment.

So it is no wonder that Downey congratulates Stubbs because "he took a
firm decision and held to it."

We are supposed to ignore, I suppose, the fact that both Downey and
Stubbs had their decisions overturned by independent adjudicators,
costing their respective universities tens of thousands of dollars.

But isn't it a little odd that at a university, where truth is supposed
to be a goal, Downey finds it more important to be "firm" than to be
right?

There is one significant difference between the two cases, however.

At SFU, the University finally acknowledged significant problems in the
procedures that led to the dismissal, and Stubbs later took medical
leave, perhaps to ponder his lack of judgment.  At UW, however, the
University never apologized and Downey is still at the helm.

Seekers after truth must deal with the possibility that they are, from
time to time, simply wrong.

But has any administrator at UW ever publicly admitted error in any
matter whatsoever?

Jeffrey Shallit
Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science
University of Waterloo