The organization representing 72,000 university academics and staff across the country is considering censuring the University of Toronto for accepting an undisclosed US$450,000 donation from Amazon in 2022, The Logic has learned. 

U of T committed “a serious violation of basic standards of academic integrity and academic freedom” when it accepted the donation from the Seattle-based online shopping giant, according to a letter from David Robinson, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), to U of T president Meric Gertler.

The Aug. 24 letter cites The Logic’s reporting on Amazon’s donation to the university’s law faculty, a contribution that was not publicly disclosed or openly discussed.

The donation was the beginning of what U of T assistant dean for advancement Jennifer Lancaster hoped would be “a long-term relationship,” according to documents obtained through an access-to-information request. The money funded research and discussions on antitrust issues just as the federal government was announcing plans to revamp competition laws in the country to ensure fair competition in the online marketplace—in part by containing Big Tech’s power and reach. 

Staff in the law faculty picked academics for the events from what U of T Future of Law Lab director Joshua Morrison called “Amazon’s list.” Much of the output resulting from the initiative, which included roundtables and a symposium, involved voices either recommended by Amazon or hewing to the company’s longstanding view that competition reforms are unnecessary. 

“A failure to disclose that Amazon not only sponsored but also selected seminar speakers would constitute a serious violation of basic standards of academic integrity and academic freedom. Disclosure of financial interests and funding sources is a fundamental requirement of all academic research,” reads Robinson’s letter, which questions whether the school’s advancement office ensured the donation “was consistent with the University’s policies and guidelines.”

Those guidelines state clearly that the university “will not accept a gift if it comes with any condition that would compromise institutional autonomy, integrity, or academic freedom,” the letter noted. 

There’s “certainly a possibility” of a CAUT censure of the university should the administration be unwilling to investigate or revise its donations policies, Robinson said in an interview with The Logic. A censure includes a number of potential measures, including the CAUT asking its members or the international academic community to decline invitations or honours from the institution, and to publicize the censure. 

In 2021, the CAUT censured U of T for its treatment of Valentina Azarova, a human rights lawyer whom the university tapped to head its International Human Rights Program, only to rescind the offer following pressure from Tax Court judge David Spiro. “The interesting and somewhat ironic thing is that, coming out of the Azarova case, one of the ways in which we settled the censure was by the university agreeing to modify its guidelines on the acceptance of donations,” Robinson said.

The University of Toronto Faculty Association, a CAUT member organization, published a letter on its website on Monday saying the donation raises “serious questions about what collegial processes were followed, if any, before the decision to accept the donation was made and what steps were taken to ensure that the gift supports approved academic priorities.” The association told members it has asked for an “urgent meeting” with U of T vice-president and provost Cheryl Regehr, whose office is responsible for academic and budgetary matters. 

Neither Gertler, Lancaster nor anyone from the university’s media relations team responded to requests for comment regarding Robinson’s letter by deadline. “Some event expenses, such as travel and hospitality costs, were paid from the Amazon gift,” said law faculty dean Jutta Brunnée in a statement to The Logic last week. It was not used to pay a portion of Morrison’s salary, as the documents stated, Brunnée said.