Should we care about Denis Rancourt

I only speak of Rancourt because he wrote a piece for the latest issue of "The Caucus". The only way I can describe it is as a self-indulgent piece of crap.

He says he is right because people support him.

More troubling is that he writes off all criticisms and negative feedback as from those who "understand that I threaten their comfort as they aspire to integrate into the system". Well Dr. Rancourt, I am going to tell you that I DO NOT support you, and it has nothing to do with you threatening "my comfort".

A quick look at his website will give you a bunch of information on his case, and while he may have been treated harshly, I completely agree with the outcomes.

I do not really want to convince you either way, that's not my goal here. All I will do is point out a few things.

Rancourt has been treated the same way by two successive uOttawa Presidents. He, without due cause, is extremely critical of Allan Rock. One of his criticisms directly at Pres. Rock is because Pres. Rock was deeply concerned about the racism shown by OPIRG. Another is because Pres. Rock yelled at Marc Kelly. Pshht, I yelled at Marc Kelly. Another is over the dismissal of Rancourt himself, and the final is over the whole recording of Senate meetings. Try to bring a video camera into the House of Commons.

Why is he being disciplined? He decided to deviate from the standard course methods. He intentionally decided to provoke the ire of the administration a few years back, and has never apologized or admitted he was wrong. (I urge you to look it up, you can read about the details on his website)

I do not agree with a pass/fail system, which may make sense in kindergarten, but not in University. Maybe it is acceptable at a Doctoral level, as in an Acceptable Dissertation or not so much. But surely not as an Undergraduate. We are here to learn, and we are here to learn from teachers, not facilitators. I want a Professor to tell me that I am doing well, doing okay, or doing excellent, not below 50% or above 50%. I don`t think I can apply to Grad school with a 'P' average anyway.

I do not recall seeing on his website that he awarded all his higher year students A+'s out of spite to the university either. I think it is fitting that Dr. Rancourt is trying to act political. I also think it is time we treated him with the same regard as we do other political individuals.

Dr. Rancourt, it is time to reconcile.