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The University of Toronto’s law school will return a $450,000 gift from Amazon amid criticism that the source of the gift wasn’t shared publicly and participants in events supported by the gift weren’t told who funded them, the law school said in a statement Friday.
“The Faculty of Law upheld the University’s firm commitment to academic freedom, institutional autonomy and integrity,” the dean, Jutta Brunnée, wrote in the statement announcing the gift’s return. “Nonetheless, we acknowledge the important questions raised about the lack of full transparency pertaining to the gift, and the perception of external influence on our academic activities.”
The situation at Toronto was first reported by The Logic, a Canadian publication covering “transformational change.” The university’s decision not to report the gift was under review by the Canadian Association of University Teachers, a faculty union.
In addition to returning the gift, Toronto officials said the university would adopt a new guideline to “ensure that in the future, all philanthropic donations from corporations will be publicly disclosed.”
“As a learning organization with a deep commitment to continuous improvement and to upholding the highest standards of excellence, the university is also commissioning an independent survey of best practices among postsecondary institutions with respect to recognition and disclosure of corporate giving,” Brunnée wrote.
