Rhonda Lenton

Rhonda L. Lenton is a Canadian academic administrator and professor. She is the 8th and current president and vice-chancellor at York University in Toronto, Canada having succeeded Mamdouh Shoukri on 1 July 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 and sexual assault in Canada.

Rhonda L. Lenton
Rhonda Lenton addressing people
8th President of York University
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2017
Preceded by	Mamdouh Shoukri
Personal details
Alma mater	University of Toronto
Occupation	Professor
Website	www.yorku.ca/president

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.[1] Before becoming an academic administrator, she published research on a range of topics related to family violence, feminism in academia, and online dating.[2] Her work included a 1999 national telephone survey of randomly selected women, asking them about their experiences with sexual harassment and assault.[3] 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.[4] She also conducted randomized robocalls regarding Internet dating behaviours of the Canadian public in 2001.[5] In 2018, Lenton began a study of how Jewish Canadians have reared their children and any experience they may have had with prejudice, conducted through surveys of up to eighty questions.[6] As university Provost, Lenton supported male students in their requests to keep them away from female students due to their religious preferences.[7]

York University president

Lenton's appointment as university president became effective on 1 July 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.[8]

In 2018, during her first year, a second strike occurred at the university under her leadership.[9] An undergraduate student occupation of the University Senate took place in support of the strike. The sit-in lasted several months, during which 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.[10][11][12]

On May 1, 2018 President Lenton and the Chair of the Board of Governors (BoG) both were admonished in an official letter sent by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) for their concerted and repeated attempts to undermine academic self-governance at York University. At that time, there were several York University faculty councils and student associations that also carried non-confidence motions in the conduct and leadership of Lenton as president.[13][14] 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.[15]

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.[16]

References

1. Neil Sutherland (1992). Contemporary Canadian Childhood and Youth: A Bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 322.
2. Chiose, Simona (February 28, 2017). "York University selects provost Rhonda Lenton as new president". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
3. Michele Antoinette Paludi and Florence Denmark (2010). Victims of Sexual Assault and Abuse: Incidence and psychological dimensions. ABC-CLIO. p. 246.
4. Robyn Wiegman (2002). Women’s Studies on Its Own: A Next Wave Reader in Institutional Change. Duke University Press. p. 52.
5. George Ritzer and Neil Guppy (2013). Introduction to Sociology: Canadian Version. SAGE Publications. p. 92.
6. "Understanding Canada's Jews". The Economist. March 14, 2018.
7. "York University dean who granted student's request to keep from female classmates says he wishes he 'had another choice'". National Post.
8. 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.
9. Joshua Freeman (March 5, 2018). "Contract staff represented by CUPE begin strike at York University". CTV.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Brennan Doherty (March 23, 2018). "York University students stage occupation to force labour talks". The Toronto Star.
13. https://www.yufa.ca/york-u-admin-faces-mounting-criticism-as-summer-term-threatened-by-strike/
14. "With summer terms in jeopardy, York University slams door shut on talks to resolve strike". Canadian Insider.
15. Muriel Draaisma (May 11, 2018). "Faculty, students call on York to return to bargaining talks amid 'unprecedented' strike". CBC.
16. "PSE leaders named among Canada's 100 Most Powerful Women". Academia Group. November 27, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2017.