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Its members said he provided an "extremely enriching individualized.... empower(ing and) positive learning environment where inspired students gained confidence and courage."
Yet Rock twisted his innovate pedagogical approach and grading methods as pretext to fire him. He then ordered campus police to ban and remove him from campus, assigned his graduate students to other faculty members, fired his post doctoral research fellow, and summarily dismissed him without cause.
That's how despots operate. Under Rock, U of O is more police state than university. As a result, education and learning suffer.
Ironically, U of O's Vision 2010 claims it "Support(s) and recognize(s) initiatives designed to implement a range of new and diversified strategies for learning and evaluation."
Rancourt wanted U of O pedagogically improved and more democratic. He also advocated effectively on environmental concerns, professional ethics, lobbying, media influence, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In response, university officials silenced him by banishment.
In addition, Freedom of Information (FOI) documents showed he was victimized by intense illegal surveillance. A student spy and professional reporters were enlisted to produce transcripts of his academic and professional talks at other universities to use against him.
Most likely, it was the first time a university used a student to spy on a professor and like-minded students in violation of Canadian and international law.
Under Rock, U of O is a hotbed of autocratic extremism. It's also racist, according to a November 2011 lawsuit. A January 30, 2012 press release explained, saying:
"Dr. Waleed AlGhaithy (Neurosurgery Residency Program, University of Ottawa), Dr. Khalid Aba-Alkhail (Cardiac Surgery Residency Program) and Dr. Manal Al-Saigh (same) have filed a joint action against the University of Ottawa and several of its officials."
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