Author Steven Galloway, chair of the creative writing program at the University of British Columbia, has been fired from his position, following an internal investigation over undisclosed “serious allegations” against him.
Galloway was suspended with pay in November, while the university reviewed the charges under the leadership of retired B.C. Supreme Court Judge Mary Ellen Boyd. According to The Globe and Mail, the school’s board of governors voted to terminate Galloway based on Boyd’s report and the recommendation of UBC dean of arts, Gage Averill.
Philip Steenkamp, UBC’s vice-president of external relations, told The Globe that “as a result of the findings in that meeting and coupled with the dean’s recommendation and the findings of Mary Ellen Boyd, the president came to the conclusion that there was record of misconduct that resulted in an irreparable breach of the trust placed in faculty members by the university, its students and the general public.”
In November, Gage Averill, UBC’s dean of arts, told Q&Q there was a possibility the results of the investigation would be made public. “At this point, I don’t know, but we’ll make a determination based on the findings,” he said. However, Steenkamp told The Globe that would not happen because “he was constrained by privacy considerations.”
Annabel Lyon and Linda Svendsen replaced Galloway as acting program co-chairs. Susan Danard, UBC’s managing director of public affairs, told Q&Q, “the Faculty of Arts will now put a process in place to determine the permanent chair or co-chairs.”