Public_Domain Public_Domain:
He wanted the alternate assignment provided to foreign exchange students, which I'm assuming allows you to work by yourself. There was nothing suggested by the student about changing the structure of the initial assignment to accomodate him. He asked specifically to be excluded and get assigned something else to make up for it.
OK. Thanks. However, I've looked around a bit now, and I see we've both missed stuff. I'll fisk your post to illustrate.
On the above: more exactly the guy was taking an online course. There was a special project included in the course. He wanted to be excluded from the project. It was the Vice Dean who suggested an alternative assignment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01/09 ... 68056.html$1:
The teacher apparently thought this was fundamentally sexist (I agree, but many religious practices are) and reported it to higher ups to make sure before deciding. Admin's decided his request wasn't radical and was able to be implemented without insult to anyone.
Professor Grayson did do a lot of research before coming to a conclusion. He interviewed Jewish and Islamic scholars to discover if there was a religious imperative to the student's request. There was not. It's cultural.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-de ... e16278726/The professor's reasoning was not necessarily limited to sexism. He was worried about a slippery slope situation, where if you allow this what's next. Here's a quote from a letter he wrote to York’s Centre for Human Rights.
“I doubt that we would sanction a student refusing, for religious reasons, to interact with blacks in classes even though biblical justification could be found,” (He could have mentioned gay students as well.)
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... niversity/He consulted his colleagues.
$1:
As reported by the National Post’s Tristin Hopper, they agreed to a resolution against any religious accommodation that “marginaliz[es] other students, faculty or teaching assistants.”
He consulted the other students.
Not surprisingly, they weren’t impressed. What if it wasn’t an online course?
“What if the male student asked that the women be seated at the back of the class or on the other side of a partition so that he would not have to see them?” one student asked.Interesting enough if you read the globe and mail article linked earlier you'll see something similar to what the student worried might happen did happen in the UK.
Now this bit's important...
"the student abandoned his request without protest, participated in the group project, and even wrote to Mr. Grayson thanking him for his consideration and diligent handling of the issue. “He’s a reasonable guy,” Mr. Grayson told the Post."Also this bit where the bureaucracy gets involved is also important...
"Then along came the great galumphing rhinoceros of Canadian officialdom.
The university’s Centre for Human Rights stressed that the Ontario Human Rights Code “require[s] accommodations based on religious observances.” And York’s dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts demanded Mr. Grayson grant the student’s original request. He added, astonishingly, that no other students in the class — women, most notably — need be negatively impacted so long as they weren’t 'made aware of the decision'."
CKA Uber 
CKA Uber 
