On September 7th, it was revealed that Dr. Mehta had been fired from Acadia several months after the University had launched an investigation into his conduct.
The very first time I interacted with professor Mehta was back in January of this year. He was receiving media attention for a tweet he sent out on twitter. Senator Lynn Beyak was kicked out of the Conservative caucus after featuring letters of support for the Residential School System on her senate website. Dr. Mehta tweeted to Conservative leader Andrew Scheer criticising him for presenting himself as a defender of free speech only to turn his back on the senator when her freedom was under fire. His tweet was not supporting Lynn Beyak, it was supporting her right to express herself. Despite this, the lash back aginst Dr. Mehta was severe. I then invited him onto my Podcast to discuss the events that took place and we had a great conversation.
Just a few weeks after this event, the University of Acadia launched 2 different investigations against Dr. Mehta, one conducted by law professor Wayne MacKay and the other by Dean of Science Jeff Hooper. It is alleged that the University received complaints by both students and faculty against the professor, what he talks about and the way he teaches his classes. Heather Hemming, vice-president academic at Acadia, stated in a letter to professor Mehta on February 13th:
"These concerns relate to the manner in which you are expressing views that you are alleged to be advancing or supporting and, in some instances, time that you are spending on these issues in the classroom. The university has a legal responsibility to provide an environment free from discrimination, sexual harassment and personal harassment. The nature and frequency of these complaints and the significance of the allegations is concerning for the university, and we have determined the necessity of proceeding to a formal investigation."
Several students have claimed that they feel intimidated by Mehta and have stopped attending his class. Mehta himself has stated that he is trying to get his students to think about these topics by exposing them to another point of view and that he would not test them on anything that didn't fall within the course material. His attempt to truly educate his students has been met with push back and attacks on his personal character.
In a statement made on the University's Facebook page, an anonymous source stated:
"We can confirm that Dr. Rick Mehta, a professor in Acadia University’s Department of Psychology, has been dismissed by the University. As this is a personnel matter, the University will provide no additional comments or respond to requests for further details.”
Considering the media attention and popularity that Dr. Mehta has received in 2018, the University's unwillingness to speak to the media or provide any further details is concerning, especially considering the University did not outline any specific comment or examples of misconduct that required Mehta to be fired from his position. When it comes to the reasons he was let go, Acadia only said his conduct included "failure to fulfill academic responsibilities, unprofessional conduct, breach of privacy, and harassment and intimidation of students and other members of the University community." This all comes from the two investigative reports released by MacKay and Hooper.
Dr. Mehta wanted the reports to be made public, but the only way this would have been possible would be for professor Mehta to sign a gag order, refusing to allow him to speak about the situation, and this has been something else the University has refused to comment on. Mehta has stated that if the reports were made public, people would see that his termination is not justified and the complaints against him unfounded.
There has been a social media campaign against professor Mehta in the past. A petition at change.org was set up to get Mehta removed from his position.
There has also been another petition in support for Dr. Mehta, again on change.org
The petition of support has more signatures then the petition to have him removed.
Dr. Rick Mehta is the victim of an ideological purge taking place on University campuses right now. He is a strong proponent to exposing his students to different points of view and pushing back against the Politically Correct world that takes place on campuses now. Because of this, he had to be removed. No one has proven that he is guilty of bullying or harassment or racism or trans phobia. The only thing that he is guilty of is speaking his mind and standing by his principles.
