Queen’s University students allege professor is teaching anti-vax theories

WATCH: A Queen’s University professor is allegedly using anti-vaccination material in lectures. Peter Kim has the details.

TORONTO – Queen’s University’s student government is asking the school to investigate concerns about a kinesiology professor who is allegedly teaching anti-vaccination theories.

As the number of measles cases across North America slowly grows, vaccination is a hot-button issue. The Ontario university’s Academic Affairs Commission says it’s already alerted school officials of students’ concerns about questionable material the professor was teaching them.

READ MORE: 6 vaccination myths debunked

“There’s never been an issue in my tenure as academic commissioner that’s quite like this one. Students are frequently critical about the content they’re taught, those concerns are raised but to this degree I haven’t seen,” Colin Zarzour, Alma Mater Society academic affairs commissioner, told Global News.

Zarzour said the course, a first-year health course out of Queen’s kinesiology department, includes material that suggests the polio vaccine is tied to AIDS, among other claims. Slides shared by students question the safety of vaccines and even advise against going to the hospital because they’re “infection breeding.”

“What this does is it creates a breach of trust between faculty presenting this information and students who have to study and memorize it to get graded,” Zarzour said.

READ MORE: Anti-vaccination movement means preventable diseases making a comeback

He said that on Tuesday afternoon, students came to his office with the slides. By evening, the content was circulating on social media.

Alan Harrison, the university’s provost, said he’s “gathering information” and couldn’t say how long that process could take.

“Slides are not lectures, they are part of a lecture. I would need to know the full context in which those slides were used before I’d even begin to form a judgment. It’s way broader than just slides,” Harrison told Global News.

“The real issue is not just what the slides contain but also what the individual said because I’m sure you’re well aware, context is everything.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Slides are not lectures, they are part of a lecture. I would need to know the full context in which those slides were used before I'd even begin to form a judgment. It's way broader than just slides," Harrison told Global News.</p><p>"The real issue is not just what the slides contain but also what the individual said because I'm sure you're well aware, context is everything."

The professor teaching the course, Melody Torcolacci, did not respond to email or phone requests for comment from Global News. Harrison said her status as continuing adjunct professor will remain as he conducts his investigation.

Harrison said the school has “cyclical program reviews” every seven years so that courses are assessed internally and externally for quality.

Isabelle Duchaine, who worked as academic affairs commissioner in the past, set up a Storify collecting the slides she received from students. She told Global News she shared the slides to bring attention to the information she saw as worrisome.

“If we’re serious about vaccination as a public health crisis – and we should be – educating people about the needs of vaccination is critical. Spreading misinformation, especially to paying students under the guise of science, erases the work of thousands of public health workers, physicians and nurses,” she told Global News.

The tweets have now picked up the hashtag #antivaxprof.

“Students raise their hands and question things she says in class, especially around unsubstantiated claims about autism, but she claims the citations are all there and moves on,” one student told Global News.

READ MORE: How should health officials reverse an anti-vaxxer movement?

The student took the course last semester but asked to remain anonymous.

“I have no idea how it has been allowed by the department but it scares me as a student,” he said.

Zarzour said students have filed complaints about the course material for at least two years. The commission is hoping the school will conduct a review of the course content and that student evaluations are investigated more often.

carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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