TORONTO – The professor who allegedly taught anti-vaccination theories at Queen’s University will not be teaching the course in question for the rest of the school year.
The Kingston, Ont., university confirmed Tuesday that Melody Torcolacci was no longer teaching the course that faced heavy scrutiny last week.
“Melody Torcolacci has requested and been granted leave from the teaching of HLTH 102 for the remainder of the term. Discussions around her other classes are ongoing,” university spokeswoman, Rosie Hales, told Global News in an email.
READ MORE: Queen’s University students allege professor is teaching anti-vax theories
The university made headlines last Wednesday after PowerPoint slides from Torcolacci’s lecture on vaccines made the rounds on social media.
Students flagged the content to their Academic Affairs Commission.
“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.
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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.”
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“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.
Alan Harrison, the university’s provost, said he’s “gathering information” and couldn’t say how long that process could take.
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“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.”
Torcolacci did not respond to email or phone requests for comment from Global News.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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