Chair of the University of British Columbia’s Board of Governors, Michael Korenberg, announced his resignation Saturday night after it was revealed he had ‘liked’ a number of tweets opposing the Black Lives Matter movement.
As reported by the Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper, many of the tweets Korenberg liked were also critical of Antifa.
Screenshots tweeted out by student group UBC Students Against Bigotry show one tweet Korenberg liked, posted by conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza, likened Antifa to paramilitary organizations operated by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
Korenberg had unliked the tweets in question as of Saturday night.
In a statement released Saturday night, Korenberg said he was stepping down as chair of the board of governors.
“Over the last two weeks some articles/statements that I ‘liked’ on Twitter supported regressive voices and took aim at thousands of brave individuals standing up against racism, discrimination and hatred,” he said in a statement.
“While I do not support violence of any kind, I understand how my actions created questions about who I am and what I believed in.”
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Korenberg said he supports the Black Lives Matter movement and the de-racialization of educational institutions in Canada.
The UBC board of governors said in its own statement that it recognizes Korenberg’s actions were deeply hurtful to members of the community.
“We as the Board reaffirm our commitment to anti-racism and anti-discrimination, particularly at this moment where collectively we need to advance the actions of the university, to engage in learning and provide strong leadership,” it said.
“As Board members, we must also hold ourselves accountable: the Board is committed to internal conversations about how to further these values in the coming months.”
Korenberg has served on the board since 2016 and was elected chair in 2018, after two years as vice-chair.
He also worked with UBC as an adjunct professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law between 1991 and 2014, and formerly worked as the deputy chair and managing director of the Jim Pattison Group.
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