Transcona-bred prof under investigation: report

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This article was published 01/03/2018 (2774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Concordia University professor who says he taught at the University of Winnipeg is reportedly under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct.

Transcona-bred writer and English teacher Jon Paul Fiorentino is one of at least two men, along with Montreal-based writer David McGimpsey, at the centre of a third-party investigation at Concordia, according to a CBC report.

Concordia spokesperson Mary-Jo Barr would not confirm Thursday the identities of the male professors under investigation, but said Fiorentino and McGimpsey are not currently teaching at the Montreal university. 

“We can appreciate that people want to know more about the investigation into allegations, but we can’t provide details at this time,” Barr said. “We cannot risk jeopardizing the outcomes of those initiatives.”

The school has undertaken three initiatives: the aforementioned investigation, a climate review of the English department, and a task force struck to look at sexual misconduct and sexual violence.

In January, Montreal writer Mike Spry penned an essay detailing allegations of abuse in Concordia’s English department.

In an essay titled No Names, Only Monsters — Toxic Masculinity, Concordia, and CanLit, Spry described witnessing inappropriate relationships between teachers and students, and hearing about “unwanted affection, groping, inappropriate remarks, and propositions” during his 14 years at the Montreal university.

He did not name anyone allegedly involved. The school launched an investigation two days later.

According to Fiorentino’s online resumé, he taught academic writing at the U of W years earlier — from September 2003 until April 2004. The Winnipeg school could not confirm his employment history by deadline Thursday.

In May 2017, Fiorentino was a guest speaker in a creative writing class taught by U of W Prof. Jonathan Ball.

Ball said he barely knew Fiorentino, and hadn’t heard any negative rumours about the writer, who is a U of W alumnus. He said he was a fan of Fiorentino’s work, and so he invited him to speak in class while passing through Winnipeg.

Ball also had students write a response to Fiorentino’s book, Leaving Mile End.

“Students said they enjoyed the visit — they always enjoy the class visits, whoever it is, whatever that’s worth… I really am not plugged into the literary community and its rumours, I just have no time, which is apparently a good thing since the whole world seems so poisonous these days,” Ball said in an email.

One of the students in the seminar, Lindy Fontaine, said it was “uneventful.”

“Fiorentino had a more casual attitude than was expected from a guest lecturer, but his language and behaviour were appropriate during the class,” she said. 

However, one of the other students in the class — who the Free Press agreed not to name because they fear academic reprisal — said they felt singled out and made to feel incompetent by Fiorentino during the three-hour seminar. The English student said they doubted whether they wanted to be a writer anymore.

The student left the class halfway through, and did not return that semester, later failing the course because it was too late to voluntarily withdraw.

“I felt it was a bit odd the way he put attention on certain students and didn’t pay attention on other students. It was a predominantly female classroom,” the student said.

The student described the seminar as a “toxic environment.” After hearing about allegations against Fiorentino for the first time this week, they “felt bad for the people who were potentially targeted by this professor.” 

Fiorentino did not respond to a request for comment by deadline Thursday.

According to his online resumé, he has written nine books, won numerous prizes and been reviewed by outlets across Canada, including the Free Press.

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu