The University of Toronto refuses to invest in meaningful social change

There is a serious ideological battle lurking in the shadows at the University of Toronto. For the past three years, the Buddhism, Psychology, and Mental Health (BPMH) program has been embroiled in an administrative war of attrition that has forced the program’s plight to fade from public attention. But the BPMH program represents a vision for the future of education that is desperately needed in our present era of mindless consumption, animosity, and isolation. The BPMH Task Force is a coalition of students, faculty, alumni, and community partners that is advocating for this program. The BPMH program dares to address the deeper roots of our social crises and faces unjust closure by the university because of it. Those of us who aspire for education to reach its full potential must not let the University of Toronto quietly eradicate one of its most promising programs. The BPMH program must not be closed. 

What is the BPMH program?

The BPMH program is an undergraduate minor hosted by New College that was established in 2006 and integrates the disciplines of psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, public health, Buddhist studies, and contemplative science in the study of mental health and the nature of wellbeing. It takes a transdisciplinary approach to understanding the human mind and how we engage with the world.

This multifaceted and diverse approach to understanding consciousness is one of the pillars of the BPMH program’s innovation because the human mind cannot be fully understood by any one discipline alone. Studying mental health only from the perspective of neuroscience, for example, will not account for the innumerable aspects of human experience that exist outside the brain. Humans suffer and thrive not just because of their brain mechanics, but also because of their bodies, beliefs, values, desires, and experiences. We are conditioned by our social, political, cultural, and economic environments. If we are ever going to grasp the nature of suffering, mental health and wellbeing, we must surely investigate it from several perspectives simultaneously.

Moreover, the BPMH program acknowledges that knowing something intellectually and actually experiencing it for yourself are fundamentally different ways of understanding ourselves and the world around us. Experiential learning and engaging in contemplative practices is central to the BPMH program’s pedagogy, which is evident in courses such as “BPM338H1: Exploring Mindful Awareness.” While theory is certainly essential to thinking critically, some things can only be learned through experience. The BPMH program trains students in both theory and in practice, in the sciences and the humanities, and in compassion and critical thinking. It is truly the future of education, which is to say it is the education we desperately need /in order/ to have a future.

Administrative indiscretions

The BPMH program prioritizes everything that the University of Toronto claims to value: innovation, engagement, sustainability, diversity, and student welfare. All over the city, the university has plastered its promises to “Defy Gravity.” Yet when presented with a program that actually breaks boundaries and challenges the limits of what education can be, the university undermines it with indifference, disregard, and outright hostility.

When external reviewers assessed the BPMH program in early 2023, they were extremely impressed with the program and recommended that the university expand its resources. But rather than following this recommendation, the university responded by creating an internal working group, which failed to conduct any meaningful consultation with program students, faculty, and community partners before recommending the program be closed. Three long years later, the university has still failed to provide meaningful justification for the unwarranted and baseless recommendation to close the BPMH program.

The list goes on

Lacking the academic justification to close the program properly, the university has resorted to more Machiavellian means: taking steps to weaken the program while circumventing the policies that ordinarily protect programs from arbitrary closure. In January 2024, the university suspended enrollment into the BPMH program. While suspensions like these are technically above board, they are explicitly meant to be a temporary measure while administration decides how to deal with a program one way or the other. Yet as of September 2026, as the BPMH program cohort approaches graduation, the suspension remains indefinite. This treatment of a thriving program, whose courses are consistently full and whose work is consistently acclaimed internationally, is simply unprecedented. The university seems to be forcing the BPMH program into obsolescence by artificially creating a lack of enrollment that can be used as justification to close the program.

The university has furthermore dismantled the program’s course offerings, fundraising opportunities, and full-time directorship position. The university has spent years slowly sabotaging the program and repeatedly dismissing the pleas, protests, and petitions of students, faculty, and community members alike. Essentially, the administration is effectively closing the program while avoiding the policies and principles of fairness that ordinarily govern such procedures. 

The future of education

So, why does it matter? Is it particularly shocking that the university does not care about education so much as business? Unfortunately, the hypocrisy of the university is nothing new. The BPMH program is representative of a much larger debate about education: what is the purpose of education? Is it to train obedience or curiosity? Is it to break boundaries or conform to them?

Education has the power to change people’s minds and thus change the world. The University of Toronto understands this—their entire brand is built upon the claim that it harnesses the power of education to create positive change in the world. But mission statements mean nothing when they are not put into practice.

The “20 Days for 20 Years” campaign

With the final year of BPMH students on the cusp of graduating and new administrative appointments to the Faculty of Arts & Science, the BPMH Task Force has renewed advocacy for the program and its rightful restitution. In honour of the BPMH program’s twentieth anniversary this year, our Task Force is calling our campaign 20 Days for 20 Years: a program of 20 events throughout the fall semester to gather awareness about the BPMH program and its administrative mistreatment. Those interested in supporting the campaign can scan the QR code to learn more and to see the BPMH Task Force’s full calendar of events.

Administrative policies exist for a reason and should be followed. Students aspire for meaningful education towards a meaningful future. The BPMH program achieves this, and its attempted closure by subterfuge is an egregious case of administrative injustice. The University of Toronto has a responsibility to its students to do better. The BPMH program must not be closed.