April 1974—August 1975 Burnaby, B.C. […]

When

1974-04 – 1975-08

Description

April 1974—August 1975 Burnaby, B.C. When Michael Eliot-Hurst came out publicly, joining the struggle for gay rights, he had to fight to keep his position as chairperson of the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University. In March of 1975, Eliot-Hurst was briefly hospitalized and was placed on a medical leave-of-absence by Pauline Jewett, the University's president. An acting department chair was appointed. By May, however, Eliot-Hurst had recovered and was ready to return to work, but was not allowed to by the University. It was then that he uncovered an attempt to replace him as chairperson for the rest of his term (to August 31,1975) because the department had "lost confidence" in him. Eliot-Hurst suspected the real reason behind his medical "suspension" was the University administration's disapproval of his open homosexuality and Marxist politics. After much wrangling, Eliot-Hurst was reinstated as chairperson of the Department of Geography effective August 15,1975, only two weeks before his term was to expire.

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