UCSA Press Release on the Joel Hayward Thesis

The University of Canterbury Students’ Association today welcomed the long awaited independent Working Party Report into the Joel Hayward Thesis ‘The Fate of the Jews in German Hands’. The UCSA accepts the position taken on not reducing the grade or revoking the thesis as being in keeping with the restrictions of the law and the requirements of academic freedom. The report highlighted concerns expressed earlier this year by UCSA relating the Universities procedures in dealing with postgraduate studies.

Dillon Burke ‘Acting UCSA President" said "The UCSA welcomes the adoption and public release of the Working Party Report into the Joel Hayward Thesis in its entirety."

The UCSA believes that the University of Canterbury does not support holocaust denial or anti-Semitism.

"The UCSA believes that this was an isolated incident, and that while this particular thesis was flawed, that the standard of scholarship at Canterbury remains high. "

"While we have concerns about postgraduate procedures at Canterbury we recognise that there have been some changes in the time since the Hayward thesis was submitted. We are pleased the University has set up a working party to improve procedures and we are committed to working with the University to review existing practices."

For more information please contact:

Dillon Burke Acting UCSA President 03-351-2331

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