Shocked and appalled

The February issue of University Affairs keeps alive the controversy over an ad in the Maclean's University Issue. The article, by Daniel Drolet, reports Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Ken Whyte not backing down an inch. Well, maybe an inch. He says that if he had to do it over again, he'd run the ad (for AXE body spray, which takes the form of a mock survey about sexual and partying behaviour) but ask that real universities' names not be used.

Ann Dowsett Johnston, the doyenne of the universities issue, recently bailed from a long career at Maclean's to become Vice-principal, development, alumni and university relations at McGill University, and, although this may be only one of her reasons, she made it clear that she was not a happy person:

"I thought it was deeply regrettable, especially given its sexism and its use of the names of the universities who bargain in good faith with us. I think it sends a terrible message to the reader. We have worked very hard to demonstrate our commitment to higher education. This was a very provocative sexual insert."