We have learned that at some point in 2025, Arts & Science removed the BPMH program from the list of approved fundraising priorities at New College. This means that the College cannot actively fundraise to support the program, nor can it even accept any philanthropic gifts to support the program, should they fall upon us. This action was taken without approval or discussion with anyone in BPMH or at New College.
The growth of programs focused on Buddhism at the University of Toronto have relied heavily on Buddhist philanthropy for decades. In 1989, Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai endowed the Yehan Numata Buddhist Studies Program, which has run academic lectures and scholarly conferences on campus continuously since then. Starting in 2003 and for years afterwards, the Buddhist Education Foundation of Canada provided substantial financial support to New College for its new courses on Buddhism, which then became the core of the BPMH program. In 2006, a four million dollar endowment to support Buddhist Studies at UTSC was offered by Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation; this was later moved downtown with the formation of the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Studies.
Arts & Science’s quiet removal of permission to fundraise for BPMH is yet another way that the administration is strangling the BPMH program and subverting official provincial guidelines for program status changes.