Although Adam Rogers moved his three children and pregnant wife into residence at the University of Toronto’s Mississauga campus, he never saw the inside of a classroom. Rogers — who applied to transfer from Waterloo after his third year — was never accepted into the university despite being offered a residence spot, a situation that he says plunged his family into poverty and is now the centre of a $5-million lawsuit.

In the lawsuit filed this month, Rogers alleges that the university made errors when processing his application and misled him to believe he would be accepted to finish his final year of studies at the University of Toronto’s Mississauga campus (UTM) starting in September 2007. This caused him to lose full-time student status and his student loans, which were the main source of income for his family.

But the statement of claim acknowledges that Rogers received a letter rejecting his application for transfer “around the same time” he received a letter offering his family a lease on a residence apartment. Despite the rejection letter, Rogers prepared to move his family to campus, believing that the school must have made a mistake.

Rogers appealed the rejection and although his appeal was rejected in early August, he moved his family to campus anyways and filed a second appeal. That too was denied in early September.

In the eviction ruling, the Landlord and Tenant board — a neutral arbitrator — found that the situation did not come about because of an administrative error. “The Tenants moved into a rental unit that is intended for student housing, knowing full well that the male Tenant had been denied admission to the University,” the ruling argued.

Erica Rogers, Adam’s wife, said, “It breaks my heart when my children complain they are hungry, but I have to tell them we have nothing to eat. It hurts me to tell them they can’t play in the snow because we cannot afford winter clothes for them. Why should our children have to suffer so dearly for the University’s mistakes?” Rogers’ eldest daughter, who is five, is presently not attending school due to the financial situation of the family.

Rogers says that he consulted with his advisors at the University of Waterloo and was advised that the kind of form rejection letter he received in July was not unusual and was often intended to be an invitation to an applicant to provide further background information. The standard transfer application administered by the Ontario Universities' Application Centre includes very little information about the applicant.

Rogers claims that he believed that because UTM had offered him, and his family, residence that his appeal would be a “mere formality” and he would be admitted to UTM. He also says that some UTM staff, not identified in the statement of claim, acknowledged an unspecified error in processing his application. He expected these errors to be corrected and to be admitted to UTM.

The University of Toronto Students’ Union is supporting the case. “Adam Rogers has not only been robbed of a future, but his position as breadwinner for his family has been compromised,” said Ahmad Khan, a students’ union vice-president. “The University still refuses to accept responsibility for this travesty, and instead has threatened to shut the door on this wonderful family.”

Jane Stirling, Director of Marketing and Communications for UTM, said the University could not comment directly on the case. UTM has until the end of January to file a defense with the courts.

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