From Drama to International Politics: Meet Stephen Toope, the New Director of the Munk School

"I was always an actor. I just loved it."

This was certainly not the response I was expecting when I asked Stephen Toope, the new Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs, about his time as a student. Eyes twinkling through his horn-rimmed glasses, Professor Toope eagerly recalls his forays into the world of acting. The undergraduate experience of the man who would become Dean of Law at McGill University and President of the University of British Columbia certainly wasn't lacking.

"I worked on a production of a play called Marat/Sade about the relationship between Marquis de Sade and Jean Paul Marat, who was a revolutionary figure. It was set in an asylum. You can imagine that it was a very strange production," Toope says, grinning as he remembers his acting days at Harvard. He continues, "I worked with a director named Giles Havergal who was from the Glasgow's Citizen's Theater which was one of the most creative theaters in the United Kingdom. This guy was so challenging he was frankly a bit scary to work with, but he was so knowledgeable and pushed us so hard I found that I learned enormously in the process."

Asking what advice he would give to undergraduate students regarding extracurricular activities, he pauses."There is no one route for any student. I genuinely believe that students should follow their true passions when it comes to both studying and extracurriculars."

Already feeling on familiar terms, only a few minutes previously I had been ushered into his office by his assistant, Sarah Namer. “You should be ready to roll right away,” she says. Squeezing in an interview with the Salterrae in his busy schedule, the life of the director of Canada’s leading institution in Global Affairs is one of constant activity. “He will be out of the country next week,” says Sarah.

Comfortable in his new office, Toope seemed as if he was in no rush at all. After reminiscing about his involvement in student productions, he continues to describe his formative undergraduate experience.

"Harvard for me was a revelation. I was coming from a public high school where no one had been to a place like Harvard before. I was very lucky I got the opportunity to go there. From Harvard I got the sense that the world really was on offer and I didn't really have to restrict my choices to predictable paths. And that to me was extremely rewarding. I met professors who were challenging and opened up the world for me."

Finishing up his studies at Harvard, Toope then returned to Canada to study Law at McGill. "It was rewarding to think about issues without assuming that there was one single answer to the problem we were facing. Because I was studying both the common law and the civil law, I was able to look at many subjects in a variety of different ways. I think that was very stimulating. It was also a very collegial environment. I learned a lot about that in my subsequent career."

His memories of McGill are undeniably fond. “I really felt that I was part of a process. So many people there helped me feel that I had a role in the law. I wasn't just trying to get through school to go to another place. I was actually contributing to the law, which felt pretty good."

Times have changed, of course. For the students at Trinity considering Law school, Toope has some words of advice for how to navigate this new, increasingly competitive environment. “There is no doubt that it is harder to get into Law school today that it was twenty-five years ago. So the first thing I would say is, don't think of law as a fallback position. I think you should study law only if you are really interested in studying law. For a few students over my years as a law professor and dean, I thought to myself, 'why are you doing this. You have no real passion for this.' It’s a hard slog. I would really recommend people do it only when they are really interested in it."

He continues with more tough love for prospective legal scholars. "Don't imagine there is a thing called ‘pre-law.’ There is no such thing. You could be doing a number of undergraduate programs and be appropriate for law school. Some of the most impressive people I taught in law were mathematics and music majors. Law is often about the ability to think logically, to organise your own thoughts and to systematise and create institutions. I think people really need to think about their options and not put all their eggs in one basket."

Toope certainly hasn't put all his eggs in one basket, taking on a multitude of roles in his highly esteemed career — from consulting roles, to university administration, to not-for-profit work at the Trudeau Foundation. "I've done a lot of consulting work and a lot of advising work over the years. Both for some international governmental organisations like the United Nations, and elsewhere. I have done a lot of work on human rights issues, legal and judicial reform issues, and broadly on Canadian foreign policy. There has been a long-term secular trend where Canada as a nation has withdrawn from its previously active role in foreign affairs."

On this note, he grows more contemplative over the state of our foreign policy. "I would say that we have become more internally focused. More focused on our relationship with the United States post-NAFTA. Frankly, I worry that we are missing opportunities to help make the world a better place. I am hopeful that this is just a cycle and over the next few years things will change. When I talk to students, I know that many are passionately interested….I am hopeful we can capture more of a commitment to global affairs, give them new life. But we have a way to go."

Toope’s desire to engage students in international affairs is apparent not only in his career as an educator at the head of Canada’s top universities, but also from his work with the Trudeau Foundation. He has spent many years in the service of the Foundation, a charity that works in four key areas: human rights and dignity, responsible citizenship, Canada’s role in the world, and people and their natural environment. His voice growing passionate, he links his work there to his new position at Munk. “There is a strong connection between the Trudeau Foundation and the mandate of the Munk School. Here at the university, we take what we are studying, turn it inside out, and bring it to the community. That’s what the Foundation does, too."

Speaking about the importance of social sciences, Toope discusses the need to emphasize these subjects and make sure they remain a key component in students’ education. "I am about to become President of the Federation of Social Sciences and Humanities. When I was initially asked about the post, I sighed to myself and thought, ‘do I really want to do that after stepping down as President at UBC?’ I ultimately decided I did want to do it because I feel very strongly that we need to reinforce the importance of the social sciences and humanities. There has been so much emphasis on the so-called STEM disciplines. Social Sciences help us understand the world, and humanities help us understand ourselves. These are both hugely important."

Throughout the interview, Toope’s open and relaxed demeanour did not change. I could tell from the enthusiasm with which he answered my questions that he genuinely enjoys working with students. Certainly, he will be the approachable face of the Munk School in the coming years. Emboldened, I asked the question which is on everyone’s minds: Why did Toope step down as President of UBC to take the top post at the Munk School? “When I decided I was going to step down from my position, I said in my letter to the community that I wanted to go back into international law. Happily, the University of Toronto shortly thereafter said, “look, the Munk School position is open, is it something that you might be interested in?” It was an easy decision for me because I think the Munk School has incredible opportunities to really be the leading Canadian voice in international affairs outside of government. There is a lot of good work which has been done, and a lot of good work which is still to come."

#StephenToope #MunkSchool