Three Trent University faculty members have hired one of Canada's most experienced constitutional lawyers to represent them in challenging a board of governor's resolution they claim subverts the power of Trent's academic senate.

Professors Ian McLachlan, Peter Kulchyski and Andrew Wernick retained lawyer John Laskin to file a notice of application for judicial review of a Nov. 12 board decision to close Peter Robinson College and Traill College. The professors claim the board does not have the authority to override the right of the senate to determine educational policy as set out in Trent's governing statute.

On Nov. 9, Trent's senate voted to preserve the colleges after discovering a presidential task force recommended the closures as part of a capital development plan. Under the plan, Trent would use the proceeds from the sale of the two downtown colleges to partially fund a $70 million expansion of the main campus.

In their application the Trent faculty members ask the federal court to quash the board's decision as Trent's downtown colleges are "an integral part of the educational policy of the university."

A "Friends of the Trent Colleges" trust fund has been set up to collect funds for the challenge and financial support for the three professors is pouring in. Trustee George Nader said they are getting support from people associated with each of the colleges at Trent. "This tells us this is not a fight between the downtown and Symons campus as it's been portrayed by the administration. On the contrary, their blueprint for the university is an attack on the college system as a whole and more and more people are recognizing that."