[Wamvan] Fwd: UBC Broadcast E-mail: UBC measures announced to address C.U.S. FROSH events

[Natalie Hill]

FYI - Message from Stephen Toope today, re: UBC frosh.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <message at ubc.ca>
Date: Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 9:43 AM
Subject: UBC Broadcast E-mail: UBC measures announced to address C.U.S.
FROSH events
To: ubc-students at broadcast.ubc.ca


To: All UBC students, faculty and staff

We are announcing today the measures we are taking, following our careful
consideration of the report by the fact-finding panel charged with looking
into
the Commerce Undergraduate Society FROSH chant. Some facts have now been
established and publicly acknowledged. UBC Sauder School of Business
first-year
students were led in a chant advocating rape and sexual violence by C.U.S.
FROSH leaders during the week of September 3rd 2013.

The report, which we have made public, found no evidence of C.U.S. leaders'
advance directives to use the chant during 2013 FROSH events. However, the
report determined that this and other offensive chants were a C.U.S. oral
tradition, that no C.U.S. leader intervened to stop anyone initiating the
chant, and that the vast majority of first year students attending the
C.U.S.
FROSH events would have been exposed to the chant. The report
(http://news.ubc.ca/2013/09/18/ubc-announces-measures/) also concludes that
some C.U.S. FROSH activities were inappropriately sexualized.

After serious consideration, we believe it is essential that the C.U.S.
leadership and all the FROSH leaders be held accountable for what took
place,
and that they make tangible amends.  At the same time, the whole UBC
community
needs to embark upon a deeper, transformative and lasting process of change
that would make it near impossible for such blatant intimidation and abuse
to
take place.

The measures (http://news.ubc.ca/2013/09/18/ubc-announces-measures/) we are
announcing today address three broad areas: holding accountable the student
leaders who were involved in this year's CUS FROSH events; supporting robust
education and change efforts at the Sauder School of Business and across the
entire university; and restoring the community's trust.

To further address the more pernicious, systemic aspects of the casual
acceptance of violence and sexualization that we believe manifests itself in
incidents such as the C.U.S. FROSH rape chant, Vice-President Louise Cowin
has
been charged with leading a special task force to report back early next
year.
The Task Force will marshal UBC's best thinking and its resources to outline
broader actions to support the kind of transformative, robust change we
believe
is necessary.

In closing, we are extremely sorry that our students were exposed to this
appalling chant and to some inappropriate FROSH activities. Should other
disturbing incidents come to light, we will address those as well.  We are
determined that future welcome week activities – run by UBC or our student
groups – will make all new students feel respected, safe and engaged.

We are seizing this opportunity to strike at the sexual violence and
intolerance that we know still lurks beneath the surface in pockets of our
society.  UBC is so much better than this. The opportunity that these
disturbing events present will allow us to find out more about ourselves and
grow so we can together accomplish that which is bigger, bolder and better:
a
truly respectful, safe and inclusive university culture that supports the
best
in all of us.

Stephen Toope, President
Louise Cowin, Vice-President, Students
Robert Helsley, Dean, Sauder School of Business

--------------------

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