The Queen's Journal, Volume 144, Issue 15

Page 1

the journal Vol. 144, Issue 15

Q u e e n ’ s U n iv e r s i t y

F r i day , N ov e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 6

Issues on race Former BISC students discuss & cultural incidents of sexual misconduct appropriation attract national attention Costume party deemed racist online, AMS to hold forum on racism Victoria Gibson & Maureen O’Reilly Journal News Staff

First week of September 2014

first reported incident of sexual misconduct

Seminars on consent held for first-years by concerned upper-year students

Second reported incident of sexual Misconduct

A version of this article appeared online on Nov. 23, 2016. Victoria Gibson News Editor

Every year, over 5,000 km away from Queen’s main campus in Herstmonceux, England, more than a hundred first year students begin their studies at Queen’s Bader International Study Center (BISC) with the same excitement as any first year students. During the 2014-15 academic year, however, the first two months alone would offer a very different experience. “Plenty of people were terrified to go anywhere alone,” Bryan Cuypers, 2014-15 BISC student-council president, recalled of his term two years ago. “It brought up a sense of fear among the

Admin response and clear policy at satellite campus lacking, students say

October 31

Third Reported incident of Sexual Misconduct October 31

Students take to social media to call out admin for stronger response

students — essentially every girl, and even some of the guys.” Throughout those first two months rumors circulated around the BISC of various incidents of sexual misconduct. Faculty and supervisors had been informed, public forums and workshops were held and yet, for those directly affected, the administrative response was inadequate. The Journal spoke to three female students who reported instances of sexual assault and harassment that year, along with student leaders and Queen’s administration, to document the reporting of and responses to sexual violence at Queen’s satellite campus. The names of the three female students

November

Meetings held between affected students and administrators

have been changed in this story to protect their identities. Due to the sensitive nature of their experiences, each chose to describe their cases in writing for The Journal, and later answered any follow-up questions for clarity. The incidents involving Alex and Rachel arose within weeks of each other, leading up to the most severe instance with Diana on Oct. 31. Approximately one month into the year, Alex reported that she was sexually harassed within the BISC residence building. “While I was hooking up with a guy I got my period unexpectedly, my period blood got onto the pillowcase,” she wrote. “We See Students on page 3

Gummo named as 2017 Rhodes Scholar Queen’s student and advocate to attend Oxford in the fall

Julia Balakrishnan Assistant Photo Editor

“Policy interests me as a tool for change,” Claire Gummo, ArtSci ’16, said. For Gummo, the statement has been backed by extensive experience. A politics major with a minor in gender studies, the last four years have been a practice ground for her experience in shaping policy for the University. Now, she’s been selected alongside 11 students across Canada for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. “If there is anything Queen’s has taught me, it is that you never know where your interests and opportunities will take you,” she wrote in an email. Gummo is the fifty-seventh Queen’s student to receive the scholarship. The Rhodes scholarship is awarded annually to outstanding students, chosen on the basis of exceptional intellect, character, leadership, and commitment to See This on page 4 service — to study at the University of Oxford

with their costs covered. However, the Rhodes is not the first scholarly achievement for the Calgary-born student. Gummo was the recipient of the Loran scholarship throughout her undergraduate career. While at Queen’s, she’s served as a student leader in the implementation team of the The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Working Group at Queen’s, and as a gender consultant for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Her gender-based advocacy started as a volunteer at the Sexual Health Resource Centre in first year. While supporting clients who, after experiencing sexual violence, had to go through the process of assembling a medical evidence kit at Kingston General Hospital, she

SUPPLIED BY CLAIRE GUMMO

See Gummo on page 4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Features

Arts

Sports

Lifestyle

page 5

page 8

page 12

page 13

The choice between a full wallet or a full stomach

Online:

queensjournal.ca

Reviewer experiences her first Queen’s Players show

@queensjournal

1873

October 4

End of September

Early this week, photos from a ‘Beerfest’ party last Saturday at a house in the University District appeared on Facebook, subsequently gaining national attention. The photos show party-goers dressed up in costumes based on racial or cultural stereotypes. Costumes included Arab sheikhs, Buddhist monks, Mexicans in sombreros and prison coveralls, and Viet Cong soldiers. The photographs, many of which were posted publicly by the party organizers, came to the attention of Celeste Yim, a Toronto-based comedian, who subsequently published a series of tweets condemning the event. After the photos began to gain attention, many students took to the public “Overheard at Queen’s” Facebook group to debate the controversial costumes worn to the party. Since Tuesday, the story has been picked up by CBC, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Buzzfeed, and VICE Canada. The morning after Queen’s made national headline news, campus woke up to sights of vandalism around the ARC and JDUC that read “Make Racists Afraid Again”. Campus security was contacted in the morning for comment on the recent vandalism, but have not yet responded. A group called All Year Social (AYS), which is a Commerce Society (ComSoc) committee, hosted a similar party last year. The Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday online photo albums from the group’s previous events depicting Queen’s students “holding chopsticks and squinting their eyes.” The albums have since been removed. However, in a Twitter post on Tuesday evening, former ComSoc President Ana Lopez noted that the AYS event typically took place in October and was not hosted this year. An unaffiliated group with the same acronym, All Your Schoolmates, has faced accusations of organizing Saturday’s event, however, party-attendees say it was organized by individual students. The group took down their Facebook account on

since

facebook.com/queensjournal

Sink or swim for men’s water polo at home

instagram.com/queensjournal

qjlongform.com

Formal brings light to Grant Hall for Diwali


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