Dalhousie University dentistry student faces disciplinary hearing

Henry Hicks Academic Building, Dalhousie University (MRicon / Flickr)

HALIFAX — A disciplinary hearing is scheduled later today for one of the 13 members of a Facebook group where misogynistic comments were posted about female classmates at Dalhousie University’s dentistry school.

The lawyer for Ryan Millet says he blew the whistle on students who made the remarks and will argue at the in-camera hearing that he should have his clinic privileges reinstated.

Bruce MacIntosh said in a statement that Millet took a stand against comments he thought were offensive and encouraged other members of the Facebook group to remove them but was nonetheless unfairly sanctioned by Dalhousie University.

A spokesman for the school said it is committed to a just process and will evaluate each man’s individual case as they proceed through an academic standards class committee.

In addition to having their clinic privileges suspended, Millet and 12 other members of the Facebook group have been ordered to attend classes apart from the rest of their fellow fourth-year dentistry students.

Dalhousie University has announced an independent task force will look into what happened and a restorative justice process will hear from 14 women and all of the 13 members of the Facebook group except Millet will participate in that process.

The Facebook page at the centre of the controversy has been taken down.

But according to the CBC, members of the Facebook group voted on which woman they’d like to have “hate” sex with and joked about using chloroform on women. The CBC said in another post, a woman is shown in a bikini with a caption that says, “Bang until stress is relieved or unconscious (girl).”