{"id":36083,"date":"2014-12-21T18:30:28","date_gmt":"2014-12-21T10:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=36083"},"modified":"2025-03-09T19:45:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T23:45:26","slug":"protesters-demand-male-dentistry-students-be-expelled-over-sexist-facebook-posts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/12\/21\/protesters-demand-male-dentistry-students-be-expelled-over-sexist-facebook-posts\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters demand male dentistry students be expelled over sexist Facebook posts"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_36084\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36084\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/640px-Henri_Hicks_Building_Dalhousie_University.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36084\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/640px-Henri_Hicks_Building_Dalhousie_University.jpg\" alt=\"Henry Hicks Academic Building, Dalhousie University. mricon \/ Flickr.\" width=\"640\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/640px-Henri_Hicks_Building_Dalhousie_University.jpg 640w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/640px-Henri_Hicks_Building_Dalhousie_University-300x197.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36084\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Henry Hicks Academic Building, Dalhousie University. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mricon\/1582130387\/sizes\/o\/in\/photostream\/\" target=\"_blank\">mricon \/ Flickr<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>HALIFAX\u2014People marched to the office of Dalhousie University\u2019s president Friday to demand the school expel dentistry students accused of posting misogynistic messages online about their female peers.<\/p>\n<p>The group of about 200 gathered in front of the dentistry school in Halifax to read speeches panning the university\u2019s response to comments posted on Facebook about female students in the faculty.<\/p>\n<p>Jordan Roberts, who helped organize the protest, said Dalhousie University should have expelled the male students who were members of the Facebook group where the comments were posted, rather than opt for a restorative justice process.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy levitra soft online <a href=\"https:\/\/primeraeyecare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/levitra-soft.html\">primeraeyecare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/levitra-soft.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s appalling that Dalhousie would still give accreditation to these male students when they have said the kinds of things they would do with that kind of power,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think expulsion is the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The school is coming under increasing scrutiny and criticism after announcing Wednesday that it had launched the process as a means of dealing with the sexist postings.<\/p>\n<p>University president Richard Florizone said in an emotional news conference at the time that some of the women have chosen the restorative justice process, which is an informal and confidential resolution procedure that includes the parties involved.<\/p>\n<p>He said the 13 men who were members of the Facebook group are fourth-year dentistry students and will participate, adding that some have expressed regret in correspondence to him.<\/p>\n<p>Florizone said the process is intended to explore the impacts of the comments and address accountability, adding that its outcome may be made public depending on the wishes of those involved.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy propranolol online <a href=\"https:\/\/primeraeyecare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/propranolol.html\">primeraeyecare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/propranolol.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>But he said not all of the women affected have said they will participate in the process and it\u2019s still possible one or more could launch a formal complaint procedure that could go to the university senate disciplinary committee.<\/p>\n<p>Some are questioning whether Dalhousie University is using the most suitable process for this type of offence.<\/p>\n<p>Wayne MacKay, a law professor at the university and expert on cyberbullying, said the school needs to pay close attention to whether the parties involved are satisfied with the process while avoiding re-victimizing the women.<\/p>\n<p>MacKay said he supports restorative justice in some cases, but there have been instances in the United States where it has not satisfied complainants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt does give them a lot of control &#8230; in terms of how they handle the process, but with that control comes a lot of pressure and in some ways the potential for revictimization,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe message has to be clearly sent that this is taken seriously that this kind of conduct is not acceptable and will not be tolerated and whatever process they\u2019re using, that message has to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adsum House, a Halifax homeless shelter for women and children, said restorative justice does not go far enough in sending the message that there is no tolerance for misogyny and sexism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything less than expulsion is reprehensible,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for Dalhousie did not respond to a request for an interview Friday.<\/p>\n<p>According to the CBC, members of the Class of DDS Gentleman page on Facebook voted on which woman they\u2019d like to have \u201chate\u201d sex with and joked about using chloroform on women.<\/p>\n<p>In another post, a woman is shown in a bikini with a caption that says, \u201cBang until stress is relieved or unconscious (girl).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Florizone said if the people involved in the process don\u2019t participate in good faith, a more formal complaint process will go ahead involving an investigator that could be referred to the university senate disciplinary committee.<\/p>\n<p>In the university\u2019s students\u2019 code of conduct, penalties for violating set behavioural expectations range from a warning to a suspension or expulsion.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy levitra oral jelly online <a href=\"https:\/\/primeraeyecare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/levitra-oral-jelly.html\">primeraeyecare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/levitra-oral-jelly.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>The university has postponed fourth-year dentistry school exams until January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HALIFAX\u2014People marched to the office of Dalhousie University\u2019s president Friday to demand the school expel dentistry students accused of posting &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":36084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1145],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-headline","mauthors-alison-auld","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36083"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287928,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36083\/revisions\/287928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}