Jess Gould / XFM News
In the first month of the return of post-secondary in London, their institutions were flipped on their heads amidst huge scandals at both schools, Fanshawe College and Western University.
On the first weekend back on campus for students – September 11th and 12th – 30-plus students were allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted at Western’s Medway-Sydenham residence hall. Not even a week later, threats were made on a Fanshawe discord chat saying the same thing would happen to girls at the college that Thursday. The story spread like wildfire, and the question of security on campus became a pressing one. Students who saw the comments were shocked and sick.
“When I first read the comments, I was sick to my stomach.”
“My initial reaction was honestly purely shock.”
The threats are too vulgar for publication, and could potentially be triggering for a survivor of sexual violence. Campus security and the London police had the user and the comments removed from the discord server shortly thereafter, but the damage was already done. Fanshawe responded with a statement of their own that read:
The College will not tolerate gender-based and sexual violence. We support those who experience gender-based or sexual violence, and we work diligently in all Fanshawe environments and with community partners on programs, policies and resources to reduce the experience of gender-based and sexual violence at Fanshawe.
Recently, the College has learned of sexually violent and threatening posts that initiated on the social media platform Discord and spread to other online environments. Fanshawe College leadership is working with Campus Security Services and the London Police Service to identify the individuals responsible. The posts and users have been removed.
We encourage students to remain diligent and alert in social settings to keep you and your friends safe online and in person. In addition, the College will also be providing additional security at the Out Back Shack and Oasis.
We urge you to help us make Fanshawe a safe and positive space where members of the College community feel able to work, learn and express themselves. Leah Marshall, Fanshawe’s Sexual Violence Prevention Advisor, will be holding a drop-in support session Thursday, September 16 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Merlin Residence Atrium. Or, to book a confidential support session, please contact Leah at lkmarshall@fanshawec.ca.
To learn more about your options and review the resources available to you 24/7, please visit www.fanshawec.ca/sexualviolencesupport.
To contact Campus Security Services visit www.fanshawec.ca/security.
As mentioned in the statement, Leah Marshall is the sexual violence prevention advisor at Fanshawe, and she was a speaker at the “Take Back our Campus” event held on Fanshawe grounds on Monday, Sept. 20. According to Marshall, the purpose of the student walkout was to show support.
“Because of everything that’s been happening the last couple weeks, it was really important for us as a community to show that we believe and support survivors,” said Marshall.
Students beginning their walk around the campus at the “Take Back Our Campus” event
She also added that sexual violence isn’t something that just happened recently. It happens all the time. According to the Canadian Women’s foundation, the rate of sexual violence for students is exponentially higher than that of older Canadians and sexual violence is the only violent crime that hasn’t declined since 1999, where assault and robbery have dipped over the past two decades.
It is impossible to completely eradicate sexual violence, but with the services offered at Fanshawe, mentioned in the college’s statement, the school believes their current approach is helping as much as they can.
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