The woman, who was elected to the executive of the Arts and Science Faculty Association ASFA in , claims she was the victim of repeated sexist and racist remarks. The university is now looking into the matter. She said she found Facebook chats referring to her in racist terms. Mei-Ling was told by her fellow executive members to simply ignore the verbal taunts. I went home and I started crying to myself. Any sexist and racist behaviour is deplorable and must be condemned.
The safety of our community is paramount. This is why, in December, I requested a review of our sexual assault policy β a process that includes the issue of sexual harassment. Our review will provide recommendations on simplifying the process for reporting and combatting such behaviour. The social media landscape is still relatively new territory for universities and we are all finding our footing. We are grappling with ways to deal with unacceptable behaviour within this new reality.
Questions of what is private and what is personal, as well as where universities have the power to intervene, must be addressed. Members of our community have resources available to them when such issues arise. Each case is different and there are different options for responding to these situations.
We regret that we may not have communicated these options clearly enough to our student. We have reached out to her to provide our support. We are committed to creating a safe environment for everyone and combatting racist and sexist behaviour. ASFA did not respond to requests for an interview. Mei-Ling said this is about more than just herself.
