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And more!

New and old faces at Douglas College

> College promotes long time faculty, brings in new VP of Student Affairs

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor

 

ouglas College hired for an

Associate Vice President
of Academic and Student
Affairs and Dean of the Faculty
of Humanities and Social
Sciences in June, with Sarah
Dench and John Fleming taking
the positions respectively.

Dench has long worked
in BC universities. According
to Douglas News, she has
previously worked at SFU
as a Director of University
Curriculum and Institutional

Liaison, and Director of
Student Academic Affairs.
Prior to her work at SFU,
Dench worked at UBC, holding
several positions within the
office of the Vice President.

Dr. Thor Borgford, Douglas’
Vice President of Academic and
Provost, anticipates that Dench
will be a valuable asset in further
assisting and contributing to
Douglas’ strategic student plan.

Fleming’s promotion
comes after having been the
interim Dean of the faculty
since September 2015.

Fleming has worked at
Douglas College for 25 years.

He started his work in the
Criminology department,
specifically with both the
Youth Justice, Child and
Youth Care Counselling
programs, and the Community
Social Work Program.
Borgford commended
Fleming on his ongoing
contribution to the college: “It’s
people like John who, through
thoughtful leadership and
support, challenge and
enlighten both students
and employees, making
Douglas College an attractive
place to work and study.”

  

SFU administration allegedly mishandled

three sexual assault allegations

> University officials have come under fire for not responding to student allegations

Jamal Dumas
The Peak (Simon
Fraser University

 

c the midst of rolling out
community consultations
for SFU’s new standalone
sexual assault policy, reports
have emerged that this past
year administration may
have mishandled sexual
assault allegations from
three students against a male
student in residence. The
mishandling could implicate
the top levels of administration
including President Andrew
Petter, VP Academic Jon
Driver, and Associate VP
Students Tim Rahilly.

The first individual alleges
she was raped by the male
student in October of 2015 while
living in residence, according
to the Vancouver Sun. The
second alleges a sexual assault
happened during the Christmas
break outside of campus.

Both students withdrew from
classes shortly thereafter. It was
in February of this year that the
mother of one of the individuals
wrote to President Petter to
bring his attention to the issue.
However, it was not until April
that the mother met with several
members of the administration.

It was reported by
the Sun that the male student was
moved to another residence—
according to some reports, to an

even larger room. Kurt Heinrich,
a spokesperson for the university,
told the Peak that the university
conducted a safety assessment
“in conjunction with the RCMP”

Heinrich emphasized that
the male student in question
was no longer on campus, but
would not say whether that
was due to university action or
some other reason. It is unclear
whether the student is still
enrolled in the institution.

He would also not get

into the specifics of any other
measures taken by the university,
despite saying to the Peak:
“We're doing our best [to be]
as transparent as we can.”

Several friends of the
survivors have claimed that
the university has encouraged
them to keep quiet about
the allegations. They also
claimed that they have been
physically threatened by the
accused student’s friends.

As of now, Petter,

 

Driver, and Rahilly have all
declined to comment.

The Peak questioned
Heinrich about why the
university’s legal counsel was
present at the April meeting
if not to protect the university
from liability. Heinrich said
“that wasn't necessarily the case,”
but wouldn't say why Li-Jeen
Broshko, the lawyer, was present.

Heinrich refused to comment
on many aspects of the story,
including two of the female

Image via dsu18.ca

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individuals withdrawing from
classes, citing privacy concerns
and a wish to not interfere with
the ongoing RCMP investigation.
Said the Teaching Staff
and Support Union (TSSU)
in a statement made available
to the Peak, “The SFU Senior
Administration needs to take
responsibility for their decades
of inaction and start being
part of the solution rather than
silently perpetuating injustice.”