Contracts a mistake: Fearon

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This article was published 06/04/2016 (3649 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The president of Brandon University admitted on Tuesday it was a mistake for the school use “behavioural contracts” that seek to stop a student from speaking about sexual assault allegations to anyone but a counsellor, but it wasn’t enough to curb criticism of BU’s approach to the incident.

A day after an alleged sexual assault victim and first-year BU student made national headlines when she shared photos of such a contract, Gervan Fearon sat at a table in the corner of a sweaty room, packed with several dozen students, faculty and media.

Fearon spoke slowly and carefully for almost an hour, often repeating himself while answering questions from both the heavy contingent of media and the rowdy group of students, several of whom held signs and jeered the president at times.

When prompted, Fearon apologized on behalf of the university to the alleged victim and told reporters about a task force that had been struck about a month after the incident, which happened in September 2015.

Flanked by BU’s acting vice-president of academic services, Steve Robinson, chief human resources officer Sharon Hooper and Brandon University Students’ Union president Aaron Thompson, Fearon said the task force was struck in response to the specific allegations stemming from the incident.

“We looked at everything we’ve done, who touched the situation, what process did we follow and we made a series of recommendations for our way forward on how we make improvements to our policies on sexual violence, harassment and assault,” Hooper said. She, the dean of Health Studies Dean Care and education Prof. Chris Brown made up the task force.

“The task force absolutely took the opportunity to speak with all individuals involved in the situation,” Fearon added.

The woman at the centre of the controversy, who The Brandon Sun is not identifying, said after the press conference she was never contacted by the task force during its six-month investigation.

“I’m highly disappointed that they still haven’t contacted me, they still perpetuated lies. They have made a lot of mistakes,” the alleged victim said.

“That is not true, there is no task force that has contacted me at any point.”

Fearon told the room that BU would release the task force’s recommendations later in the day, The Brandon Sun received the document, which outlines nine recommendations, late Tuesday evening.

The president’s regret also wasn’t enough for Corinne Mason, a BU gender and women’s studies professor, who initially spoke out against the contract on Monday.

“The survivor found out that the contract is null and void TODAY alongside the media,” she tweeted on Tuesday evening.

“Students and faculty connected the student survivor with supports. (BU) did not thoroughly investigate the incident. They only moved when we pressured them to do so. The survivor was never interviewed or given an advocate. Her supports are not on the task force or policy team,” she wrote.

Mason was at the president’s announcement and asked several questions. She said Fearon’s answers to the questions indicate the issue hasn’t been resolved.

The president said such contracts will “absolutely” not be used in future cases of sexual violence, assault and harassment allegations at BU. The student won’t face punishment for breaching the contract, he confirmed.

“It was not appropriate and is not appropriate in this case or in cases of sexual assault, sexual violence and sexual harassment and we acknowledge (the contract) was not helpful to the survivor.”

Fearon didn’t rule out using such contracts for cases not involving sexual assault allegations.

The president was not specific about potential ramifications for BU staff involved in the incident.

“This was an action of Brandon University, regardless of who did it at the university. We learn from errors and we go forward with improvements,” he said. On Monday, Tom Brophy, BU’s registrar and associate vice-president of student services and enrolment management, spoke publicly to defend BU’s use of the contracts.

Fearon also announced on Tuesday that a separate committee is being established to create a “new, formal policy on sexual violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment.” It will work through the summer, creating a draft policy that will be available to the “university community” next September and will be finalized after that, Fearon said. The nine recommendations from the task force will also be considered.

Fearon said that policy will take into account Bill 3, which made it to first reading in the Manitoba legislature last year, but wasn’t proceeded with. The provincial NDP released a statement on Tuesday, blaming Progressive Conservative “delay tactics” for not passing the bill, which the party says would require universities to establish comprehensive policies to address and combat sexual assault on campus.

Currently, the school’s response to sexual violence falls under the “Respectful Environment Policy,” a 23-page document last updated in August 2011.

“Can we do more? Absolutely. Are we attempting to do more? Absolutely. Do we want to work with students, faculty and staff? Absolutely,” Fearon said.

» tbateman@brandonsun.com

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