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(Image source: CBC)
BY CHARESSE JAMES
Student leaders at a Canadian university have been reprimanded after they were captured
on video chanting about nonconsensual sex with underage girls as part of freshman orientation.
"These are Saint Mary's University frosh-week leaders cheering about *** assault. They
shout out, in part, 'Y is for your sister, U is for underage, and N is for no consent.'"
(Via CBC)
The video, taken during Saint Mary's University freshman-week activities and posted to Instagram,
show both male and female student leaders taking part in the cheer many are calling
"sexist and offensive." (Via Global News)
Between 300 and 400 students were on the football field for orientation activities. The 80 orientation
leaders were told by the university to have fun but "within bounds." (Via NTV)
University Premier Darrell Dexter called performing the chant a "poor" decision on the leaders'
part.
"I think the gravity of the situation ought to be underlined. ... My desire would be that
they understand what was done wrong here, that they appreciate the nature of it, and
then they get on with the rest of their university career." (Via The Chronicle Herald)
According to the orientation leaders and other students, this chant has been a frosh-week
tradition for years, but Yahoo! News begs the question: "What sort of bond is Saint
Mary's University trying to form with a chant that promotes non-consensual sex with underage
girls? Is it a bond that will later be featured on an episode of To Catch a Predator?"
And Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams writes a chant like this is part of a wider, demoralizing
and growing problem: "It's the unthinking acceptance, the reinforcement of the notion
that women exist to be used sexually. ... It's about making that the norm, so much the norm
that you wind up with girls cheering along for it."
But Saint Mary's student union president Jared Perry has vowed that while it might have been
acceptable in the past, it will not continue in the future.
"The fact that this sort of thing was able to happen at this scale and that some still
don't understand the seriousness of it tells me that there is a problem of a culture of
sexism that demands attention and real action on this campus." (Via CTV)
The student leaders involved will be undergoing sensitivity training as dictated by the university.
Saint Mary's University has postponed freshman-week events, which included a game of "dirty bingo,"
until further notice.