A group of young men held a sign that said “Honk if you’re droppin’ off your daughters” as students moved into Brock University residences on Aug. 31. The sign was removed by campus security.
Nikki Cameron, a Brock alumna, posted a photograph of the sign to the St. Catharine’s Standard’s website Sept. 3.
Cameron said the incident was not a reflection of Brock University.
“It’s more of a reflection of the problem of rape culture and misogyny,” she said.
Jeffrey Sinibaldi, Brock’s media relations manager, said in an email the university did not allow the sign to remain.
“Such a tasteless and juvenile display is unacceptable at Brock and we dealt with it directly,” he said.
Sinibaldi told the Standard campus security was soon informed of the issue and had the sign removed within 30 minutes.
Four of the men were Brock students who lived off-campus, according to Sinibaldi.
Sinibaldi said the males will be meeting with the manager of off-campus living and neighbourhood relations to discuss the sign and its message.
Cameron said the message was seen as degrading and mysoginistic to the female students arriving on campus for the first time.
“Rather than telling them that they are an individual capable of making their own decisions and having their own thoughts, they are either someone’s daughter or a sex object,” she said.
Cameron said the issue should be addressed across all university campuses.
“I still think it’s something that we should be talking about and looking at, not just at Brock, but at campuses across Canada,” she said.
