Concordia University is promising to treat allegations of sexual misconduct seriously after former student, Mike Spry, wrote an essay detailing his experiences working at and attending the school.
The allegations were made against professors and others in positions of authority specifically in Concordia’s prestigious creative writing program.
Spry’s public essay alleges that acts of sexual misconduct have been occurring for over a decade where he silently witnessed situations of “unwanted affection, groping, inappropriate remarks, and propositions,” throughout his 14-year association with Concordia.
Alan Shepard, president of Concordia University, issued a statement on Jan. 8 denying any prior knowledge of the circling allegations.
“I am disturbed by what I read in the blog post. These allegations are serious, and will be treated seriously,” he said.
But, Spry’s allegations aren’t the first to be levelled against faculty in Concordia’s creative writing program.
In 2014, Emma Healy, a former student of the creative writing program, detailed her time dating a professor in a blog post, in which she claims the relationship, though consensual, had a clear imbalance of power.
Disbelieving that Shepard had not heard the spreading allegations until now, she said her previous relationship “grew out of a power dynamic.”
“They know all about profs/writers harassing, abusing, and inappropriately dating students,” Spry said in his essay.
Mary-Jo Barr, director of public relations and the university’s spokesperson, said in an email that as soon as the school was made aware of these allegations, immediate action was taken.
On Jan. 10, a news briefing was held in which the university announced three steps it will be taking in the wake of the allegations.
These include “an immediate investigation into the allegations, that we would meet with the Department of English as soon as possible to listen, offer support, and discuss the best path forward, and that we would begin a wider university assessment,” Barr said.
By Jan. 12, all the department chairs had been met with, and the university expressed their deep concern for the kind of behaviour that was described, as the departments were reminded of the school’s zero tolerance for such behaviour.
While Concordia does not currently have any policies in place regarding relationships between teachers and students, Barr said that they are finalizing and will soon be issuing guidelines regarding faculty/student relationships.
Doris Buss, a Carleton University professor specializing in sexual violence said in an email, that students are now coming forward because of the various initiatives that exist and have helped to “create a movement.”
In October 2017, three Carleton University students along with the Students’ Society of McGill University published the Our Turn National Action Plan which lays out a list of principles that student unions can adopt to prevent sexual violence, support survivors, and advocate for change on their campuses, according to the document.
She praised the work of Our Turn National, for being a “creative and important initiative aimed at galvanizing student governments to take an active role in monitoring their university’s’ sexual assault policies.”
“Students can play an enormously helpful role in raising awareness of and working creatively to address sexual violence on campus,” Buss said.
