Carleton has “discussed establishing a women’s varsity advisory group” to work alongside teams, according to a statement from Beth Gorham, the university’s manager of public affairs.

This comes after the university met with some female Carleton athletes, who had voiced concerns over the lack of media representation from the university.

Sources close to the matter declined to comment on their reaction to the meeting with the school.

On Nov. 22, the Charlatan shared an editorial criticizing the school’s promotion of women’s sports games which gained support over social media from the personal and team accounts of the women’s hockey and women’s rugby varsity teams.

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, players on the involved teams were made to log out of their team’s Instagram accounts (which they controlled) by school officials after resharing the post.

The editorial questioned the decision to host the women’s rivalry game against the University of Ottawa, the Alerts Cup, at the Ice House on campus.

While two weeks later, the matchup between the men’s teams, known as the Colonel By Classic, was played at TD Place Arena at Lansdowne Park.

The Colonel By Classic–the men’s hockey game against U Ottawa– was played in front of a large crowd at TD Place. [Photo by Jeff Pelletier]
In addition to reposting the editorial, some athletes shared screenshots of the Carleton Athletics Instagram account to criticize the promotion of men’s games compared to women’s.

Carleton Ravens wide receiver Phil Iloki was featured in a one-minute video clip which included discussion in response to the editorial, voicing his support.

The Alerts Cup received some media coverage with players Hannah Dinovitzer and Leah Scott appearing on CTV in the lead up to the game.

But in the background behind the players being interviewed was a promotion for the Colonel By Classic.

Scott said she appreciated the initial media attention but having a photo with the men’s hockey team in the background caught her off guard.

She also pointed out the number of posters on campus promoting the men’s hockey showdown but didn’t remember seeing any of the same attention for the Alerts Cup.

“We didn’t get any media attention besides one post on the Carleton Ravens account,” Nieve Seeley, a third-year player, said about promotion from Carleton.

“We tried to do our own promotion on our own women’s hockey Instagram account. We definitely felt a little bit confused that we weren’t playing before the men’s game at TD Place.”

One source on the women’s hockey team said she was told to log out of the teams Instagram account because they were “bashing our brand” by the school. [Photo by Spencer Colby]
When looking at the promotion the men’s game got from the school, the players on the women’s team felt they were under-appreciated.

“They had a live stream promotion that had more attention than our entire game,” said Alexandra Lehman, a second-year goalie in reference to a live-streamed NHL video game played between two men’s hockey players in the lead up to the Colonel By Classic.

“It’s frustrating to feel like we have been pushed aside,” Scott said.

One source said she was asked to log out of the team Instagram account after being told she was “bashing our brand” by the school.

 

According to Gorham, the posts were taken down because the school’s social media policy outlines that all accounts must be approved by their department as official Ravens accounts.

“Our goal is to discuss the promotion of our teams moving forward and work together to ensure we have a shared vision,” Gorham wrote in an email.

“We need that awareness that we have great female athletics programs in general all across the board in all sports,” Scott said about what is needed in the future.

“They need to promote women’s sports more,” Seeley said.

“We are coming from a step behind. They will always have fans because it’s ingrained in our culture. Women’s sports coming from behind we need more fans in general. They need to promote us if not the same, maybe more.” – Nieve Seeley, women’s hockey

On Dec. 4, the athletes from the women’s hockey and rugby teams met with the university as well as the Department of Equity and Inclusive Communities to discuss the situation and address the athletes’ complaints.

When the Charlatan reached out to Gorham for a follow-up, she said in a statement that the school will work on making changes regarding equal promotion for all teams in the new year.

“We have met with members of the women’s hockey and rugby teams to listen to their concerns,” read the statement.

“We will also meet with all of our varsity athletes in the new year and invite members of the Department of Equity and Inclusive Communities to discuss the equitable promotion of all our teams.”

Featured image from file.

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