Carleton’s Faculty of Engineering and Design hosted a vigil and event in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.
The event, held on Dec. 2 in the Minto Centre faculty boardroom, hosted around 25 people. They gathered around the boardroom table to remember the 14 women who lost their lives at École Polytechnique de Montréal.
On Dec. 6, 1989, Marc Lépine shot 28 people before killing himself. He separated the women in the classroom and targeted them claiming he was “fighting feminsim.”
Donald Russell, associate dean (planning and policy) of the Faculty of Engineering and Design stood at the head of the table and kicked off the event.
“Engineering was interested in supporting and hosting [the event] because one of the issues in engineering is ensuring that our programs and our atmosphere within the buildings and the culture on campus is welcoming to everybody,” he said. “Particularly women who would decide to pursue engineering as a profession.”
Carrolyn Johnston, equity advisor and co-ordinator of sexual assault services at Carleton’s Equity services, was one of the main speakers at the event.
She said it’s important that all campuses acknowledge the role they must play in creative a safe and inclusive environment for women.
“I believe progress has been made and that more work remains to be done,” Johnston said in an email.
“We are seeing shifts, for example, in the number of women studying in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. These are positive steps, but numbers are only one piece of the equation. We need to remember that change is reflected in the culture of institutions,” she said.
Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah, programming co-ordinator at Carleton’s Womyn’s Centre was present at the commemoration and read the name of the 14 victims.
“I think it’s important to commemorate this mainly because this situation inhibits a lot of systematic forms of oppression,” Owusu-Akyeeah said.
“What happened on December 6 was not only one persons actions towards these women, but it speaks to a lot of the systematic stuff that speaks to society, so I think it’s necessary for students to come together for this.”
She said it was symbolically appropriate for the engineering department to host the vigil as many women might find their presence within engineering and male-dominated spaces belittled and concerning.
Johnston said more needs to be done to educate students, staff and faculty on campuses about how language can create spaces that feel unsafe for women.
Commemoration of the Montreal Massacre also ties in women’s rights today and the issues that still face society, she added.
“The vigil is important to me because we need to remember the individuals, predominantly women, who do not survive their experiences of violence,” Johnston said. “They deserve to be remembered so that we don’t forget out commitment as a society to take meaningful action.”
