Incoming business students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) will see a new frosh program after the school took heat last year for student leaders chanting messages that promoted rape during orientation.
Unlike the 2013 frosh activities, organized by the Commerce Undergraduate Society (CUS) for students entering the Sauder School of Business, a committee of independent students, faculty, and staff organized this year’s events, which culminate in a two-day program titled The Spark.
The university disciplined student leaders responsible for permitting the chants, which encouraged sex with underage girls and “no consent.” A task force had determined that the cheers were a “well-established tradition within the leader group” and that they “inappropriately sexualized” aspects of the orientation.
The CUS committed to paying a voluntary sum of $250,000 over three years for sexual abuse counselling and education for students.
“I think what we learned from last year was we needed to work at finding better ways to introduce our incoming new students to the values that are important to us,” UBC spokesperson Randy Schmidt said.
The Spark, which runs Sept. 5-6, includes events such as yoga and carnivals. It also features events meant to encourage community building, such as a welcoming by a Musqueam elder to teach students about the origins of the land where UBC was built.
Some students conveyed that past frosh events included offensive and demeaning aboriginal stereotypes, according to the university.
Schmidt said a school-wide committee came up with over 50 things to keep this year’s events “safe and fun.”
“This year I think there was kind of a bit more of an education focus just in terms of helping people be prepared for studying and learning at Sauder,” he said.
While the CUS is no longer involved in organizing frosh, Schmidt said some former society leaders independently volunteered to help plan this year’s festivities.
Schmidt said while UBC is confident in the message that the new program aims to promote, it can’t guarantee students will behave appropriately.
“We can’t control what happens after those events,” he said, adding all frosh programs are alcohol-free.
“We can’t make any guarantees about something not happening. We recognize that we’re welcoming at UBC about 8,000 incoming first year students who are coming from everywhere,” he said.
“They’re coming from all kinds of backgrounds and they’re finding their independence for the first time.”
