ANTIGONISH – A sign draped from a top-floor window of a student rental property here over StFX homecoming weekend has not only led to the launch of the university’s disciplinary process but also sparked broader conversations regarding rape culture and gender-based violence, including the need for continuing and increased education.
The white sheet – which broadcast the message “Drop-off Zone: Acadia Girlfriends” in block letters – left Tara Taylor “quite shocked” when she spotted it on the Greening Dr. house on Friday evening while she and her child drove home for supper from the skate park.
“I was quite shocked,” Taylor told The Journal of the message, noting that she only got a quick glance because she was driving.
Once she got home, she wrote about what she had viewed on her private Facebook page, describing how it was “very disturbing.” Some who read her message suggested she should take a photo of the sign. She snapped a shot on her drive back to the skate park later in the evening.
After she posted that photo, Taylor said – not surprisingly with social media – it “kind of blew up.”
When she headed to the farmers’ market on Saturday morning, the sign remained but she estimated it had been removed by approximately 11 a.m.
“I drove by the house later on Saturday evening and the sign was back up. I thought it was quite a slap in the face,” Taylor offered.
She then decided to share the sign via email with the StFX Association of University Teachers and members of the administration, and she also contacted StFX student life officials, who she noted “responded swiftly.”
Taylor said StFX administration’s initial statement regarding the issue concerned her, including how she believed it did not make any connection between the sign, its message and sexual violence.
In a social media message to students, faculty and staff issued after 3 p.m. on Saturday, Elizabeth Yeo – StFX vice-president, student life – said, “As we celebrate Homecoming and welcome alumni and friends back to campus, we have been made aware of an offensive sign that was hung from an off-campus house within town. We are investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident and will take appropriate action with those involved.”
She added, “While Homecoming is a time for celebration, school spirit and friendly rivalry, there are clear boundaries around what is acceptable. Conduct that demeans, objectifies or disrespects others has no place in the StFX community. Even when off-campus, acts such as this—or any other offensive or inappropriate acts—will not be tolerated. We expect all members of our community to uphold the values of respect, dignity and care for others, during Homecoming and throughout the year.”
Yeo indicated, if students are identified as having violated the StFX Community Code of Conduct, “They will be held accountable for their actions and subject to the university’s disciplinary process.”
In a second message to the university community on Sunday morning, StFX president Andy Hakin said the “perpetuation of rape culture will not be tolerated,” while describing the sign displayed at the off-campus house as “degrading and deeply concerning.”
He wrote, “Language that objectifies women or makes light of sexualized violence has no place at StFX or in any community. We understand the concern and anger this has caused, both within our own community and beyond it. StFX unequivocally rejects misogyny, sexualized and gender-based violence, and the attitudes and behaviours that contribute to rape culture.”
Hakin said the university intervened and had the sign removed.
“When it was reposted, we took further action to ensure it was taken down again,” he wrote.
In a phone conversation with The Journal on Tuesday morning, Hakin explained he decided he needed to “amplify the message” from the university that the incident had “no part in the Xaverian way of doing things.”
As for his reaction to the banner being hung for a second time, he offered, “It flies in the face of what we are trying to be as a university,” including creating a community where everyone is respected.
Hakin described the sign as one of “blatant disrespect,” one that “cannot be tolerated.”
Echoing an excerpt from his message to the university community, he said, “Every member of our community deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. We all have a responsibility to challenge behaviour that diminishes others, normalizes sexualized violence, or undermines the safety and belonging of members of our community.”
In his weekend message, Hakin explained that StFX’s sexual violence response policy “provides a framework for how we respond to and address sexualized violence, and we will continue to use this policy to inform and guide our actions,” while reminding that anyone who has been affected by sexualized violence can access support through Visible@X, and additional student supports are also available through StFX student services.
“We have invested a lot over the last number of years,” Hakin told The Journal when it comes to the measures, including having an external review conducted that provided recommendations regarding its policies.
Among the “many, many resources” developed is mandatory training required for incoming students dealing with issues such as consent.
“We have ways to handle it,” Hakin said of such issues, including the university’s community code of conduct.
Describing it as a “societal problem,” he offered that everyone – including StFX and its people – has the responsibility to “speak out” against these wrongs.
In his message, he acknowledged the staff, faculty and student leaders across StFX “who continue to support members of our community, respond to concerns, and advance this important work.”
“There is much hope for the future,” Hakin said of the young leaders on campus who are “not shy to speak out,” while crediting the StFX Students’ Union for its strong response to the recent incident.
The student code of conduct investigation into eight StFX students who live at the residence where the banner hung continues, with results expected within a couple of weeks. Potential sanctions include suspension or expulsion.
Everyone’s responsibility
Ending gender-based violence “needs a whole society approach,” according to Nicole Mann, executive director of the Naomi Society – a community-based organization Naomi Society supports women, children, and all genders through trauma-informed community prevention, outreach, support, and advocacy.
“When someone uses language that is harmful, degrading, or rooted in negative attitudes toward women, we need to name it and create space for a conversation. Whether these words were intended to cause harm, or came from a lack of understanding, there is opportunity here for us to learn,” she told The Journal in an email conversation.
“We (as humans) can ask: ‘What did you mean by that?’, ‘Do you understand how these words can be harmful?’ ‘Is there an opportunity to repair the harm?’ We never know where someone is coming from, but we still need to hold space for accountability, learning and change.
“Building a safer community means being kinder, respectful human beings. That is something all of us have a role in,” Mann added.
Along with its direct support work, she explained the Naomi Society focuses “on prevention and awareness.” The organization has certified facilitators for programs such as Neighbors, Friends and Families and Make It Our Business, which are designed for members of the community and workplace “to learn to support conversations around recognizing, responding and referring to gender-based violence.”
Like the Naomi Society, the Antigonish Women’s Centre & Sexual Assault Services Association works directly in the areas of prevention, education and supporting survivors. The organization developed StFX’s sexual violence prevention program, Waves of Change. Focussing on peer-facilitated sessions, the core purpose of the program is to equip students, staff, and campus groups with the skills “to recognize sexually violent scenarios, safely intervene, support survivors, and transform campus culture.”
In a press release issued Monday afternoon, the organization noted that sexual violence “doesn’t happen in isolation. It exists within a culture of attitudes, behaviours and beliefs that can normalize disrespect, objectification and entitlement.”
It suggested the weekend sign incident provides an opportunity “to have a broader discussion about rape culture and about the responsibility we collaboratively have as a society to create safer communities.”
‘It isn’t just a joke’
Noting that the issue of sexual violence has been prominent in the past couple of weeks with news of the botched investigation on the Cornell University campus in New York, Taylor – a math professor at StFX – offered it is nothing new on university campuses. Students have shared stories with her each year since she has arrived in Antigonish, describing it as “not acceptable.” Some have let her know they would be missing classes because they were dealing with the “consequences of sexual assault.”
Although “a lot of work has been done” to deal with gender-based violence issues in recent years at StFX, she said “more needs to be done.”
“I am not minimizing it,” Taylor added of the measures, while explaining that men on campus – including ones with a platform, such as varsity athletes and coaches – need to help get the message out that “these things are not OK.” They have “to make it clear,” for example, that the “jokes are not funny.”
As for those who penned the sign, she offered, “I don’t know their intent.” No matter the intent – even if it was made in jest – Taylor said it is important to get the message out that it is wrong and “very triggering for a lot of people.”
As an example that there remains much work to do, she noted the social media storm includes responses that ‘it was just a joke.’
“But it isn’t just a joke,” Taylor said.
Anita Stewart agreed.
“The issue isn’t whether someone says, ‘It was just a joke.’ We need to ask ourselves what the joke is actually saying,” the executive director of the Antigonish Women’s Centre & Sexual Assault Services, said. “When women are portrayed as something that can be picked up, dropped off, or treated as property, we are reinforcing attitudes that objectify women and minimize the seriousness of sexual violence.”
She added, “We have to be willing to call out these behaviours—not to shame people, but to create an opportunity to learn and to do better. In order to do better, we must advocate, educate, and have active dialogue with people, stakeholders, and those in positions of leadership who set the tone and path moving forward.”
Stewart noted it is not about “ruining homecoming.”
“It’s not about taking away someone’s ability to have fun or make a joke. It’s about understanding that our words and actions matter and contribute to the kind of community we create. A sign such as the one displayed in Antigonish shows blatant disrespect and is out of touch with the reality of what is occurring in our society with regards to violence against women and girls,” she said.
Stewart added there is plenty of room for school spirit, rivalry and fun, “But, we also have to be very clear that women are not objects, sexual violence is not a joke, and consent and respect have to be part of our culture – not just something we talk about after something goes wrong, or used as lip service.”
Hakin also dismissed the idea that the sign was only a joke.
“It is not an acceptable stance. Look around you – there are people in pain.”
He said that as a university and more broadly, “We need to do a better job educating people.”
Hakin added that StFX “won’t stand by” and will continue to “double down” on dealing with these issues.
Stewart offered that everyone has “a duty to educate young people about consent, respect, healthy relationships and bystander intervention.”
“We shouldn’t wait until someone is harmed to have that conversation – the time is now and we look forward to being part of the conversation for change.”
