HALIFAX – About 200 students rallied on the campus of Saint Mary’s University in Halifax today, saying it’s time for young people to talk openly about consent, sex and gender equality.
The rally comes a week after the university made headlines for a chant that promoted non-consensual sex with young girls, prompting the president of the student union to resign from his post.
The chant, captured on video and posted on social media, was sung at a frosh-week event for about 400 new students at the school.
Lewis Rendell, a student who helped organize the rally, says rape culture and victim-blaming is a societal problem that extends beyond the university.
Saint Mary’s University isn’t the only Canadian school to come under fire for offensive activities and events.
Two student executives with the University of British Columbia’s commerce undergraduate society quit Wednesday after a chant similar to the one sung in Halifax was recited at a frosh-week event.
On Tuesday, the engineering society at the Memorial University of Newfoundland apologized for handing out beer mugs with a sexually suggestive message at an off-campus student party.
In response to the outcry over the chant, Saint Mary’s University announced a special panel this week that will look at ways to prevent sexual harassment on campus.
