Over the weekend from 10 September 2021 to 13 September 2021, many reports of over 30 female students being drugged and sexually assaulted emerged from Western University. It has been reported that these students were located in and that the assaults took place in Medway-Sydenham Hall on campus.

These drugging and assaults also follow in the news of another student from Western University, Gabriel Neil, who was brutally assaulted around 2am on 11 September 2021 near a parking lot next to a 7-Eleven and a Subway next to the school’s TD Stadium. The public later became aware of his passing from the injuries of his assault on late Sunday evening when London Police gave an update on the case.

The university that so many parents thought sending their kids to was safe, has started to turn out, not even a week into the start of the school year, a horrifying and stomach-turning experience that has left everyone questioning how safe the university really is and how effective their policies are.

Students are being "traumatized by what they witnessed" and made to worry about their own safety at the university. This is even more frightening for students who are living on campus who do not have a way to move off campus as they are international students or students their hometown is not near London.

This petition calls upon the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities and any other applicable government agencies to conduct a full formal investigation into Western University. An investigation that should be focused on:

1. Looking at why the Universities policies for preventing sexual violence and assaults have failed
2. Looking at why the Universities policies for protecting and providing safety for its students have failed
3. Looking into what further measures and policies the University has to protect its students from similar events in the future
4. Looking at how effective policies and measures at the university are for preventing future similar events
5. Looking at how effective response measures are at the university for when an incident occurs
6. Looking at any staff members, university employees, and any other individuals to see if there have been any materials hidden or covered up by the university about other past sexual assaults that have not been disclosed to students and the public, and that may have caused harm to students by them not knowing about these events

Action needs to be taken now to start making all students and their families feel safe and to ensure that tragic events like these do not ever occur again at any university. Answers are needed as to why university policies have failed and what they are going to do to better their policies in the future.

To everyone that has been affected by these events and to everyone who may be feeling unsafe, scared, and/or overwhelmed - know that you are not alone and that students from across the province (such as myself from McMaster) stand with you in your continued fight for change to ensure that this never happens again at Western, nor at any other university.

Mental health crisis lines worldwide and help may be seen by clicking here.

Sources:

• Western University investigating several alleged sexual violence incidents inside residences | CTV News
• Western investigating reports of sexual violence incidents in Med-Syd | News | westerngazette.ca 
• First-year Western University student mourned after near-campus killing | London Free Press (lfpress.com)
• Manslaughter charge in death of 18-year-old: London police | London Free Press (lfpress.com)

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Contact Information

Joshua Bell

Email: josh@joshuamjbell.ca