Jordan
The first reports of it came on social media, students describing what they saw or heard or thought they might have witnessed. And then came more reports, and it soon became clear something was very wrong at Western University.
News Clips
At the tail end of orientation week at Western University, TikTok lit up. Upwards of 30 allegations coming from students at one residence about being roofied and sexually assaulted…
…first year student Gabriel Neil, who dreamt of becoming a doctor, died after he was violently assaulted near campus. Police are also investigating at least three reports of sexual assault on campus involving four women.
Jordan
Soon came the media, and the attention, and a police investigation, and a school investigation. All of it aimed at finding out exactly what the hell happened during ‘O Week’. The investigations, both by the police and by the University, are ongoing. The school is promising to do better to make meaningful change to fix the problem. But if you ask anyone that knows Western, they’ll tell you this year may have been worse than past O weeks, but the alleged assaults themselves are not surprising. This is a school with a reputation. For partying, yes, but for other darker things along with that. Now that the eyes of national media, survivor advocates and law enforcement are fixed on this school, what happens next? What exactly will it take to prevent this from happening again? How do you fix a culture that was built decade by decade in thousands and thousands of students?
I’m Jordan Heath-Rawlings, this is The Big Story. Rebekah Rodrigues is a news editor at the Western Gazette. She’s been on this story since it started. But, Rebekah, you’re a fourth year student. What did you know about Western before you attended? What’s it been like being a student at Western, given its reputation?
Rebekah
So before I came to Western, I definitely knew it had a reputation for being a party school. I didn’t know to what extent. And obviously the first week of O week, it’s supposed to be an orientation in academics and just being on campus and everything. But it also does just show the party culture that we have at Western. And I think it’s just resurfaced now how big this party culture is just given everything that’s happened during this O week. So that’s what I heard when I was a first year before I actually came to the University. And now that I’ve been here for a while, it’s definitely lived up to its reputation I would say.
Jordan
When you say party culture, describe that. What’s that like? Because the reports we’ve heard over the past couple of weeks go well beyond a party.
Rebekah
Right. So I mean, from what I’ve seen just through my years here, and it’s not uncommon obviously in universities, were not the only University that has street parties or where students decide to hold street parties or host parties in residence or host parties in their own home off campus. I would say that just in terms of the past few years, we’ve gotten a lot of exposure in the media, whether it be for homecoming or for any other festivities. I’ve paid closer attention to it as a student and obviously as a news editor. So having worked at the Gazette, also just being a student here, it’s become very clear that we definitely, in a lot of ways, stand out as a school with large parties and large social gatherings.
Jordan
Now, tell me what’s happened during this year’s O week and the national attention that it’s brought.
Rebekah
As we know and as most people know, at this point, there have been reports of sexual assault in Western residences, and we’ve kept a close eye on this as news editors, but also as students. We know that it’s affected a lot of first year students just two weeks after they arrived at Western. And it’s been a really traumatic and really difficult time for a lot of students here at Western, given that a lot of people don’t feel as safe as they used to on campus. In residence, in their homes, even off campus. So it’s been a really difficult time for a lot of students. And a lot of students have called upon the University to enhance their policies in regards to sexual violence. And we’ve seen a little bit of change. We’ve seen some action from the University, but from what I’ve been hearing from students, they definitely need more.
Jordan
We’re going to talk in a minute about what that change might be and what the University is going to do. But first, tell me some of the stories that you’ve heard from that week, either from other reporters on campus or just that circulate, because a lot of these have made people outside the University really stop and shake their heads. I mean, it’s a lot.
Rebekah
So I can only really speak to what has been published by us and also what is common knowledge at this point, given that the police investigations that are occurring right now at Western and then also the school doing their own personal investigation. From what we know, four cases of sexual assault were reported to the police. And this was during O week, so that’s been confirmed by them. And we’ve been keeping a close eye on this. From what we’ve heard from the police. This is not connected to social media allegations of sexual assault happening at Medway-Sydenham residence. So that’s what we know right now. The investigation is ongoing, and we’ve been communicating with the police. The London police and then also the school to try to understand how the investigation is progressing. But for now, that’s what we know.
Jordan
What has it been like over the past couple of weeks, being a University reporter in the eye of a story that’s gathered national attention. What’s it been like at Western?
Rebekah
Yeah, it’s been a very tough time, not just in our newsroom, but also across campus, like I mentioned before, the environment has changed quite a bit. I can’t imagine what first year students must feel like, given that this is just still not even their first month of University and all of this has happened. And it’s hard to feel safe in residence and on campus now. But as a student that’s off campus, I feel the same way to a certain extent, because a lot of the people that I’ve spoken to have said that they have night classes and they have to go back to their homes at night. And a lot of people have been skipping those classes or been trying to encourage their professors to pivot online given everything that’s happened. And the general sentiment is that people don’t feel as safe as they used to, which is obviously very disturbing, given that this is where people live and this is where people expect to feel safe.
Jordan
What has the University said about this so far? And maybe more importantly, what have they agreed to do?
Rebekah
So they’ve acknowledged the investigations that are occurring on their part and then also from the police, and they’ve supported or shown their support for the student, I guess you would say protests or the walkout that happened, which was also covered by national news last Friday. They’ve shown their support for that, shown their support for survivors of sexual violence. This has all come in written statements from the University essentially. And then late last week, they also released their plan to adapt their training for sexual violence prevention. From what we understand, every student in residence now has to complete that training, and they plan on pivoting it or extending it to students across campus. So those are two steps that they’re taking. And they’ve also assembled a task force on sexual violence, which they aim to use to work with students and understand student concerns about sexual violence on campus.
Jordan
Tell me about the walk out. From what I saw, it was huge.
Rebekah
Oh, it was. Everyone I’ve spoken to has said this is the largest student gathering they’ve ever seen in support of a social issue or social movement. And I would agree, it’s the largest I’ve ever seen on campus. We’ve received reports of upwards of 12,000 students being in attendance. I was present and obviously covering the walk out, so I was able to hear the speakers and see everyone come with their signs. And obviously a lot of people shared their personal stories, which was incredibly moving and powerful. So it was a really incredible experience to be a part of. But that being said, what the organizers hope to do goes beyond just the walk out. And it’s a gradual process. And I’m sure the organizers are going to continue working with various student groups and even the University possibly, to continue advocating for what they feel needs to change on campus.
Jordan
What do they feel needs to change on campus? And does it go beyond what the University has already agreed to?
Rebekah
So one thing that was pointed out just from a few speakers at the walkout, and this is after the University had released their plan on how to tackle this issue, was that the University’s plan is not as survivor centric as it should be, and that mainly coming from the plan to increase security and police just on campus and in residence. So that in itself is a huge criticism I’ve heard. And it’s also going to be interesting to see which student groups are going to be a part of this task force and how that collaboration will work. It’s again very early stages right now, so we haven’t seen much of it. We haven’t been able to report on it yet, but that’s mainly what we’ve noticed.
Jordan
I know this particular week seems to have been horrific, but I want to ask you without asking you for any specific stories or confirmations or anything like that. What have past O weeks been like in terms of rape culture and sexual violence? Like, I know that this was worse, but how out of the ordinary is it?
Rebekah
So we know that every O week is going to be filled with student programming or programming that’s kind of created by the school, whether it be concerts on campus or whether it be late night activities. There’s lots of programming from the school. So that has always been a constant, so that in itself is not necessarily a difference here. I think one of the biggest differences between previous O weeks and this O week is that a lot of the first years that attended this O week have essentially been deprived of in person interaction since they were essentially in grade eleven because of COVID-19. I have no idea really, if that had any effect on the partying or the need or the want to party. But that’s one thing that I thought about, and I’m sure a lot of other people have thought about.
In terms of sexual violence in itself. We know that, like I said before, this isn’t an issue that’s just an issue at Western. Sexual violence on campus is an issue at every university. And we know that orientation weeks are situations where this happens a lot. And there’s a lot of research that is being done into this. So it’s not really a surprise at all to be honest. We know that sexual violence has occurred on campus for a very long time, so it’s really, really not a surprise. I think the only difference between this O Week and the previous O Weeks is that there’s a lot more media attention being given to our school because of the reports, the official reports that have come out from the University and also allegations made on social media.
Jordan
Is that maybe the impetus for things to actually change? I know we talk a lot about this in the wake of, you know, horrific events like after a big mass shooting or something, we’ll be like, will this be the one that finally forces us to confront this? And so I ask you about the vibe on campus now, is this is this the week that forces the University to confront its reputation and its culture?
Rebekah
So I have sat in on a few meetings with some of our administrators, and they have expressed concern that them as administrators essentially inherited this issue of rape culture on campus. So they’ve noticed it. And especially given the walk outs and everything else, the student led initiatives that have come out of everything that’s happened, it’s definitely on their minds that things need to change. We’ve seen the policies they’ve already put out, but also with the task force. I’m sure the University will hear about concerns that they’ve never thought of before. But the real question is how much will things change? So that’s something that we’re going to keep an eye on. It does feel like changes is coming, just given the fact that this has gotten so much attention. And I think that the attention in itself will encourage the University to stay true to its word. But again, that’s really just my hunch. And at the end of the day, like you said before, calls for change have happened often times after tragedies, but it’s really interesting to see if that change will actually be executed.
Jordan
You mentioned it a little bit already, but I think it’s an excellent point. So I want to ask you a little bit more about what’s different with frosh this year, having just not been able to be social for the past 18 months, and what have you observed in your time back to school so far compared to previous years, and what’s it like when everybody who’s been taking classes in their rooms for a year and a half suddenly is at a street party?
Rebekah
Yeah, from my experience, from what I’ve seen and just my experience also having done online school, the need to even just be on campus, be present with other students, be present with your professors, be present in classrooms is very strong. And especially given that our University has said from the start, they aim to be as in person as they can be. It really sets this tone that we are going to be back in person and me just being able to be back on campus, to be in class or to just meet up with friends. It’s an amazing feeling. So I can’t imagine how badly first years who finally got out of their house and finally were able to come to university and be in person with students again felt when they got here.
And given Western’s culture and Western’s reputation, knowing that there’d be late night programming offered by the school, I’m sure everyone was incredibly excited to be back, so it’s incredibly different. I wouldn’t be able to tell you the exact impact it’s had on student partying. But from what I’ve seen, obviously, having people back on campus means that you want to interact with your friends more, means that you want to maybe go out more. So just from personal experience, it’s definitely a change from previous years.
Jordan
The last thing I want to ask you is, in terms of right now and going forward, now that O Week is a few weeks in the rear view mirror. The University now says it’s taking this really seriously. There are police investigations ongoing. How has the tone of interactions on campus shifted? Can you feel anything different in terms of when you’re at campus pubs or even just gathering on campus? How is this impacting students now?
Rebekah
Well, from one thing I’ve seen is nobody wants to forget this at the end of the day. When I went to the walk out, before the walkout began, I was on campus and almost everyone on campus was wearing teal or blue or green or some shade like that, because everyone, almost everyone that I’ve seen at least is incredibly passionate about this. So I really don’t think that this sentiment will go away. It’s not like in a few weeks, people will forget about it and then everything will go back to normal. I think it’s really cast a dark shadow on our school. Being on campus is a different feeling now, especially being on campus late at night. And taking the bus to your student rental is a different experience. I’m speaking from my own experience, but also speaking to my friends and my roommates and hearing from them how their experience on campus and in London in general has changed. So I don’t see this changing really. It’s a dark feeling. But until we receive verification or confirmation from our school that there are tangible things in place that are going to be making our campus safer, I think this feeling will continue.
Jordan
Rebekah, thank you so much for taking the time today. And thanks for all your work reporting on this.
Rebekah
Thank you so much for having me.
Jordan
Rebekah Rodrigues, of The Western Gazette.
That was The Big Story. For more from us. You know where to find us, thebigstorypodcast.ca.
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Thanks for listening. I’m Jordan Heath-Rawlings. We’ll talk tomorrow.
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