A group of fourth year male dentistry students at Dalhousie University who allegedly participated in a Facebook group that contained sexually violent posts will graduate.

University president Richard Florizone said in a statement Friday that 12 of the 13 men who participated in a restorative justice process facilitated by the university's faculty of dentistry have "successfully remediated their behaviour and met the professional standards required" to graduate.

For five months, the men participated in the process and a full report on the findings was released Friday.

The process was called after female students discovered sexually violent comments on the Facebook group late last year, some directed at them. The posts were brought to the attention of the faculty, and the school’s president Richard Florizone temporarily suspended the group members.

On May 6, as the process concluded, it was determined that each of the 12 former Facebook group members had "remediated" their behaviour and met the standards required for graduation, should they fulfil the program's clinical requirements by May 27.

At a news conference on Friday, Florzione said the restorative process had been both "intense" and "difficult," but ultimately successful.

"The men have taken ownership of their actions and gained a deep understanding of the harm that was caused," he said. "They have apologized to those most directly impacted and together they've spent more than 1,500 hours together trying to repair the damage."

According to the report, the Facebook group initially began as a forum where members could bond and vent their frustrations, often in "unhealthy" and "extremely offensive ways."

Group members tried to "one up" each other on the page, in ways that were crude and deliberately shocking.

"While the offensive content in the Facebook group is inexcusable, the restorative process revealed that similar attitudes and behaviours existed within the competitive climate of the Faculty of Dentistry," the report said.

During the process, participants described a culture within the faculty where sexism, misogyny, racism and homophobia were perceived to be "inadequately dealt with."

On Friday, the dean of the faculty of dentistry admitted the investigation revealed deeper problems at the dentistry school.

"We see more clearly and more fully how broader societal norms, sexism and homophobia are reflected within our faculty. These have been difficult issues," Dr. Tom Boran said.

The report said the former group members have accepted responsibility for their actions, undergone extensive learning, and have committed to holding themselves to higher standards.

"We know that many people want to know who the worst among us are and who the more innocent bystanders are, the truth is none of the Facebook Group members are innocent, but nor are we monsters," said a statement from the men in the report.

The report also found that there was "no evidence" that any of the men exhibited "abnormal characteristics."

"Rather, it had to wrestle with how 'good' men could say these things -- could 'like' these things," said the report."

Insights from the investigation will also provide the university and its community with a "powerful foundation" to move forward, Florzione said, adding that the school is already taking action to strengthen its culture and practices as a result.

In the immediate aftermath of the scandal, Florizone and the school came under criticism for instigating a restorative justice process, rather than expelling the group members.

Students rallied outside the university Friday, calling for more severe consequences.

"I think harsher action should've have been taken, honestly, but I don't know the full story," Diane Ramsay told CTV Atlantic.

Some professors also felt that the restorative justice process fell short.

"This report from the restorative justice process appears to be a highly selective recounting of the facts," said Francois Baylis in a statement.

She added that report does not give a voice to the four female victims who chose not to pursue the process.

On Friday, Boran defended that decision, noting restorative justice was chosen by some of the female students targeted in the Facebook posts.

"Punitive measures such as expulsion do not change attitudes, or positively influence future behaviour, nor do they address the underlying systemic problems," Boran said.

"They saw restorative justice as the most promising path toward meaningful change."

In the report, the women involved in the restorative process defended the schools' approach to the incident.

"We were not looking to have our classmates expelled as 13 angry men who understood no more than they did the day the posts were uncovered." Nor did we want simply to forgive and forget."

With reports from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant and Marie Adsett