Dalhousie professors go public about complaint against dentistry students

Four Dalhousie professors have gone public with a formal complaint they submitted to the university last month, which called for male dentistry students linked to a sexually explicit Facebook discussion to be suspended before classes resume on Monday.

HALIFAX -- Four faculty members of Halifax's Dalhousie University say a complaint they filed two weeks ago about male students allegedly posting sexually hateful messages online about females has not been addressed by administration.

In a statement, the four professors say they filed a complaint to Anne Forrestall, the school's acting vice-provost of student affairs, on Dec. 21 and hand-delivered a print copy the following day.

The statement says the professors wanted the dentistry students involved in the Facebook group, which has since been taken down, on an interim suspension prior to the return of classes on Monday.

It says the group initially wanted to keep their names confidential, but decided to go public because of "unexplained delays" in processing the complaint.

The statement says all students are entitled to a safe and respectful learning environment and immediate action is essential to rebuilding confidence in the that environment.

In an email, Dalhousie spokesman Brian Leadbetter says a preliminary assessment of the formal complaint will be completed in early January and an update on that process will be provided this week.

University president Richard Florizone has said 13 men in the fourth-year of the dentistry program were members of a Facebook group where comments were posted.

Florizone announced plans earlier this month to use a restorative justice approach to handle the issue.