Four Dalhousie professors seeking a formal investigation into an offensive Facebook group at the university have been told that their complaint has been tossed out.
Dalhousie has been embroiled in scandal since December, when news broke that male students at the university’s dentistry school had posted misogynistic statements about their classmates in a Facebook group called “Class of DDS 2015 Gentlemen.” Thirteen students have since been suspended from clinical work.
Professors Françoise Baylis, Jocelyn Downie, Brian Noble and Jacqueline Warwick made a complaint about the group in the hopes of triggering an investigation into the conduct of the group’s members.
In a Jan. 7 letter, released by the professors, Acting Vice-Provost for Student Affairs Anne Forrestall acknowledged that the students’ conduct could be considered harmful.
Forrestall cited a section of the school’s code of student conduct that states the code does not apply to any behaviour that “is subject to action as an alleged failure to meet standards of professional conduct as required by a college, faculty or school.”
A review of the Facebook group being undertaken by a standards committee at the dentistry school, Forrestall wrote, precludes moving forward with the professors’ complaint.
“We are sad that our actions have not resulted in a formal discipline process, as this would have served the goal of protecting and promoting the interests of those harmed by the conduct of the ‘Class of DDS 2015 Gentlemen,” the professors said in a statement.
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