Dalhousie students in Facebook scandal won’t attend classes with classmates

HALIFAX – The 13 male students at Dalhousie University’s faculty of dentistry involved in a Facebook scandal will not be allowed to attend classes with their classmates.

At a news conference on Friday, university president Dr. Richard Florizone said an academic standards committee decided the students would no longer attend regular class. He said they would likely meet off campus, or together on campus apart from the rest of the class.

The students, who were suspended on Monday, are accused of posting misogynistic and violent comments about female classmates to a Facebook group. The suspensions are considered indefinite until the academic standards committee decides otherwise.

“No woman harmed by this will be sitting in a classroom next to one of the 13 Facebook members,” Florizone said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "No woman harmed by this will be sitting in a classroom next to one of the 13 Facebook members," Florizone said.

Florizone said he could not speculate on whether any of the suspended students would be able to graduate.

READ MORE: Dalhousie refuses to release names of suspended students to dental boards

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He said a third-party investigation of the environment at the dentistry school will be conducted, and any findings of a task force, to be led by University of Ottawa professor Constance Backhouse, will be made public.

WATCH: Florizone said Friday that the school needs to have an independent, third-party assessment of the environment at the dentistry school.

Regarding a formal complaint filed by four Dalhousie professors, Florizone said he hoped to have an update soon, but did not specify a time.

He added that the school’s restorative justice process announced last month is moving forward with 14 women and 12 of the 13 members of the Facebook group involved.

READ MORE: Restorative justice: Will it work in the Dalhousie Facebook scandal?

Earlier this week, an anonymous open letter purportedly from four female dentistry students at Dalhousie was submitted to Florizone, which said the students were being forced to accept the restorative justice path.