A note to readers: The following story mentions sexual violence.
Today at 11am, people will gather in front of the Wallace McCain Student Centre to voice their concerns over how the university handles reports of sexual assault on campus.
Michelle Roy is one of the organizers of the protest. CHMA spoke to her on Tuesday at a poster making event in preparation for the protest.
A warning listeners, this interview includes discussion of sexual violence and assault, including a description of an assault.
Please note that the South East Sexual Assault Crisis Centre has a 24/7 crisis phone line available at 1-844-853-0811.
“I’m hoping that people will come out with posters and I encourage people to write on those posters what they want to say to the administration, what they want to let them know, and send their own message,” says Roy.
Last weekend, Roy made a post on social media calling out the university for its sexual assault policies. The post prompted a storm of other comments and posts, and has been liked over 16,000 times.
Many people have contributed their own stories of sexual assault and how they were handled by university staff and community. Anonymous accounts have been collected and posted at the Instagram account, accountabilityatmta.
Mount Allison University president Jean Paul Boudreau issued a statement on Monday committing to an action plan to address sexual violence on campus, to be delivered by the end of the week.
And yesterday, acting Vice President Anne Comfort sent out a notice to let students know that Crossroads for Women counsellors would be on site Thursday during the protest, for any survivors in need.
Confidential meetings with a counsellor will be available from 10:30 am to 5:00pm Thursday on the main floor of the student centre.
The Mount Allison Students Union will be live streaming today’s protest, which starts at 11am outside the Student Centre.
Roy is calling on people to create their own posters, and is collecting stories from survivors to be read aloud at the event.
She’s also asking for mask-wearing and social distancing rules to be followed.
