New UBC president Santa Ono commends 'thoughtful' report on sexual assaults

VANCOUVER -- Members of an expert panel tasked with examining theUniversity of British Columbia's approach to sex assaults say morehard work lies ahead, after the institution published a criticalreport the group submitted months earlier.

President Santa Ono released the 52-page report to students,faculty and staff on Monday. He thanked the UBC-appointed panel andsaid he had passed the document on to a committee working on theschool's new sexual assault policy.

"I want to commend the University Sexual Assault Panel for athoughtful, comprehensive report that will help inform dialogue andspark further engagement on campus as we work to improve ourpolicies and practices for addressing and responding to sexualassault," he said in a statement.

The report was submitted to the president's office in June. Iturges the university to undertake sweeping changes to counter the"general mistrust" on campus and the perception that UBC hasdownplayed the severity of the issue and avoided responsibility.

• Panel calls for major overhaul of UBC's sexual assault policy
• UBC student society using coffee cups to raise awareness of sexual assaults on campus

UBC started creating a standalone sexual assault policy earlierthis year after allegations it delayed taking action on multiplecomplaints about a male PhD student.

Ono, whose term began in mid-August, said in an email to thecampus community that UBC has made "significant strides" toimprove its policies and practices for addressing and responding tosexual assaults.

A draft policy was published in June. Public consultations on thedocument will now be extended until Oct. 31 to allow for reflectionon the panel's recommendations, Ono said.

The president said he has also asked a small working group tomake recommendations to the UBC executive about the appropriateprocesses, infrastructure and resources to best serve its communityand support people who have been affected.

Spokeswoman Susan Danard said membership of the working group wasstill being determined, but it will likely include staff fromstudent services, legal counsel and human resources.

The university is also hosting sexual assault policy informationsessions on both its Vancouver and Okanagancampuses this fall toprovide an overview of the draft and answer questions.

"Now we're also going to hold youaccountable"

Last week, some panel members questioned why the report -- whichwas submitted on June 20 -- had not beenpublished. Lucia Lorenzi, aPhD graduate with expertise in sexual assault, said she wasfrustrated at the lack of communication about why it remained underwraps.

But Sara-Jane Finlay, associate vice-president of equity andinclusion, said it would have been ineffective to release thefindings in the summer when students and faculty were away. It wassubmitted at a time when interim president Martha Piper's term wasjust ending and Ono's term had not yet begun, she added.

Lorenzi said on Monday that the panel's recommendations are nowin the university's hands, but the campus community must continue toensure UBC doesn't "slide this under the rug."

"We need to hold UBC's feet to the fire and say, 'All right,you've released the report and now we're also going to hold youaccountable,"' she said.

Natalie Clark, a social work professor at Thompson RiversUniversity, said she is eager to focus on the report's manyrecommendations, aimed at institutional accountability, education,prevention and a "survivor-centred" response to reports anddisclosures.

"The conversation can now start to be about what's in thereport, rather than the delay," she said, adding the panel expectsto meet with Ono on Wednesday.

The six-member panel spoke with about 50 people and receivedemails from 40 others about the university's handling of sexualassaults. It heard from many people that UBC had failed todemonstrate accountability.

The report's recommendations included new disciplinary processesfor students and faculty accused of sexual assault, standardizedtimelines for responding to complaints and a centralized office toco-ordinate response.