The vice-chancellor of Sydney University, Dr Michael Spence, has attacked St Paul’s College – which has been at the centre of a number of sex-related scandals – for harbouring a “deep contempt for women”.
Though the colleges at the University of Sydney have been subject to bucketloads of scrutiny for alleged mistreatment of women and a sexually debasing culture of hazing, Spence’s comments are specifically referring to the blowback from a Facebook post which compared women to “harpooned whales” and used the phrase “Happy slaying”.
St Paul’s warden Ivan Head issued an initial response, also via the college’s Facebook, that some suggested lacked a bit of conviction or willingness to address systemic issues – it pointed to the fact that derogatory comments may “resurface just when you need your best CV to work for you” before saying that “the primary message driving this has to be ‘respect for women: now-always.’
Here is the original post, as it appeared on the Facebook page:
A newer version of the post excluding this message excludes the above messaging.
Dr Spence’s letter went much further in response to both the original post and Head’s statement, arguing that “a deep contempt for women” was a “profound issue in the life of the College, going to its very licence to operate”. It’s not the first time Spence has suggested that a college’s licence to operate is on the line.
“I have today written to the Warden of St Paul’s pointing out that the College’s response fails to address the deep cultural problems evident in the life of his college,” Dr Spence continues in his letter. He pointed to the number of likes on the original post as indicative of a deeper issue:
The fact that almost 100 people liked this particular Facebook post indicates that a deep contempt for women is not just something that marks the behaviour of an isolated student, but a core feature of the shared culture of the men of the College.
St Paul’s is the only college sitting out of the university-wide cultural review led by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. They argued that they were conducting their own review of campus life and had the right to refuse to participate as a self-governing institution. The University has repeatedly threatened to disaffiliate with colleges which do not address this situation.
At the time, Spence was unyielding in his criticism – mostly from the perspective of the damage to USyd’s reputation:
These stories have been a thorn in our flesh. I do not want to see any more of them. The Chancellor and I have invited the heads of college councils to meet with Ms Broderick to see how we can address concerns that have been legitimately raised. I am sure they will co-operate.
This was back in November, responding to allegations of sexual shaming of women within colleges. Seems that little progress has been made in rectifying these cultural issues.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: University of Sydney.
