The University of Victoria (UVic) has launched an investigation involving reports of bullying and harassment released by the Ukrainian Students Society.
According to a social media post released by the club, ongoing harassment and threats have been inflicted upon the student society since September 15th of last year.
The report includes accusations of malicious propaganda made against members of the Ukrainian Student Society (USS) by the Young Communist League (YCL), a newly ratified club at the UVic.
The post reads, “Fearing for the safety of our members and the possibility of furniture threats of violence resulting from purposeful propagation of harmful l anti-Ukranian rhetoric on campus, we approached the UVSS and the University of Victoria to inform them of the ongoing hate and harassment demonstrated by the YCL and the very real threat of harm and retraumatization for Ukrainian Students.”
In the wake of these reports, Kevin Hall, President and Vice-Chancellor, said in a statement that the university will be taking steps to investigate the problematic behaviour.
“This behaviour is not—and will not—be tolerated at UVic. We’re committed to creating a campus that is safe, supportive and inclusive,” said Hall.
“When incidents like the ones raised by members of the Ukrainian Students Society occur, we as an institution need to take a hard look at how this happened and amend policies, approaches or processes that don’t align with our vision for the campus.”
In order to maintain a campus environment that is welcoming to all, Hall said the university must hold staff and students accountable.
“We also encourage members of our community to bring forward incidents of hate, harassment and discrimination to our Equity and Human Rights office (EQHR).”
