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Saint Mary’s University launches sexual violence task force after student chant in favour of non-consensual sex

Saint Mary's University president calls the frosh chant inexcusable

In case we weren't aware, Saint Mary's University is totally not OK with its students singing songs that promote rape.

One day after sending 80 student leaders to sensitivity training over a frosh event in which hundreds of students participated in a chant celebrating non-consensual sex with underage girls, the Nova Scotia university says it will bring in the big guns to lead a task force into sexual violence prevention.

Wayne MacKay, the former chair of Nova Scotia's Task Force on Bullying and Cyberbullying, has been asked to clean up the mess on campus.

“As I watched events unfold at Saint Mary’s University over the last week, I saw that there is clearly more work to be done along the road I have already been traveling in relation to human rights,” MacKay said in a statement.

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MacKay was named one of Canada's 25 most influential lawyers earlier this year, and was a vocal anti-bullying advocate over the course of the recent Rehtaeh Parsons case.

He is a big name, especially in Atlantic Canada, and his inclusion on this task force is certainly in part intended to underline how serious the university is taking this black eye.

"The fact that something like this was able to happen at this scale and the fact that some still don't understand the seriousness of it tells me ... there is a culture of sexism that demands attention and real action," said SMU Student Association president Jared Perry.

Yes, real action. Except that the chant in question has been part of the frosh event for years, and only after it was recorded and posted online did anyone start taking it seriously.

There is a culture of sexism on university campuses and that is compounded amid the hyper-stupidity of frosh.

[ More Brew: SMU chant in favour of ‘non-consensual’ sex with young girls ]

In Toronto, a woman was assault during a frosh week event at York University. The school is being criticized for its slow response to the attack, with the Globe and Mail reporting that it took until late Friday morning before a security bulletin was issued on the school's website.

The SMU rape chant is a terrible example to set for students on campus, and the university appears to understand that they need to be seen nipping the situation in the bud.

Launching a sexual violence taskforce may be a band-aid solution. But from the school's perspective they can at least say they are doing something.

If the issue of non-consensual sex on campus goes from promotion to execution, at least the school can say they tried to do something.

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