You may remember Michelle Roy’s name from this past November, when she kickstarted a protest movement over the handling of sexual assault on the Mount Allison campus. Roy’s actions led to an apology from university president Jean Paul Boudreau, and a promise of an action plan to overhaul the school’s policies and procedures around sexual violence.
On Monday, the university released the latest update on its progress with its action plan. Erica Butler called up Michelle Roy to get her thoughts on the process so far.
The last time Mount Allison released an update on its action plan to address sexual violence on campus, Michelle Roy had just been named co-chair of the university’s internal working group on the issue, along with sex researcher and Mount Allison professor Lisa Dawn Hamilton. (See CHMA’s interview with Hamilton here.)
Roy says despite difficulties stemming from the pandemic and fluctuating restriction levels, the working group is making progress. A full roster of members was announced with this update, and Roy says the group is now meeting weekly. “Things are moving,” she says, “so I’m pretty excited.”
Members of the Sexual Violence Prevention Working Group
Co-chairs
Michelle Roy
Lisa Dawn HamiltonFaculty & staff representatives
Krista Johnston, assistant professor of women’s and gender studies and Canadian studies
Anne Comfort, vice-president, international and student affairs (acting)
Pierre Arsenault, director of athletics and recreationStudent representatives
Kira Bubar
Hannah Hawkes
Moeka Irikura
Ania Kolbuszewska
Rohin Minocha-McKenney (MASU representative)
Graeme Stevens
Monday’s update included the announcement that the Canadian Centre for Legal Innovation in Sexual Assault Response (CCLISAR) has been selected to lead the independent review of Mount Allison policies and procedures around sexual violence.
Roy says she’s excited to work with CCLISAR, as they’ve worked with other schools, such as St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish. CCLISAR’s report on St. FX’s policies responding to sexualized violence is available online.
Roy says she’ll meet with the group for the first time next week.
“They’re going to be here for quite a while, and they’re going to be talking to a lot of people,” says Roy. “So I’m hopeful.”
However, says Roy, she’s learned that “change doesn’t happen overnight.” She says, “things are slowing down a bit,” with the action plan, but she is still optimistic, because she feels confident that she can speak up when necessary. “I have a really big voice,” says Roy. “So I’m able to change things. And if things aren’t going the way they should be, I can speak up pretty easily.”
Roy says she still hears from plenty of people sharing stories and experiences of sexual violence on campus, including from people at other universities in the region.
“I’ve spent a lot of my time researching different policies at different universities across Atlantic Canada,” says Roy. “I think a lot of these people coming to me are just unaware of how the policies work and the investigations work.”
In addition to co-chairing the university’s working group, Roy will be a member of the expert advisory panel which will review the report by CCLISAR before it is finalized and released.
In the coming weeks, Roy says information will be released on how people can participate in the review by CCLISAR.
Roy wants people on campus to, “feel free to speak up. Speak up to any of the groups that are being put together. Share your story, or share your thoughts, or anything.”
RELATED:
Three-person panel to begin independent review of Mount Allison’s sexual assault policies
Mount Allison appoints co-chairs for sexual violence prevention working group