Three students booted from res
Controversy surrounds attempted Gate House “hog-tying”
By Alex Doukas
Issue date: 3/17/04 Section: News
Gate House has had its share of wild happenings, but last week, the administration made clear their stance on residence life. A series of events involving the attempted hog-tying of a first-year student and a string of further allegations of harassment culminated in the eviction of three students from Victoria’s Gate House residence last Monday.
The initial complaint, implicating several Vic students, was filed by the Gate House don. It concerned an incident in November, 2003, where a Gate House resident was held down as his hands and feet were bound with tape. The intention was to “hog-tie” the student, a process in which the hands and feet are bound behind the back, although multiple witnesses confirmed that the act stopped before the student’s feet were bound to his hands.
“The whole thing lasted less than three minutes,” said one of the evicted students. “Things like this go on all the time…we don’t include people who aren’t known to participate in this kind of thing, ever. The intention was never to hurt anybody,” he added. “He [the bound student] was egging us on to do this the whole week,” noted another of the students involved. “The student himself had participated in similar activities earlier in the year.”
In a release issued by the Office of the President, President Paul Gooch states, “In the judgment of the administration, the character and level of behaviour clearly crossed a line unacceptable in any community that respects all persons and promotes civility. We have received assurances from other members of the residence that the behaviour in question is not endorsed by their community, although it was justified by the perpetrators in the name of ‘tradition’.” The perpetrators, while admitting to have taken the activity too far and acknowledging some level of wrongdoing, stated that they had never tried to justify their actions on the basis of tradition, although others interviewed during the investigation of the incident may have indicated that the incident was consistent with Gate House traditions. It appears that the initial actions of the evicted students may not have been the sole cause of their removal; allegations of the hog-tied student being harassed by the perpetrators after the incident were leveled at some of the students involved by employees of the Dean of Students’ Office, who are also Vic students. “These allegations were not corroborated by the student in question or the Gate House Don,” noted a Gate House student wishing to remain anonymous.
The initial complaint, implicating several Vic students, was filed by the Gate House don. It concerned an incident in November, 2003, where a Gate House resident was held down as his hands and feet were bound with tape. The intention was to “hog-tie” the student, a process in which the hands and feet are bound behind the back, although multiple witnesses confirmed that the act stopped before the student’s feet were bound to his hands.
“The whole thing lasted less than three minutes,” said one of the evicted students. “Things like this go on all the time…we don’t include people who aren’t known to participate in this kind of thing, ever. The intention was never to hurt anybody,” he added. “He [the bound student] was egging us on to do this the whole week,” noted another of the students involved. “The student himself had participated in similar activities earlier in the year.”
In a release issued by the Office of the President, President Paul Gooch states, “In the judgment of the administration, the character and level of behaviour clearly crossed a line unacceptable in any community that respects all persons and promotes civility. We have received assurances from other members of the residence that the behaviour in question is not endorsed by their community, although it was justified by the perpetrators in the name of ‘tradition’.” The perpetrators, while admitting to have taken the activity too far and acknowledging some level of wrongdoing, stated that they had never tried to justify their actions on the basis of tradition, although others interviewed during the investigation of the incident may have indicated that the incident was consistent with Gate House traditions. It appears that the initial actions of the evicted students may not have been the sole cause of their removal; allegations of the hog-tied student being harassed by the perpetrators after the incident were leveled at some of the students involved by employees of the Dean of Students’ Office, who are also Vic students. “These allegations were not corroborated by the student in question or the Gate House Don,” noted a Gate House student wishing to remain anonymous.
