Dalhousie University has suspended 13 dentistry students from clinical activities over comments that were posted on Facebook over a period of some months. In announcing this today, the school said that it delayed a public statement because it had received “credible reports” that the students, all in fourth year, might be in jeopardy of harming themselves. It was a jolting twist in the case of the so-called DDS Gentleman’s Club. The group had posted offensive material about women, and in one case showed photographs of two women students. The dean of the dentistry school said the comments were deeply offensive, degrading to women and entirely unacceptable. “This behaviour will not be tolerated at Dalhousie University,” president Richard Florizone told a news conference. There is a disciplinary process underway which the president said would “follow a just process, a process which is consistent with the law, with university policy and which holds the rights of all of those involved in this incident.” He said the university had delayed the suspension after it heard reports that the male students allegedly involved were at risk of harming themselves. The school wanted to ensure that appropriate supports were available to them. “We had credible reports from our front line staff of potential self-harm,” he said. “We took those seriously and so that concern for student safety overrode our concern about communicating this publicly.” The case reveals the super nova impact of the Internet with sophomoric conduct. The damage to both men and women is plain when young men full of bravado about sex must face the public consequences of their immature behaviour. Canadian Press Gentlemen’s Club
