Pascale Déry says degrading university initiations are 'unacceptable'

The higher education minister is leaving the door open to banning initiations after a report about degrading behaviour at Université de Sherbrooke.

Author of the article:

La Presse Canadienne

Caroline Plante

Published Mar 26, 2024 • 1 minute read

Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette files

QUEBEC — Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry is considering banning initiations in CEGEPs and universities.

She reacted Tuesday to Radio-Canada’s revelations on the degrading initiations in the biology department of Université de Sherbrooke last fall.

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The minister told journalists at the National Assembly that she had difficulty finishing reading the article, which she said made her blood run cold, because the behaviour described therein was “unacceptable.”

Initiations are subject to rules, but “now, visibly, these rules were not respected,” said Déry, adding she wants to discuss it soon with the establishments.

“I’ll ensure that this doesn’t happen again,” she said.

Could it be time to ban initiations? “The question can be asked, but honestly, I haven’t gotten there yet. … There are advantages and disadvantages to all that,” she replied.

For the moment, Déry said she is satisfied with the measures taken by the university, which promptly launched an investigation. She said she hoped that the organizers of the initiations would eventually face sanctions.

Radio-Canada reported Tuesday that the students in the department were doused in animal urine during initiations at the end of August. Other students were pushed to get naked in public or eat vomit during these activities.

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