But how much of a difference does this make?
Hufsa Tahir
Staff Writer
@excalweb
York president Mamdouh Shoukri recently issued an update about campus safety on January 11. Out of the 101 safety recommendations—which were issued in a York campus safety audit in June 2010—Shoukri declared that “close to 60 per cent of the recommendations are either significantly advanced or completed.”
The audit was conducted by the Metropolitan Action Committee on Public Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC) as York’s response to increasing pressure from student activists to address the lack of campus safety. Some examples of the recommendations METRAC suggested were revising York security’s nonintervention policy, improving lighting, ensuring camera coverage in certain areas of campus, more security patrols, and increasing funding for campus service groups Sexual Assault Survivors Support Line (SASSL) and the Centre for Women and Trans People (CWTP).
Despite the widespread coverage of the recommendations and York’s glowing progress update, there are a few questionable aspects. Wallace Pidgeon of York media clarified the six varying definitions of “completion” being used in the report, but the actual level of implementation is still unclear.
When asked about the progress made on the suggestion for a mandatory women’s studies or equity course for undergraduate students, YFS president Vanessa Hunt reveals the recommendation is still in its infancy. In fact, the YFS is putting together a presentation for the Academic Planning Committee and it has yet to be approved by Senate.
“It will take years,” says Hunt of the actual planning stage.
And though 60 per cent of the recommendations have seen action, many redundant items pad the list. Signage and lighting recommendations, for instance, account for about 25 items on METRAC’s list, while big-ticket plans like hiring new security staff or adding more vehicles to the Village shuttle route only take up a single space each. This means that even with high completion figures being announced by York, few of the important recommendations have actually been put in place.
However, the university has concluded substantial parts of the METRAC plan, and is working towards completion.
