Drop-Off Zone: The Normalization of Gender-Based Violence at StFX

On Saturday, October 3rd, StFX students, alumni, and community members gathered on campus and in the surrounding town to celebrate university spirit through their annual Homecoming (HOCO) event. That same day, a post was made by a community member on Threads expressing concern and disgust about a banner hanging from a second-story window on an off-campus house. The banner read: “Drop-Off Zone: Acadia Girlfriends.”

The post garnered a lot of internet attention, with nearly 90 000 views, and over 130 comments, saying things such as:

“Considering the discourse happening right now, this is vile behavior. It's not a joke. How is anything going to change if people don't stop treating it like a joke?”

“This is so disgusting. “Not all men” except every university town in North America, somehow.”

The overall complaint of many comments is that this banner perpetuates “rape culture,” normalizing and desensitizing people to gender-based violence, framing it as a harmless joke.

Following this, an email was sent out to StFX students at 3:31pm from the Vice President of Student Life, Elizabeth Yeo. In her email, she states “Even when off-campus, acts such as this—or any other offensive or inappropriate acts—will not be tolerated. We expect all members of our community to uphold the values of respect, dignity and care for others, during Homecoming and throughout the year.”University staff intervened to have the banner taken down, though it was put up once again later the day, perhaps indicating ignorance of the issue at hand.A second email was sent out the following day, at 10:29am, from Dr. Andy Hakin, in which he said “the sign displayed at an off-campus house during Homecoming was degrading and deeply concerning. Language that objectifies women or makes light of sexualized violence has no place at StFX or in any community.”

StFX students were interviewed for this article, and were asked one question, “How did this banner make you feel?”

Carter Neale, a student in the Bachelor of Education program, responded with the following: “Coming from a school in Ontario and having a degree under my belt, I was excited to come to the school without the knowledge of its past. Those signs opened my eyes to what’s happening at this university. It’s disgusting that we are treating women as objects where you can simply drop them off at someone’s house for guys to have their way with.”

Another anonymous student said, “I felt the sign was an unnecessary, not funny, poorly timed ‘joke’. In previous years this may have been looked at differently, but it happening right after the Cornell 7 case is incredibly distasteful. Putting the sign back up after receiving complaints from the university is my biggest issue with it. Accept you were wrong and move on. Don’t double down.”

Heather Blackburn, StFX’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Advocate, was asked the same question. She said, “Oh man. It’s disappointing, and I’m frustrated. I work with folks that experience sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and violent rape. It has been harmful for many of them to see such a huge reaction to the banner, when the harms they experience have been significant and life altering.

“I just hope folks continue to care so deeply about institutional responses to the full spectrum of sexualized violence, not just the cases picked up by the media. I agree that this was a disgusting display of the objectification of women, but it isn’t new and wasn’t the only banner raised by students in off campus housing. I hope the spark that has been lit is sustained so we can show our support to victims and survivors in our communities.”

The takeaway is this situation is deeply frustrating. Even when steps are taken retroactively, the harm it causes students and the community alike cannot be undone. It begs the question: are there precautionary measures that StFX can put in place earlier to prevent gender-based violence such as this?