NUS leadership will have a town hall with students to discuss review committee and policies on sexual harassment

NUS Dean of Students Assoc Prof Peter Pang has announced that a town hall will be organised between NUS management and students later this week, said a student on the NUS Facebook page.

This follows calls from students who wanted to have an open dialogue with the university about their sexual harassment policies and the committee that is being convened by the University to address how they can improve their disciplinary and support framework when it comes to sexual harassment.

NUS law student Daryl Yang, one of the signatories on a Statement of Concern written by almost 500 NUS students, said in a comment on the NUS Facebook post of Assoc Prof Pang’s statement, “The town hall is only a first step towards rebuilding trust between students and administration but it is heartening that our university leadership is showing that it is willing to listen and engage with us.”

This he wrote after a heartfelt comment in which he highlighted the shock he experience at how the university responded to the case of a young woman calling out NUS for their lack of action against the student who had filmed her showering.

Mr Yang said, “I am shocked that all the university is offering to do is setting up yet another committee…As someone who has stayed on campus and who has many friends who continue to do so, I am sickened and shocked to know that this is the type of environment NUS is creating for our students, regardless of their gender.”

Then echoing the call in the statement of concern, he urged the university to hold a town hall before the end of the semester so that the University leadership can speak and meet with the community to address the concerns that have been raised.

In his original comment calling for the town hall, Mr Yang said, “It would be disappointing if this upwelling of community concern is ignored and allowed to die away with the end of the semester.”

He then included a call to other members of the NUS community to appeal to Assoc Prof Pang to let him know that they want the University to do more than just set up another committee.

Below is the copy of email sent by the Dean today.