The last few days, I’ve seen the emotional rollercoaster of three Camosun nursing students play out in the media. What started out as an appeal over grades has turned into a carefully worded and vague navigation of human rights.
There are so many layers to this situation and the lack of transparency on Camosun’s part is both infuriating and appreciated.
Firstly, I think it’s important to remember that, if these students were sexually victimized in any way, their experience is their story to tell (and only if they chose to). I believe that to force someone to unwillingly discuss or relive trauma is cruel and unfair.
That being said, if these acts were committed at the college, do we as students have the right to know? I also struggle with the fact that if Camosun cannot comment on the nature of the human-rights violation or what class the students were taking, why are they offering sexual violence and sexual harassment as examples of human rights and naming the faculty that they belong to?
There has also been concern over the college’s decision to pass students who do not know the material—particularly because this is in the health-care field. While this was my knee-jerk reaction to this situation, I have since come to understand that these students were given additional tutelage to make sure that they fulfilled the learning requirements of the class, thus eliminating the concern for pubic safety.
In this sense, I applaud Camosun. To my understanding, these students were not given a free pass. Ultimately, they were still required to learn the material in the course. They were simply given the tools to do so in a way that accommodated their experience.
Like a tourniqueted wound, it’s obvious there’s damage, but it’s hard to know the extent. And, while it’s incredibly important to respect victims’ privacy, the college’s ambiguous statements are frustrating when the issue is potentially one of student safety.
I’m hopeful that in the days to come this mess of vagueness will give way to clarity and support for violated human rights.
This has seriously sullied the reputation of all nurses who were taught at Camosun. How many others are out there practicing who should not be? Are there people who are now dead who would be alive except for this procedure?