Disclose "Sexual Harassment Ring" to Donors, SFU Board Told

Clive's comment was responded to at the Downtown Eastside Enquirer blog.  Following is that lengthy response:

Clive,

You left the same comment on two articles posted at the Downtown Eastside Enquirer on the topic of the alleged SFU sexual harassment ring. (You left the same comment as well at a post at nowpublic.) Your responses suggest you either have not bothered to actually read the articles to which you are responding or you suffer from comprehension problems.

Your write,
"First, the program was very small- maybe 25 students in the entire 4 year program."

In my reporting on the alleged sexual harassment ring, it has been made clear that the student body in the SFU Visual Arts department was small at the time. I reported that there were roughly 12-15 students in any given Visual Arts class.

You write,
"It takes a minimum of three people to form a ring holding hands therefore at least 5 out of the 25 students need to jump into it to make it a reality."

It was clearly reported in my articles that there were just THREE professors in the SFU Visual Arts studio program at the time -- Greg Snider, Jeff Wall, and David McWilliam – and that the sexual harassment "ring" was comprised of these THREE professors. By "ring", I mean professors sharing information with one another, even competing with one another, to get into the pants of female students.

I mentioned reports that sexual harassment had been occurring in other departments of the Center for the Arts as well, but my articles have focused primarily on the identifiable "ring" in the Visual Arts department.

You write,
"The news story seems to suggest a much larger faculty & student count to justify such allegations."

You don't mention which of the news stories you are referring to here; as I noted earlier, you left your comment on two Downtown Eastside Enquirer stories. My articles do not "suggest a much larger faculty & student count". To the contrary, it is suggested that it was precisely the small number of faculty and students in an informal studio environment, that allowed a sexual harassment ring to operate in the Visual Arts Department.

A well bonded group of three male professors, close in age, with similar values and similar attitudes toward women, can keep a secret and cover for one another if necessary. Once any group grows beyond three people though, it becomes more difficult to keep a secret.

You write,
"I simply did not ever witness this kind of behaviour in my classroom other than the normal sexual energy...."

You are not alone, Clive. Even women being sexually harassed were not always aware of other women in the same class becoming targets. And from what I'm told, the sexual harassment did not always occur within clear view of an entire classroom of students, and it did not always occur while a studio class was formally in session.

One alleged sexual harassment victim says she had no idea that Greg Snider had been hitting on a classmate until the classmate disclosed this to her. The disclosure came after the first woman mentioned rampant Visual Arts sexual harassment while in a Women's Studies (History) class. A classmate in both the Women's History class and the Visual Arts class approached her shortly afterward to tell her that Greg Snider had been hitting on her. Snider would reportedly stroke the latter woman's back and ask her how she was doing -- hardly, "the normal sexual energy" between student and professor. Neither woman had known that the other was being sexually harassed. Imagine that, Clive.

The incident in which Snider fixated on a student's nipples did occur while a studio class was in session (these classes were reportedly 3 or 4 hours long), but not in full view of other students. Snider was reportedly standing with this particular student at her work station, which she recalls was situated next to a pillar. "I was standing by the pillar, I remember I was wearing a navy blue turtleneck; I remember it like it was yesterday, I've told so many people about it over the years." Other students working on their own art projects some distance away, chatting with other students, weren't necessarily in a position to see Snider's eyes locking on one student's nipples.

Artist Allison Clay left her spouse David McWilliam not long after he bedded a student in 2nd year. Makes you wonder, Clive, if she was noticing things that went beyond the "normal sexual energy" of professors and students. But then again, even a student cognizant of the presence of the sexual harassment ring says she didn't realize until much later that McWilliam was actually having sexual relations with a student. She had seem him gaze at this student in a sexually interested manner, but, "When they were in studio, it wasn't like they lay down on the couch together."

You write,
"So, I wonder if this is not simply a witchhunt (sic) perpetuated by a former woman/student who like most opportunists in the Art World sacrificed her body to justify the inherent lack of talent which seems to always make it into the Vancouver Art Gallery."

Clive, you could have been an adviser at the SFU Center for the Arts. One alleged sexual harassment victim, who apparently never "sacrificed her body", was encouraged by an adviser to act like one of your perceived "opportunists in the Art World" and essentially use Jeff Wall for what she could get out of him. The student had gone to the office of this adviser – she remembers his name being "Tony" and that he had an office in the Center for the Arts "portables" -- to talk about problems she was having with Wall. Tony cut the conversation off early; she suspects he knew that she could disclose sexual harassment if he allowed her enough leeway. She recalls him launching into a "patronizing" lecture about how she could get to be like Ken Lum. "I had never heard of Ken Lum", she says. Tony explained that Lum had developed a close personal relationship with Wall while a student in the Visual Arts department and that the relationship had helped Lum get ahead. Tony told her that after graduating from SFU Visual Arts, Lum had gotten accepted to, she believes he said, "New York University". "Tony was impressed by this; I don't know why," she says. "He told me I could do the same if I played my cards right with Wall."

You write,
"As a Gay student in a very hetero program I was never offered a cock to suck to get a show at the OR Gallery."

I realize you're trying to inject humor into your comment, but you're obviously not familiar with the SFU Visual Arts program. The SFU Center for the Arts had nothing to do with the Or Gallery, according to two sources. I have been told that the only connection was that the Or Gallery was run by Ken Lum, an SFU Visual Arts graduate and friend and protégé of Jeff Wall. Undergraduates at SFU were not getting shows at the Or Gallery, according to my sources.

You write,
"In fact, I should be angry that my three professors never offered me the same opportunity to graduate with honors."

I realize you're being facetious but, for the record, my sources have never claimed that SFU Visual Arts professors offered higher marks in exchange for sexual favors. I reported that one woman who was a target of sexual harassment saw her grades drop in Jeff Wall's classes to well below the grades she was getting in classes external to the Center for the Arts.

You write,
"Had I only known that all it took was a few loads in the mouth for a show at the VAG."

Clive, you're going off half-cocked; pardon the expression. From what I've been told, professors angling for sex with students had little or no power to get a student a show at the VAG. But of course, you know that.

You obviously don't believe sexual harassment is something to be too concerned about. Another gay male in the SFU Center for the Arts may have had a similar attitude. Grant Strate who taught in Dance and later became Director of the Center was made aware of the sexual harassment issue. Strate asked the complainant via voice mail if she was ok with him allowing Greg Snider to listen to a tape of what she had reported. She agreed. Strate did nothing about her complaint. She never heard from him again.

As I have pointed out in previous commentary on the alleged sexual harassment ring, the real question about this case is why SFU has spent years evading it's obligation to hold an investigation.