The following text has been issued by the University administration to all community members:
In light of recent media reports, you may know that approximately 25 years ago Jian Ghomeshi was a student at our University. Given the concerns regarding Mr. Ghomeshi and alleged occurrences of gender-based violence, we have conducted a search of our records from the period during which he was a student.
To date, we have found no record of any formal complaints being filed from that period, nor of any formal warnings being issued to residents of our student housing. This is not of course a commentary on the veracity of any concerns that individuals may raise about their personal experiences.
Importantly, York’s current protocols and processes provide clear steps the University would take and direction to anyone in our community who has experienced sexual violence. We work to create a culture where community members know survivors feel safe to come forward with complaints, and are supported in reporting occurrences to the appropriate authorities.
Over the last 25 years and within the broader context of ensuring equity for all, York University has led significant efforts to advance progress in this area. Today, we are a recognized leader in education and research that has informed legislation, policy development, and response frameworks.
More recently, since 2010, York has undertaken a broad range of initiatives to address proactively issues of gender-based violence. York became the first major Canadian university to undertake a comprehensive and holistic safety audit, which has helped to guide our institutional response to safety more broadly, and to gender-based violence specifically. We take pride in our historic commitment to transparency about security incidents as part of our efforts to create a culture of safety and inclusion at York University.
We recognize the significant impact gender-based and sexual violence can have on victims. We remain committed as an institution of higher education to strive continually to raise awareness about the issues and seek ways of preventing further harm.