CW: discussion of sexual misconduct cases
Every single incident of serious misconduct in 2021 was caused by first and second-year students, almost all of them male.
The Provost’s annual report for 2021 found nine incidents of “serious misconduct” amongst Uni students, ranging from verbal and physical abuse of Campus Watch members to breaking into a flat. There was but one couch fire. The Provost cited alcohol as an aggravator for six of the nine cases reported, and acknowledged that such misbehaviour is typically concentrated amongst the younger students. Overall, the total number of serious misconduct incidents in 2021 was down to just nine, compared to 13 and 16 in the years prior.
A first-year who “started a couch fire and then fuelled the fire with an accelerant” was caught on CCTV. They were referred to the Vice-Chancellor and “strongly encouraged to seek alcohol counselling”. A second-year who started a fire in the women’s toilets in the Link was “required to complete 40 hours of community service,” and had to submit an apology to the Uni. The Provost found “mental health issues” were a factor in this case.
2021’s nine cases included three incidents of abuse against members of Campus Watch. All involved were given a “final warning notice” (meaning the Uni could kick them out if they re-offend). One second-year student directed “misogynist comments and extreme foul language” against a female Campus Watch member. Another second-year verbally abused Campus Watch members with “threatening behaviour and extreme foul language”. Both had to do 50 hours of community service.
Two second-year students were caught on CCTV firing an air pistol (with gel pellets) at “five random people on the street, and one member of Campus Watch”. They were both required to do 30 hours of community service and had to submit an apology to the Campus Watch member they shot at. They also lost their air pistol privileges.
Finally, a group of eight second-year males broke into a flat and “verbally abused its female occupants”. One was charged by the Police, while the other seven were required to do community service ranging between 20-60 hours “depending on their role in the incident”. The boys had to submit apology letters to the flat involved and had to pay for the damages caused.
The Provost’s report noted “a change in student behaviour in 2021… with more serious violence and offending at the higher end of the scale”, even though incidents of violence overall have been dropping steadily since 2019. The Uni hasn’t quite worked out what’s causing this shift, but speculated that “the additional stresses of COVID and the lock downs of 2020 and 2021 have contributed.”
Finally, three sexual misconduct cases were reported in 2021, all involving first-years. In two cases, no disciplinary action was taken: once because the Proctor ruled that “the student had a reasonable belief regarding presence of consent”, and once because the Proctor found that the student had, upon investigation, not breached the Sexual Misconduct Policy. The report noted that in both cases, the complainants and the respondent were supported throughout this process by appropriate staff (including Te Whare Tāwharau, the Sexual Violence Support & Prevention Centre). A third first-year student who was accused of sexual misconduct “withdrew from the University before the Provost had an opportunity to consider the matter,” and as a result the case could not be investigated further.
The overwhelmingly young, male demographic responsible for the majority of serious incidents on campus did not come as a surprise “to anyone who has ever met the young, male demographic”, said third-year Reggie. “What a shocker.”