Action Plan for a Culture of Consent & Respect: Response to the Rubin Thomlinson Interim and Final Report

Dear King’s Community,

Today King’s announced that we have adopted the “Can’t Buy My Silence” pledge, (“the pledge”). By signing this pledge, we commit to never use a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in a case involving sexual harassment, discrimination, other forms of misconduct and/or bullying. We join Acadia University, which announced its own adoption of the pledge today, as the first institutions to sign this pledge in Nova Scotia.

Non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) are sometimes used as a tool to silence victims in circumstances of sexual misconduct, racism, pregnancy discrimination and other human rights violations. You can read more about the many implications and results of NDAs being used in this way in our announcement and on the “Can’t Buy My Silence” campaign’s website. The campaign is led by Professor Julie Macfarlane, a Canadian law professor and member of the Order of Canada, and British activist and former employee of Harvey Weinstein, Zelda Perkins. Its purpose is to make non-disclosure agreements “unenforceable for anything other than their original purpose – the prevention of sharing confidential business information (“intellectual property”) and trade secrets.”

King’s adoption of this pledge is in keeping with other actions taken in response to recommendations made by Rubin Thomlinson LLP in both the Interim Report and Final Report of the Independent Review of Accusations of Sexual Assault Against Dr. Wayne Hankey. In particular, it is consistent with how King’s acted on the second recommendation of the Rubin Thomlinson Final Report, which called on the university to make amends to individuals harmed by Dr. Hankey. In settling claims against the university arising out of Hankey’s misconduct, the university did not ask or require any claimant to enter into a non-disclosure agreement.

Additional information about actions taken in response to the Rubin Thomlinson Independent Review can be found in the Action Plan for a Culture of Consent & Respect: Response to the Rubin Thomlinson Interim Report & Final Report (“the Action Plan”). First published in September 2022 in response to recommendations provided in the Rubin Thomlinson Interim Report, an update to this document was published today. The updated version includes the addition of those recommendations made in the Final Report and the status of King’s response to each.

My thanks to all those who are leading, participating in and supporting the very important work reflected in the Action Plan, and in King’s becoming a signatory of the pledge. In particular, I would like to thank Sexual Health & Safety Officer Jordan Roberts, Vice-President Sarah Clift and Dean of Students Katie Merwin and all the members past and present of the Sexualized Violence Policy Implementation Advisory Committee.

Sincerely,

Bill

William Lahey
President, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Law

This communication deals with sensitive subject matter including sexual assault.

Dear King’s community,

The Final Report of the Independent Review of Accusations of Sexual Assault Against Dr. Wayne Hankey conducted by Rubin Thomlinson was posted to the King’s website on March 15.  On that day, in the afternoon, I addressed the college community, offering an apology to all who were harmed by Dr. Hankey. And, on behalf of the college, I accepted the findings of the report and all five of its recommendations.

Today I write to address fulfilment of the first recommendation, which was to extend the opportunity for individuals to participate in the Independent Review for an additional 30-day period. Accordingly, the call for information was extended to April 14. Anyone with something to share who had not yet come forward, for whatever reason, was invited to contact Ms. Rubin in complete confidentiality.

Ms. Rubin has now informed us that she did receive additional contacts and, as a result, she has updated her Final Report to include one more incident and another example of bullying.

In keeping with our pledge to provide transparency, the updated version of the Report is now on our website. For clarity, Ms. Rubin has underlined all new information.

I want to remind everyone that supports are still available to the community. The link to them is through ‘Community Supports’ on the Final Report page.

Sincerely,

Bill

William Lahey
President, Vice Chancellor and Professor of Law

This communication deals with sensitive subject matter including sexual assault.

Dear King’s community,

The Final Report of the Independent Review on Accusation of Sexual Assault Against Dr. Wayne Hankey conducted by Rubin Thomlinson was posted to the King’s website this morning. This afternoon I addressed the college community, and, on behalf of the college, I accepted the findings of the report and all five of its recommendations. I also offered our apology to all who were harmed by Dr. Hankey. The Final Report and my address are now on the homepage of King’s website at www.ukings.ca.

I write to fulfill the first recommendation of the Final Report. The recommendation reads:

“What we have captured here may not be an exhaustive list of those people who were victimized by Dr. Hankey. It is possible that individuals have not identified themselves as part of this review because they thought they were alone in their experiences. Once this report is made available publicly, this dynamic may change. Therefore, we recommend that King’s make a final call out for anyone who had an experience with Dr. Hankey (or knowledge of one) that they would like us to consider as part of this report and that they be asked to contact us within 30 days of the publication of this report. To the extent that we receive additional information that we believe should augment this report, an updated report would be prepared.”

We accept the conclusion of Ms. Rubin that there are likely other experiences within her mandate yet to be shared. Therefore, in accordance with Ms. Rubin’s first recommendation, anyone who has not yet come forward to Ms. Rubin, because of any number of fears or concerns that may have held them back, have the next 30 days to do so in complete confidentiality.

If you have had an experience with Dr. Hankey you believe relevant to the review, or know someone who did, and you have not yet spoken with Ms. Rubin, she invites you to contact her, in confidence, at ukings@rubinthomlinson.com. This opportunity is available through end of day Friday, April 14.

I want to remind everyone that supports have been made available to the community. To access them, please consult the homepage at www.ukings.ca. The link to them will be through ‘Community Supports’ on the Final Report page.

Sincerely,

Bill

William Lahey
President, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Law

This communication deals with sensitive subject matter including sexual assault.

Dear King’s community,

I have received the Final Report of Janice Rubin’s Independent Review on Accusations of Sexual Assault Against Dr. Wayne Hankey. As outlined in my correspondence of January 30, receipt of the Report initiated visits and conversations with the men who are subjects of the Final Report. I have concluded these visits and talks.

The Terms of Reference for the Review call for the Report, redacted to protect confidentiality and privacy, to be made public. I write to tell you that King’s will be making the redacted Final Report public tomorrow, Wednesday March 15. It will go live on the King’s website at 11:30am Atlantic.

Tomorrow I will address the King’s community live from Alumni Hall at 1:30pm Atlantic to discuss the findings of the Report. If you can, please join us in Alumni Hall. For members of our community who are further afield or are unable to come to Alumni Hall, the address will be livestreamed. It will also be recorded and available by video for your convenience.

On Wednesday, March 15, at 11:30am Atlantic the link to both the Report and the livestream will be available through the home page of the King’s website at www.ukings.ca.

Thank you,

Bill

William Lahey
President, Vice Chancellor and Professor of Law

Dear King’s community,

The Final Report (“the report”) of the Independent Review conducted by Rubin Thomlinson LLP is expected in the relatively near future. The exact date is unknown. My purpose today is to inform you of the method by which it will be made public, as per our promise to the community. As you will read, the process will take time.

To begin, the Final Report will be delivered to me by Janice Rubin.

As stated in the Terms of Reference:

“A final report will be submitted to the President. A copy of the final report, with appropriate redactions in accordance with applicable law to protect individual privacy, will be released to the community.”

I am now in conversations with Ms. Rubin about how and when I will receive the report and about what I will be expected to do after I receive the report.  All of these matters are being worked out in considerable detail with Ms. Rubin and I will be following her advice and directions carefully.

Maintaining the individual privacy of the people who have shared their experiences with Ms. Rubin is of preeminent and overriding importance. I share the determination of Ms. Rubin to ensure the college fully meets this priority not only in how and when we share the Final Report with the King’s community but on a permanent basis, guided by the wishes of the people whose privacy we will be dedicated to protecting.

The process of making the necessary redactions to protect privacy will take time. Therefore, there will be a delay after I receive the report before we are able to share it with the community.

In May of 2021, we received an Interim Report from Ms. Rubin and her colleague Elizabeth Bingham that included the following recommendation:

“We recommend that King’s consider how it can put supports in place to allow the community to process our final report, such as community forums, town hall meetings, and/or access to counselling. We believe it is necessary for King’s to acknowledge and internalize the past in order to move forward as a community.”

Accordingly, we are expecting a Final Report that concludes people have suffered harms and that the university has accountability for their suffering.

In accordance with this expectation, when we receive the report, I want everyone in our community to know that my first priority will be talking about the report with those who have experienced harm. These discussions will be open-ended and will include the topic of how the university should proceed with its commitment to making the final report available to the King’s community. These conversations will take as long as they take. They may therefore delay the timing of the release of the report beyond the time required for the redaction process.

Both the redactions process and the process of making myself available to those who have been harmed before releasing the Final Report to the community, are in accordance with the values and principles that are at the core of the university’s Sexualized Violence Awareness Prevention and Response Policy and the Action Plan for a Culture of Consent and Respect we developed in response to the Interim Report.

Before ending I want to emphasize we have, as a community of care and concern, worked hard on all of the recommendations contained in the interim report, including the recommendation quoted above. Under the leadership of Sexual Health and Safety Officer Jordan Roberts, Dean of Students Katie Merwin, and Vice-President Sarah Clift, we have been implementing our Action Plan for a Culture of Consent and Respect, including by having the supports in place to support community members in their processing of the Final Report. You will find the Action Plan, which is a living document, updated to January 20, 2023, at Action Plan for a Culture of Consent and Respect. In addition, at any time and all times, a resource page of student supports is available on our website, and faculty and staff can access support through the Employee Assistance Plan (EAP).  More information on the supports available will be made available as the need for them arises, including for our alumni.

I appreciate that this is a matter of great interest to everyone in and outside our community. King’s remains committed to transparency, to our care for those who have experienced sexualized violence and to the promise of action on all recommendations made by Rubin Thomlinson that I made on  February 2, 2021 and that I repeated on May 31, 2022.

Thank you,

Bill

William Lahey
President, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Law

Note: The date for the January 2023 Update to the Action Plan for a Culture of Consent and Respect has been changed from January 23 to January 20, for accuracy.

Dear King’s community,

In August 2022 King’s published its response to recommendations provided in Rubin Thomlinson’s Interim Report. This report is part of the Independent Review commissioned by the University of King’s College in February 2021. The Action Plan for a Culture of Consent & Respect: Response to the Rubin Thomlinson Interim Report (“the Action Plan”) outlined how King’s would implement the report’s 10 recommendations.

Today we share updates to the Action Plan that reflect the status of this ongoing work. Updates have been added into the document and are clearly marked in blue. We invite you to review the updated Action Plan in its entirety, or you can review a summary of Action Plan updates.

Sincerely,

Sarah Clift
Vice-President

Jordan Roberts
Sexual Health and Safety Officer

Katie Merwin
Dean of Students

Warning: the following communication discusses sexualized violence and criminal charges of sexual assault.

Dear King’s community,

In February 2021, the University of King’s College announced it would commission an Independent Review into the facts surrounding charges of sexual assault brought against retired Professor Wayne Hankey and King’s responsibilities in light of those facts. In March of that year, Janice Rubin of Rubin Thomlinson LLP was appointed to conduct the Independent Review and the Terms of Reference were made public. With the matter then before the courts, King’s and Rubin Thomlinson committed to conduct the Review in a manner respectful of the criminal justice system.

Following the death of Professor Hankey in February 2022, King’s reiterated its commitment to the Independent Review.

The Independent Review is dual purpose:

• the first purpose is to determine the facts and an appropriate response to the historic incidents that led to the charges against Wayne Hankey. This report is expected in the fall term;
• the second purpose of the Independent Review is to make recommendations on the steps King’s must take to ensure it provides a safe environment for all members of its community in accordance with the commitments it has made in its Sexualized Violence Awareness and Response Policy.

On May 20 of this year, King’s received an Interim Report from Rubin Thomlinson that addresses the second purpose of the Independent Review. The Report contains “the measures King’s should take to ensure King’s is a safe community that supports the survivors and victims of sexual violence, and also responds effectively and accountably to sexualized violence in ways that are survivor/victim-centered.” These measures are outlined in 10 recommendations addressing culture, campus life, policy and procedure at King’s, as each of these may affect, and be affected by, sexualized violence.

The message to all members of the King’s community issued alongside the Interim Report on May 31 unequivocally accepted all recommendations and this was the beginning of the university’s response.

In further response, today King’s has published the Action Plan for a Culture of Consent and Respect (“the Action Plan”).

The Action Plan was developed by King’s Sexual Health & Safety Officer Jordan Roberts and Dean of Students Katie Merwin with the support of President William Lahey and Vice-President Dr. Sarah Clift. Further insights and information were gained through recent, direct consultation with constituencies including current students and alumni.

The Action Plan references efforts and cultural shifts at King’s that precede the Independent Review process. These include the creation of the role of Sexual Health & Safety Officer at King’s, the development of King’s Sexualized Violence Policy and collaborations across the post-secondary sector through the Provincial Sexual Violence Prevention Committee. King’s understands that the change called for in the Interim Report must go deeper than the development of policies, plans and offices; it must be more pervasive than the work already begun. As stated in the Action Plan’s Introduction, “What is called for is a fundamental change in our culture and a deep reckoning with our past.”

King’s publishes this Action Plan as a living document. To approach the work of fundamental change and deep reckoning in good faith, the University proceeds knowing that its understanding of this work and the resources we have to pursue it will strengthen with time. To ensure transparency, updates to this plan tracking our progress will be made regularly.

The ethos we embrace at King’s is to live and learn in community. We will live this work and learn from this work together. This document is one step in the process and signals a great step forward, one that will undoubtedly make the King’s community stronger.

Sincerely,

William Lahey
President, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Law

Sarah Clift
Vice-President

Jordan Roberts
Sexual Health and Safety Officer

Katie Merwin
Dean of Students

Warning: the following communication discusses sexualized violence and criminal charges of sexual assault.

Dear King’s community,

Following charges of sexual assault brought against retired professor Wayne Hankey in February 2021, the University of King’s College announced it would commission an independent review of the facts of the matter, then before the courts, and of King’s responsibilities in light of those facts.

In March 2021, King’s announced that Janice Rubin at Rubin Thomlinson LLP would conduct the Independent Review and the terms of the review were made public. In a statement following the death of Wayne Hankey in February 2022, King’s reiterated its commitment to the Independent Review, which was always separate from any criminal justice matters.

The Independent Review is dual purpose and is to be released in two parts. The first purpose is to determine the facts and an appropriate response to the historic incidents that led to the charges against Wayne Hankey. We expect this report in September.

The second purpose of the Independent Review is to make recommendations on the steps King’s must now take to ensure it provides a safe environment for all members of its community in accordance with the commitments it has made in its Sexualized Violence Awareness and Response Policy. On Friday, May 20, King’s received an Interim Report from Rubin Thomlinson dealing with this part of the Independent Review. As promised in the terms of reference of the Independent Review, it is now on our website.

We thank the many who contributed to the work of Rubin Thomlinson LLP in preparing this Interim Report, King’s students, alumni, faculty and staff alike. There was robust participation from each of these groups in the survey conducted by Rubin Thomlinson and in the large number of follow up interviews they conducted. We acknowledge that many of the participants will have recalled and discussed information and experiences that would have been difficult to share. Thank you for doing this. King’s must act on the Interim Report in the fulsome way that will honour the trust and faith you placed in the Independent Review.

The information shared with Rubin Thomlinson shows that many members of our community have experienced sexualized violence or vulnerability to sexualized violence without having the protection and support they should have been provided. To all of these members of our community, we are sorry. We must address the ways in which King’s has failed you. To accomplish this, we will intensify our work that began in 2018 with the adoption of our Sexualized Violence Awareness, Prevention and Response Policy, enhancing the scope of this work to include the recommendations proposed in the Interim Report.

Today, the university unequivocally accepts all recommendations set forth in the Interim Report. To guide our adoption of these recommendations, King’s is developing a comprehensive action plan under the shared leadership of Jordan Roberts, King’s Sexual Health and Safety Officer, and Dean of Students Katie Merwin, both of whom are already at the forefront of contributing to our institutional change. Advice on the action plan will be taken from the university’s Sexualized Violence Policy Implementation Advisory Committee and all appropriate discussions within our governance processes will occur, including with King’s faculty on recommendations that concern faculty. All of this work will be for the purpose of determining how the recommendations of this Interim Report can be most effectively and fully implemented with urgency.

It should be noted that Rubin Thomlinson presented a preliminary summary of their Interim Report to various university constituencies in March, to solicit feedback on their preliminary findings and recommendations. Work on our action plan has been in progress since those presentations in anticipation of our receipt of the Interim Report.

When the action plan is finalized, it will be published on the King’s website with regular reports on the progress of its implementation. Today, the website is simply used to share the Interim Report as expeditiously as possible.

While an action plan is necessary, we understand that more is required than policy, procedures and sharing information on the university’s website. What is called for is a fundamental change in our culture and a deep reckoning with our past. We have started that process of change, but we must recognize we have a long way to go and that it is the responsibility of the university as a whole and not of those who have individualized experiences with, and vulnerabilities to, sexualized violence to take the lead role in this work.

Throughout this work, the University of King’s College will be steadfast in its commitment to provide a safe and supportive environment for everyone, one that is free of discrimination, harassment and all forms of violence.

Sincerely,

William Lahey
President, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Law

Sarah Clift
Vice-President

Jordan Roberts
Sexual Health and Safety Officer

Katie Merwin
Dean of Students

Warning: the following communication discusses sexualized violence and criminal charges of sexual assault.

Background of the Independent Review

In February 2021, the Halifax Regional Police announced that retired Dalhousie and University of King’s College member of faculty Professor Wayne Hankey was facing criminal charges tied to a claim of historic sexual assault. Subsequently King’s President William Lahey released a statement on behalf of the University that was sent to students and alumni, faculty and staff, to make the community aware of the charges. In this statement, President Lahey committed to an independent review into the matter, “conducted in a way that is respectful of the criminal justice system and allows it to run its course.” This course of action was determined following consultations with King’s Students’ Union, faculty representatives and the executives of the Alumni Association and the Board of Governors.

The announcement further stated the University’s commitment to provide “a safe and supportive environment for everyone,” and encouraged members of the community to seek support as needed from resources offering confidential support including King’s Sexualized Violence Prevention and Response Officer (now Sexual Health & Safety Officer). With the charges then before the courts, President Lahey clarified that no further comment would be offered. In the months since then, the commissioning and support of this independent review have formed the cornerstone of the University’s response to the charges laid against Professor Hankey.

In March 2021, King’s announced that Toronto lawyer Janice Rubin and her firm Rubin Thomlinson LLP had been appointed to conduct the independent review. The Terms of Reference of the Independent Review, published at the same time, clarified its mandate and scope:

“In addition to determining the facts of the 1988 incident on a civil law standard and making recommendations based on those findings on actions that should be taken by the University in relation to that incident, the purpose of the Review is to make recommendations on: the learning King’s should take from the matters within the scope of the Review; the measures King’s should take to ensure King’s is a safe community that supports the survivors and victims of sexual violence, and also responds effectively and accountably to sexualized violence in ways that are survivor/victim-centered.”

Shortly thereafter, the University sent a letter on behalf of Rubin Thomlinson LLP to its database of alumni, students, faculty and staff, and published the letter to the University website. The letter invited anyone with information relevant to the mandate of the review to contact Ms. Rubin at a dedicated email address hosted on the law firm’s server.

When additional criminal charges were laid against Professor Wayne Hankey in April 2021, President Lahey confirmed that the new charges, along with claims made in a recent newspaper article would be addressed within the scope of the Independent Review.

Professor Hankey died in February 2022, shortly before the first criminal trial of charges against him was scheduled to take place. President Lahey wrote to inform students, alumni, faculty and staff of Professor Hankey’s death and confirmed that this would not affect Rubin Thomlinson’s ongoing Independent Review.

In May 2022, King’s published the Interim Report from Rubin Thomlinson LLP. The Interim Report recommends steps King’s must take to ensure it provides a safe environment for all members of its community in accordance with the commitments it has made in its Sexualized Violence Awareness and Response Policy. These recommendations and the steps King’s plans to take in response follow.

The Final Report of the Independent Review is intended to determine the facts of the incident(s) that led to criminal charges against Professor Hankey and to assess these on a civil law standard. The Final Report will also make recommendations based on those findings on actions that should be taken by the University in relation to the incident(s). King’s is expecting to receive this report in the fall term of 2022.