LAHORE: Taking notice of the existence of an underground sexist group and the subsequent backlash by the university students, the administration of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Tuesday issued a statement, lauding the actions of the students and stressing the need for furthering the “culture of respect” on campus.
The issue came to prominence when a student exposed a secretive Facebook group which had become a hub for students sharing sexist jokes and remarks about the university’s female students. The student shared screenshots of the said group as well.
This drew backlash from the other students, particularly the female students, who called for a respectful environment on campus so that nobody has to worry about any sexism coming their way.
LUMS’ feminist society FemSoc approached the office of the Dean of Student Affairs to raise their concerns about the group and its offensive and sexist content.
Following that, the office issued a statement, saying that the students and the dean had a detailed conversation and agreed that this is an “unfortunate episode”. The university’s administration also stressed that the university “encourages an environment where the students can freely exchange ideas and debate important issues”.
Lauding the student’s step of speaking out against the issue, the university administration said that the exposé can “help open doors to further the conversation on mutual respect and sensitise the community at large on gender issues”.
The administration also said that the university encourages collective action by its students to address such issues in order to further the “culture of respect” on campus.
It is worth mentioning here that the said group had more than 600 male members, including LUMS alumni, who actively participated in sexist discussions.
