Roofers at Conrad Residence are overheard catcalling students and removed from job site
On Oct. 5, 2017 it was made known to Wilfrid Laurier University that two third-party construction workers who were working near Conrad Residence were allegedly catcalling students who were on campus and near the construction site.
The complaints first stemmed from two anonymous tweets posted on the Spotted at Laurier Twitter account.
The first tweet posted on the Spotted at Laurier account on the morning of Oct. 5 warned students to avoid Conrad residence due to the inappropriate comments coming from third-party contractors.
“PSA: the roofers at Conrad are catcalling the girls walking by so avoid if you’re not into harassment,” the tweet read.
Later that morning, the Spotted at Laurier account posted another tweet which reiterated that roofers were voicing inappropriate comments towards students, this time the tweet also stated that various profanities were being used.
Shortly after the anonymous tweets were posted, Laurier Residence Life became aware of the situation and took the necessary action immediately in order to rectify the situation.
“We had received a call from one of our Dons in Conrad saying that there had been some complaints abut catcalling, specifically that word was used, by some of the contract workers on the roof a Conrad,” Clayton McCourt, associate director of Laurier Residence Life, said.
After the situation had been handled, Residence Life ensured that all students residing in Conrad were made aware of the situation through a formal communication.
The information was then passed along to Robert McCallum, ESCO project manager at Laurier, and Mark Dettweiler, director: planning, design and construction at Laurier, who both reiterated that there is a zero tolerance policy for such behaviour.
Two individuals from the construction company were identified and removed from the job site immediately.
“It shouldn’t be accepted by anybody on campus and it’s certainly not accepted by third party companies that are coming to campus,” McCourt said.
After the situation had been handled, Residence Life ensured that all students residing in Conrad were made aware of the situation through a formal communication.
“Some people may have noticed it and some people may have been effected and decided not to come forward and say anything, so we wanted to make sure everyone was made aware that we were made aware and did something as soon as possible,” McCourt said.
As for similar situations in the future, McCourt encourages students to feel comfortable to report any situations or concerns to Laurier staff and faculty.
“Anything that’s brought to the attention of SCS, the [Residence Life] front desk, a Don or a professional on campus – we’re always willing and ready to act,” McCourt said.
“It’s the anonymous complaints or things that go on Spotted at Laurier that are really tough to track … I recognize social media can be a fun and cool thing, sometimes it does make it difficult for us to try to rectify issues that students may have.”
