The second week of September was warm in London, Ont., with temperatures in the mid-20s and sun shining - a picture perfect start to the fall semester at Western University. A committee of upper-year students had planned out the Orientation Week schedule, full of mixers and rallies, a chance for incoming freshmen to get a sense of the school's culture and bond with their classmates. Hundreds of excited students, antsy from a year of pandemic-induced remote learning, poured onto campus, ready to begin their university lives.
By the end of "OWeek," the university had received four complaints of sexual assault, and social media posts alleged that more than 30 students had been drugged or assaulted in the school's Medway-Sydenham Hall. A police investigation was launched, and while officers obtained no official reports of assault, the damage was done.
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