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SINGAPORE – The National University of Singapore (NUS) said on Friday (October 23) that it took into account the mental health of the two alleged victims at the center of the saga of sexual misconduct involving its former academic, Dr. Jeremy Fernando, before making his police report. .
The university also said it could have handled the saga better and promised to be more open and transparent in sharing information about such cases with staff and students. He fired Dr. Fernando, a non-resident academic at Tembusu College, on October 7, following an internal investigation.
Speaking to reporters on Friday (October 23), Tembusu College Chancellor Professor Tommy Koh said that NUS briefed one student before making a police report and updated the other student after making the report.
“We have an obligation to inform (the police) whether the victims want to report or not. However, and this is very important, NUS has a Victim Attention Unit (VCU) of trained people who attend to victims of abuse ”.
Before making a police report for any such incident, Professor Koh said that NUS would take into account the mental health of the victims and whether they would harm themselves.
“So that the university can delay the moment to report to the police, taking into account the special circumstances of each case. But at the end of the day, you can’t stop reporting, ”he added.
NUS has advised the two students to report allegations of sexual misconduct to the police, in the company of NUS staff, but they have decided not to do so.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, gender rights group Aware said it was disappointed in NUS’s decision to do the police report despite the reluctance of the two alleged victims to do so. “From a survivor-centered, trauma-based perspective, it is not ideal to report if a survivor of sexual assault is reluctant,” the group said.
The NUS media session on Friday was also attended by Tembusu College Associate Professor Kelvin Pang, and NUS Associate Professor Leong Ching, Dean of Students and Associate Chancellor (special projects).
NUS has ‘fallen short’
In the session, Professor Koh also acknowledged that the university had not lived up to expectations as a public institution and could learn from the way the government conducted itself during the SARS pandemic in 2003 and the current COVID-19 crisis.
“The policy should be open rather than closed, transparent rather than opaque, to provide timely information to stakeholders rather than withhold such information,” he said.
“In my opinion, NUS has fallen short,” he added.
While it is acceptable in the private sector to have a “conservative culture” of not announcing staff layoffs as a matter of human resource policy, Professor Koh said this cannot apply to Tembusu College as a public institution.
“There was a considerable gap between the date the university fired Dr. Fernando and the date the university and faculty issued a statement,” said Professor Koh, acknowledging a journalist’s question as to why it was issued. the statement just two weeks later. .
Staff and faculty “have a right to know” about the case, he said.
“In the future, NUS will be more open, more transparent, and more willing to disseminate information in a timely manner,” he added.
Chronology of events
In a press release on Wednesday, the university said that “given the seriousness of the allegations,” it had filed a police complaint against Dr. Fernando.
“All allegations of misconduct are taken seriously and the university strongly opposes all forms of inappropriate behavior,” said NUS.
The first complaint of sexual misconduct was reported on August 27. Internal investigations found that Dr. Fernando, a non-resident teaching staff at Tembusu College, had an “intimate association” with a college student, constituting a serious violation of the NUS code of conduct for staff.
On August 31, Dr. Fernando was suspended from his duties and prohibited from communicating with any student or staff, or attending his workplace. A no-contact order was also issued to prohibit him from contacting the first complainant.
The student was interviewed about her complaint, while a VCU care officer explored with her the option of making a police report. However, the student decided not to file a police report.
On September 7, NUS received a second complaint of sexual misconduct from a student against Dr. Fernando. Despite advice from a VCU care officer and the director of Tembusu College, the student also decided not to report the matter to the police.
Dr. Fernando received a no contact order for the second complainant on September 14. The university completed its internal investigations into the second complaint seven days later and informed Dr. Fernando of the misconduct complaint. He was given seven days to respond to the charge.
On September 30, Dr. Fernando responded to the university and was fired on October 7. On the same day of their dismissal, the two students were informed of the result, while the academic staff of Tembusu College was also notified.
All staff members and students of the university were finally informed by email of the dismissal of Dr. Fernando on October 18.
Information could have been shared earlier
In its statement Wednesday, NUS said that while it could have shared information about the dismissal with Tembusu staff and students in a more timely manner, it said it has to balance “privacy and confidentiality interests, particularly for the victims involved.” .
“Our priority is to ensure a strong level of support and care for the two students involved,” he said.
“When the incident was disclosed to the university, it immediately took steps to protect the student community and worked with the VCU to facilitate a fair and prompt investigation that was conducted by the university.
“(VCU) has been providing care and support to the two students throughout the research process and will continue to do so.”
Tembusu College has also continued face-to-face engagement with students, student leaders, and staff in small groups. The university’s student leaders have also started an initiative to form a community support task force to facilitate a deeper dialogue within the university community.
In response to a request from its Student Union, NUS has posted the Code of Conduct for Staff in the public domain to facilitate access by staff and students. Previously, it was only available on the NUS staff intranet.
Police report filed by NUS against teaching staff fired for sexual misconduct
