An 18-year-old student from Mueller College in Queensland claims she was “externally suspended” after criticising the way the school handled a scandal over a “rape list”. Now, a Change.org petition is demanding Genevieve Dunstan be reinstated as a student.
What happened?
In early October, the Courier Mail reported that six male students from Mueller College in Moreton Bay had written in a list published on social media with names of peers they’d like to rape. The list also named eight senior students — including those with disabilities — has being “unrapable”, and reportedly contained explicit details and personal information of the children mentioned.
The school alerted police to the “vile and disgusting” list.
However, two students expelled in the wake of the scandal — Dunstan and her boyfriend Finn Glover, 17 — are criticising the school for its handling of the scandal.
Dustan describes Glover as a whistleblower. His parents, Chris and Lori Glover, claim he had been penalised for bringing the list to the school’s attention.
“It’s disgusting the way they’ve handled it – I’m lost for words, to be honest,” Finn told the Courier Mail.
“I was horrified by what was being said, and by omission, putting names and details of students they think are ‘unrapeable’ means the other students are rapeable.”
Finn reportedly shared a screenshot of the list the night he received it to a private group chat, calling it “absolutely disgusting”. The next day, he went to school early to show principal Paul Valese.
“I decided to go to school early the next morning to show it to the principal because I felt like the writer needed to be expelled and, in my mind, the school would be like ‘hell no’ and thank me,” he said.
“I had screenshots showing all the boys who helped make the list.”
Instead, he was expelled.
Chris and Lori Glover say they’re “infuriated” by the way the school has handled the repercussions.
“It would have been acceptable for the school to say, ‘hey mate, we’re pleased you’ve come to us, but sharing the list in a group chat is a clunky way to go about it’,” Ms Glover said. Mr Glover shared his frustrations over his son being “put in the same category as the student who wrote the list.”
What did Genevieve Dunstan say?
After Glover was expelled, Dunstan posted a message to her private Instagram on October 10 calling Principal Valese’s decision “absolutely pathetic.”
Three days after sharing the Instagram Story, she was called into a meeting with the principal, in which she said she was expected to apologise for her post.
“He expected me to apologise and kept asking if I meant to post those things and I said yes,” she said, per the Courier Mail.
Following this meeting, Dunstan was alerted that she was “externally suspended” via email, for breaking the school’s behaviour policy.
“It is clear that mutual trust and co-operation between yourself and the college has broken down,” Principal Valese wrote, per the Courier Mail.
“You have not shown any remorse for the offence caused by your comments.”
According to Dunstan, being externally suspended allows her to sit final exams so she can receive her Queensland Certificate of Education, but does not allow her to return to school grounds, or attend graduation or school formal. She alleges this was not only the same punishment given to Glover but also the boy who wrote the list.
“I hate the shit hole they’ve created,” Dunstan told the publication.
“Why practically expel someone for exposing people for creating a fucking list of unrapeable people?”
What has Mueller College said?
In a statement about the initial scandal, Principal Valese said that “immediate steps to discipline students who were involved” were taken, and the issue was brought to the police immediately due to the list’s “vile and offensive” nature.
“Students with knowledge of the matter were asked to maintain appropriate confidentiality when providing their report to the college,” Valese’s statement read, per The Courier Mail.
“The template Student Incident Report form used by the college asks that students not discuss the matter with the student cohort but that they can discuss the matter with their parents.
“This is done to maintain the integrity of any evidence gathered and prevent any denial of natural justice. No students were asked, or are ever asked, to sign nondisclosure agreements.”
In a letter sent out to parents on October 17, Principal Valese said that he “stood by his decision to remove these students from the community”.
The Change.org petition
On November 8, a Change.org petition was started in favour of Dunstan, requesting that Mueller College reverse her expulsion. The petition currently has 422 signatures of its 500 signature goal at the time of writing.
You can see the petition HERE.
The post A Student Criticised How Her School Handled An ‘Unrapable’ List Scandal — And Was Expelled appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
