ANU college students expelled over creepy Facebook page

MALE students at one of Australia’s most elite colleges have been kicked out after a Facebook page was discovered that shared seedy “creepshots”.

Male students at John XXII College in Canberra have been expelled after taking creepy photos of female student’s breasts and posting them on Facebook. Note: This is not one of those pictures.

FIVE male students have been expelled and two suspended from one of Australia’s most elite colleges — with several others placed on probation — after it was revealed that the men had set up a secret online club to share seedy “creepshots” taken down the tops of unwitting college girls living alongside them.

The male-only Facebook group, which had up to 30 members, was established in March this year and was run for several weeks by students at John XXIII College, a coeducational facility affiliated with the Australian National University (ANU).

The Facebook page judged “the best mooeys (breasts) on show”, identifying unsuspecting female students who then had sexist slurs and proposals of rape written in the comments below their photos.

Some of the photos were secretly taken during a formal commencement dinner.

Shockingly, one of the men involved held a college leadership position, making him responsible for student welfare.

“He was supposed to be the person that students were meant to go to for help if we were being harassed,” said one female student, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals within the college.

Since detection, the senior student has voluntarily agreed to leave the college.

The seven other expelled or suspended residents are all former students of Shore or Geelong Grammar, two of Australia’s more exclusive private schools.

These revelations follow a report earlier this week that male students at elite Brighton Grammar in Melbourne had set up a “young sluts” Instagram account to share photos of girls without their knowledge and vote on the “slut of the year.”

Alexandra Lewis, who is a current resident at John XXIII, has now written a widely shared account detailing the shame and betrayal she felt when she discovered that she was heavily featured in the group.

Lewis writes:

“It was a formal dinner at the start of the year and one of the men created a group message consisting of the second and third year ‘boys club’ members. The night was filled with eating, drinking and dancing, all documented in an online forum with the sole purpose of judging the ‘best mooeys (breasts) on show’ for the night.”

“A month later a close male friend of mine presented to me the series of messages. I read from the top and scrolled down, sifting through pages and pages of disrespectful words, and the close up photos and videos of mine and a few other girls’ cleavages, who were conveniently sitting opposite the photographers. Silly us, so ignorantly unaware of who we were sharing our meal with.

“Like mindless sheep following suit, a handful of the men captured and uploaded images of my body. Seasoned with comments of sexist slurs, that included proposals of raping me — all the while I cheerfully sat opposite them … We had shared over 100 breakfasts, lunches and dinners, but most importantly, adventures, laughs and celebrations.

“I was oblivious to the level of respect they actually had for me, and the degradation that was coming my way …. Unable to process it, scared to tell anyone in fear of it coming out, I suppressed it. Months later it surfaced into the college community and I began to unravel.

I wish I could say that I am over it and have risen above it, but I am not and I have not. I am heartbroken and I am furious.”

Since then, multiple women have spoken to news.com.au to express concerns. “The college has ruined my life,” said one woman.

Other women are frustrated that even though the college has taken action, the male students have not faced any consequences from the university itself, despite ANU having its own sexual harassment policy.

Linnea Burdon-Smith, the current Women’s Officer at ANU says that “taking or commenting on revealing photos of an individual without their consent is sexual harassment.”

“It’s not acceptable behaviour, and it’s even more concerning when you’re talking about a person in a leadership position.”

Geoff Johnston, the current Head of John XXIII College has also condemned the behaviour stating that “sexism is unacceptable and anyone who stands by and watches it is in fact allowing it”.

The University has responded to a media request stating that “the photographs were clearly inappropriate” adding that the university “fully supports the penalties handed down to the residents involved.”

It is not yet clear whether the university will take any additional disciplinary action.

Ellie Greenwood, who has recently conducted research into ANU responses to student disclosures of sexual assault says that this is not the first time ANU students have posted highly graphic or sexist content on social media.

One recent meme which was posted to Facebook page “ANU Stalkerspace” reads “If f**king women with knives is wrong, I don’t want to be right.”

This meme was posted to a Facebook page popular with ANU students.

A screenshot of the meme appears in Greenwood’s research alongside nine other examples from this year alone.

But this isn’t a new phenomenon says Greenwood who believes it’s important to see this most recent event as part of a pattern. “There has been a continuity of this type of online behaviour dating back several years”.

Older posts on ANU Confessions read:

“The best thing about living at B & G [Burrton and Garran Hall — a college residence] is the laundry room — and girls who forget to bring their laundry in. Sometimes when I go in to do my laundry and they’ve left their stuff unattended, I’ll snoop through someone’s stuff and nick a pair of panties or bra. I take them and pretend girls have been sleeping with me in my room when my friends come over and discover they’ve ‘accidentally’ left them behind”.

Another reads “Sometimes I want to beat the f**k out of my girlfriend because she says the dumbest things. I’ve slapped her and pushed her (she slaps and pushes me too, OK?) but sometimes I just want to give her a full fledged beating. The kind to leave bruises and blood. I know this won’t end well for me so I resist but holly f**k sometimes it’s hard … Maybe I should get some girls to do it for me so I don’t get into shit.”

Others contain sexist or racist remarks.

Sharna Bremner from End Rape on Campus Australia, who officially launched their website this week, says, “these incidents represent an appalling example of a toxic culture of male entitlement that exists on campuses across the country.”

“Anyone who has been impacted by sexual harassment or assault has a right to report the incident. Everyone has a right to an education free of fear.”

Support is available for anyone whose life has been impacted by sexual or domestic violence at 1800 RESPECT.