By Elizabeth Pagliacolo
Ryerson faculty and students will remember victims of violence this Friday.
The 10th annual December 6th Memorial will commemorate the 14 female nursing students who were shot and killed in Montreal in 1989.
“The ceremony will be focusing on violence in general,” said Cara Scott-McCron, co-chair of Ryerson’s memorial committee, which includes members of the Women’s Centre and Ryerson’s harassment prevention office.
The memorial begins Friday at noon with speeches from faculty and staff. A panel discussion at 1:15 p.m. at Oakham House will focus on gay-bashing, in response to the death of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was beaten to death in October.
“[The panel] is about making links in violence,” said Wendy Roberts, harassment office manager and one of the panelists. “Homophobia is, in my view, inked to sexism. Heterosexism demands women to fit into a certain role and men to fit into a certain role. And when they don’t, they are targeted.
A performance by theatre students, Extoll: A celebration of Women in the Performing Arts, will showcase female artists expressing themselves through dance, acting, music and spoken word pieces. Extoll runs from Dec. 7 to 10.
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