Quebec's Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Dery, said she will ban orientation meetings for new students that Canadian universities conduct at the beginning of each academic year.

It is noteworthy that new students at the University of Sherbrooke were sprayed with animal urine at the time, while others were strongly encouraged to undress in public places or forced to vomit during these freshman activities aimed at introducing university rules, studies, and more, which took place at the end of last August.

The minister said, "I had difficulty reading articles indicating this kind of bad behavior this morning."

She added, "Reading such stories causes blood to freeze in veins. No one can overlook this kind of misconduct," according to her expression.

Quebec's Minister of Higher Education continued, "We have made great efforts and invested a lot in combating sexual violence, so reading such stories this morning is very provocative."

The minister confirms that she will communicate with all universities to find out what is really happening on their campuses. She says, "I am pleased to know that the University of Sherbrooke has started an investigation. I hope those behind all these violations will be punished, and I am glad to know that we are taking this matter seriously."

Meanwhile, the Faculty of Science administration at the University of Sherbrooke sent an email yesterday morning, Tuesday, to all its students and staff, in which it condemned these behaviors and stated it does not tolerate any form of violence or intimidation, no matter what.

The email signed by the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Carole Polio, and the Director of the Biology Department, Marco Vista Blanchet, calls on victims of these activities or witnesses to use the available resources to receive support. The message lists these resources, including human rights counselors.