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Lums hopes for 'culture of respect' on campus as sexist Facebook group by students is exposed
The Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums) on Tuesday said it hopes to further promote a "culture of respect" on its campus, days after a closed Facebook group having the varsity's current and former students as members was exposed for posting sexist content.
The closed group, titled “Dankpuna at LUMS”, reportedly had more than 600 members, most of them male students and alumni.
The group was taken down after some female students who gained access to its posts shared screenshots on social media, calling out their fellow male students for being sexist and normalising sexual abuse.
Lums, considered one of the top Pakistani varsities, issued an official statement a day after a group of students along with members of on-campus FemSoc (Feminist Society at Lums) approached the dean of the Office of Student Affairs to voice their concerns "regarding a social media page where some students belonging to Lums were sharing offensive, sexist memes".
"The students and the Dean had a detailed conversation and agreed that this is an unfortunate episode," the statement said, stressing that the university encourages an environment where students can freely exchange ideas and debate important issues.
"However, it [the exposé] can actually help open doors to further the conversation on mutual respect and sensitise the community at large on gender issues," it added.
The statement emphasised that Lums encourages collective action by its students to address such matters.
"We hope that this event will help further the culture of respect on our campus."
Comments (44) Closed
1st world problems in a 3rd world country.
Typical Pakistani varsity. No wonder there's no respect for a Pakistani degree internationally.
Revealed now but not new. Both, girls and boys, were involved. Girls throwing bait and boys making the most of the opportunity. I knew it as far back as 2006. Some of my friends shared girls and boys mixed stuff, real not photoshopped, and the first thought was how could one be this shameless. A lot more is happening in 2019. What's revealed could just be the tip of the iceberg.
One of my children recently graduated from LUMS while the other is still studying there. There appears a dire need to bring this university in line with the Pakistani culture!
@Ali, Lums is very well respected in the western world. Don’t know where you got that information from?
@Nadeem, good luck imposing curbs on freedom of speech and thought.
@Shahid Hassan , is this anything to do with Freedom of Speech?
Clean up your act...
Gordon D. Walker
Canada
We have far larger issues than this of elite group
@Ali,
Eh? This kind of problem has also been unearthed repeatedly on campuses across the US. It bears no relation to the quality of LUMS as an academic institution.
@Nadeem,
"There appears a dire need to bring this university in line with the Pakistani culture!"
It depends on what you consider to be Pakistani culture. There should be no space for any objectification of girls. That's the kind of culture that exists across the fraternities in American universities, and it seems a lot of our students are now trying to mimic it.
What about *** videos of Pakistani Universities including LUMS circulating over internet?
Thanks for providing great environment ;)
@Shahid Hassan , where's freedom of speech in this.
We have our culture, and that's a Strong one. I would not leave it to adopt someone else's culture. I respect my own values that I consider much better than what's going on at LUMS. Want to live with my own values. Won't accept a forced culture.
@HashBrown®, shouldn't we guide our children not to mimic others and rather feel proud of what's their own!
Lums is a feudal university where no respect for students or faculty exists and a system patrimonialism is in vogue. As a result of is producing third rate students. I speak from personal experience as faculty member at mghss at lums.
@Ali, such things happen in US universities as well. Just google it
This University culture is already exposed . Western culture prevail over quality education
Every body new but now exposed
@The Irony, No, this is not first world's problem only.
@ Nadeem. No one is 'forcing' a culture on you. However, your tone suggests you would certainly like to 'force' your own culture on others. Also, when you claim we should take pride in 'our values', you latently assume that our set of values are 'complete'. No one may take indefinite pride in any set of 'inherited values', because no set of 'inherited values' could ever be complete. If that was the case we would still be cavemen.
An unfortunate incident. The management needs to take further steps for uplifting prestige and position of this internationally recognised university disseminating the beacon of knowledge across the country and the world at large. .
@Chingez Khan, and you watch that 'entertainment'?
If you think this is a western problem, you are wrong. If you think Pakistani men do not speak like this, again wrong. All the men I know speak like this in other men-only groups and spaces. There is a culture of entitlement among men - and patriarchal society at large - over women's bodies - staring at them, touching them, passing comments and remarks about them, exercising ownership over them, thinking you know better what that person needs than they themselves do.
It is time to dismantle these damaging ways of thinking. They only cause divides in our society. Men have traditionally been socialised to be aggressive and exhibit toxic masculinity, while women have been socialised to grin and bear all sorts of abuse - mental, emotional, physical etc.
There needs to be mainstream dialogue about how we can perform our respective gender roles, if we subscribe to a gender at all, without impinging on the basic rights of others and how to be more compassionate towards each other.
@Nadeem, I am a student and i think that we need to allow our youth to live in the 21st century. imposing those 'values' is making them dogmatic
It is basically failure of parents who did not train their children well. Education and training are two different things. Schools educate and parents train. The basic value set comes from the parents and family. Law can deter criminals but can not stop them it is the basic training and value set installed by parents that creates self respect and restrain in their kids for not doing wrong even when nobody is watching them. It is not about one instituation it is about a complete degeneration of our social fabric and moral values in the name of libralisum and moderenity. We cant not blame the new generations it is our failure we failed as a society in most of the things.
Clearly they have too much free time on their hands to indulge in nonsense. Get them busy.
Though I must say LUMS is not unique in this regard, in fact it is among the better ones. There might be some where they are more focused on their career rather than nonsense, but none that I have been to as of yet.
I must point out that these are mostly academically lower tier students we are talking about. The higher tier in most institutions has generally been serious.
@Baemisal, agree!!
@M.Mudassir Siddiqui, everything if a culture is under constant threat then the question becomes Do we have a culture at all in Pakistan? ?????????
If you attempt to juxtaposition this with what happens in groups like 'soul-sisters', you will find that much of this so called hysteria is merely virtue-signaling in disguise.
@Jokes Aside, rather the cavemen were close to the culture you are propagating!
@citizen , think carefully...what you are calling 'living the 21st century' is actually pre-historic my dear! Better take pride in your own modern values. Do not get carried away with others keep feeding your brain non stop.
@Baemisal, How nicely put
what about criminal charges.....
I visited LUMS 20 years ago and was shocked by the over westernization of the students and environment....
That is elitist society. Future rulers of this country.
@Nadeem,
There appears a dire need to bring this university in line with the Pakistani culture!
On the contrary, LUMS is very much in line with Pakistani culture already!
What else could be expected from the elite kids at for the elite school!
@Nadeem, So -- sir, WHY are your children there. The university is NOT responsible for what the students do off campus, that is their parents' job.
@Nadeem, Yes the only thing Pakistan needs is more cultural and social policing!!!! All other issue do not matter!!! Please do tell the readers how this non-Pakistani culture affected your children?
LUMS has been awesome in many ways but its underbelly is always hurtful. Flip over such moral grievings and enters a posse of corrupt moulvis who actually wanted to correct some misgivings of the society but of course, they twisted things even more. If LUMS wants to get a lead on this, please investigate further to be surprised further.
@Ali, in America and Canada, people with Pakistani education are doing as well or better then who studied elsewhere.
@Nadeem, I am not 'propagating' anything. Simply, identifying a critical flaw in your reason. Instead of responding to criticism, you are simply making baseless claims, about my beliefs, which I have neither declared nor propagated.
Jokes aside, get over yourself Nadeem.
It is a progress through the prestigious lens
If we are talking about restricting free speech in a closed social media group, then we must also restrict male-bashing platforms (e.g. Aurat March)?