In the last couple of days, you’ve probably been hearing a lot about NUS, and not because of their students’ academic performance.
NUS recently fired one of its lecturers at Tembusu College – Dr Jeremy Fernando – after receiving complaints of sexual misconduct from two students.
While they reported him to the university because they didn’t want other students to go through the same ordeal, the two students hadn’t made a police report, which means he would walk free, despite the allegations.
Or, at least that’s what he thought.
NUS Makes Police Report on Sacked Lecturer
The university lodged a police report on Wednesday (21 Oct) against Fernando because of the “seriousness of the allegations”.
NUS also issued a statement on Wednesday providing more details about the two cases as well as a timeline of events since they received the first complaint.
The university said its internal investigations established that Fernando had an “intimate
association” with an undergraduate.
“As this is a serious breach of the University’s Code of Conduct for Staff, the University acted swiftly to dismiss him.”
Timeline of Events
According to the timeline provided, NUS received their first complaint about Fernando on 27 Aug.
He was suspended four days later and prohibited from contacting any student or staff of NUS.
A No Contact Order was also issued to him to prohibit him from contacting the first complainant in person or through any other means, whether on or off campus.
On the same day, the first complainant was interviewed by an officer from NUS’ Victim Care Unit.
The unit was set up last year to help students who have encountered some form of sexual misconduct, following the infamous Monica Baey case.
On 7 Sep, just two days after it concluded investigations on its first complaint, the university received its second complaint of sexual misconduct against Fernando.
The student was also interviewed by an officer from NUS’ Victim Care Unit.
Officers told both students in their respective interviews that they would accompany them to make a police report, but they declined.
Then, on 14 Sep, a No Contact Order was issued to Dr Fernando following the second complaint, to prohibit him from contacting the second complainant.
The university concluded its investigations of the second complaint on 21 Sep, and dismissed Fernando on 7 Oct.
He was, however, suspended this whole time.
On the same day, the two students were informed of the outcome of their complaints, in separate sessions.
A Response to a Demand For More Transparency?
You might be wondering why NUS suddenly released a timeline and more details of the dismissal days after they first announced it?
Well, just a day after the announcement, a student-run group demanded more transparency from the university, as it was not happy with the way NUS managed the case.
The group, Students for a Safer NUS, released a statement on Monday (19 Oct), saying they were disappointed with the lack of clarity and accountability on the part of Tembusu College, as well as NUS.
For one, they said the university released their first statement on the matter two weeks after Dr Fernando’s dismissal, but with “sparse” information.
They also noted that NUS’ statement was only released after some individuals had written about the incident on social media.
Fortunately, they seem to have gotten what they wanted.
While NUS may have been slow to release details of the assault to the media, it must be applauded for listening to the concerns of students and addressing them.
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