Sign on off-campus property perpetuated rape culture: St. Francis Xavier University

ANTIGONISH, N.S. – Two Nova Scotia universities are condemning a sign that was displayed at an off-campus property in Antigonish on the weekend, saying it perpetuated rape culture.

Tara Taylor, a professor at St. Francis Xavier University, posted a photo on social media Friday that showed a sheet draped over the window of a home in Antigonish with a spray-painted message that read: “Drop-off zone: Acadia girlfriends.”

The sign appeared outside the property during the university’s annual homecoming celebrations. The property is used for student housing.

“When I saw it … it felt like a slap in the face,” Taylor said in an interview Monday. “I just thought it was incredibly tone-deaf.”

Elizabeth Yeo, the university’s vice president of student life, issued a statement Saturday calling the sign “offensive,” adding that the university was investigating the incident.

Taylor said the sign was taken down Saturday morning, but it was displayed again that night.

In a statement released Sunday, university president Andrew Hakin said the school made sure the sign was taken down again, adding that the sign’s message was “degrading and deeply concerning.”

“St. F.X. unequivocally rejects misogyny, sexualized and gender-based violence, and the attitudes and behaviours that contribute to rape culture,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., issued a news release Sunday that said the sign encouraged sexual violence against its students.

“What happened in Antigonish is a symptom of a society-wide problem,” it said. “It is our collective responsibility as higher education institutions to speak out against violence against women and rape culture specifically.”

Coined in the 1970s, the term rape culture refers to behaviour and beliefs that encourage or normalize sexual violence.

Mariana Paludi, who has researched the views of students at Canadian universities about the issue, said she believes the sign is promoting sexual violence against women.

“It’s portraying … this gender imbalance and degrading women … and objectifying women,” said Paludi, an assistant professor at the Universidad Técnico Federico Santa Maria in Chile

Paludi published research earlier this year that looked at how Canadian post-secondary students interpreted rape culture following two high-profile incidents at Nova Scotia universities — a Saint Mary’s University student chant about sexually assaulting underage girls in 2013 and a 2015 Dalhousie University dentistry student group-chat that contained violent sexual messages about female classmates.

Paludi said the new sign posted over the weekend demonstrates how slow society has progressed, more than a decade after those two scandals.

Taylor said it was shocking to see the sign in light of recent online discourse surrounding a high-profile lawsuit in the United States that alleges seven members of the Chi Pi fraternity at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., sexually assaulted a woman in October 2024.

The professor said the St. F.X. students who displayed the sign must have been aware of the lawsuit, adding that the timing was “very triggering” for her.

“They can’t possibly be ignorant. It’s on social media everywhere,” she said.

Taylor said she shared the photo to raise awareness about a “party culture” at the university that she says contributes to sexual violence.

“I’ve been at St. F.X. for 22 years and I’ve had students every year come to me and say that they are dealing with the consequence of being sexually assaulted,” she said. “And I’m not unique in that.”

In 2018, students at the university criticized its handling of a reported case of sexual assault and called for a review of its sexual violence policy. And in 2023, a student sued the university, alleging she was sexually assaulted while attending the school in 2022.

Taylor said the university has taken steps to address sexual violence on campus and improve support for victims, but more needs to be done.

“There are people at the university who have worked very hard for a long time to make it safer, so it is deeply frustrating that these incidents still happen.”

According to the university’s website, its sexual violence response policy was approved in 2019 and reviewed in 2025. The policy states that the school is committed to fostering a culture where “behaviours that perpetuate sexual violence are discouraged and rejected.”

In his statement, Hakin said the most recent incident has been referred to the university’s disciplinary process, which will be guided by the school’s sexual violence response policy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2026

— By Tori Fitzpatrick in Halifax.