Racist and sexist comments were allegedly made at a Ryerson engineering event Thursday and left some of those in attendance uncomfortable.
Enginooner, which took place at the Ram in the Rye, was organized by the Ryerson Engineering Student Society (RESS). But the student group says the comments did not come from organizing members.
Jonathan Forani, a master of journalism student who was having lunch at the time of the event, took to Twitter after overhearing some of the comments.
Phrases said in the last 3 minutes at @RyersonU Engineering event: “butch lesbian,” “blowjob” and “titties.” @RyersonEngineer #Enginooner
— Jonathan Forani (@jforani) March 27, 2014
“This person is probably having sex with your mother,” says #Enginooner host at Jeopardy-style @RyersonU event. Response: “Who is everyone?” — Jonathan Forani (@jforani) March 27, 2014
“The Temple of Coon” is another select phrase heard recently at the @RyersonEngineer event at @RyersonU. #Enginooner — Jonathan Forani (@jforani) March 27, 2014
Lauren S. Murphy, who was with Forani, also tweeted to express her dismay with what she heard.
Sad to see that the social obstacles keeping women out of engineering faculties are being perpetuated at @RyersonU @jforani
— Lauren S. Murphy (@losuzmurphy) March 27, 2014
Enginooner events typically take place seven times a year and are played in the style of the game show Jeopardy!.
According to Forani, approximately 50 people attended the event, which took place at the front of the bar. Microphones and speakers were used to amplify the game, making it possible for everyone at the bar, including those who were not participating, to hear what was being said.
Rose Ghamari, president of RESS, addressed the comments made during the event in an email response to The Ryersonian.
“The event takes place at a pub where people are generally rowdy and loud. Those phrases mentioned in the tweets did not come from RESS organizing members of the event, but rather the people who were at the pub at the time and who decided to participate in the event. Please note that the event is open to everyone – not just students from one particular faculty, and anyone may participate. It is not possible for RESS to control the speech of everyone at a public pub event.”
Samantha Lui is a graduate of the Ryerson School of Journalism. She was a copy editor and reporter for The Ryersonian.