Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academic),

I am requesting for credit standing in the following courses:

STAT 263 (Fall 2021),
BCHM 218 (Winter 2022),
MICR 221 (Winter 2022),
PHGY 215 (Winter 2022),
PHGY 216 (Winter 2022).

This past academic semester, I experienced relentless bullying and harassment from my three housemates, all of which are current Queen's students.

In the fall semester, we had a good relationship. Unfortunately, near the end of the fall term, I noticed a negative shift in their behaviour towards me. I attempted to talk to them about this change, but they were resistant to discussion. This made my fall term exams extremely difficult for me as I was trying to navigate this new challenge in my personal life, while at the same time spending 10+ hours a day studying. As a result, I performed poorly on my final STAT 263 exam, leading to an unfavourable final grade in the course.

Returning to Kingston in the winter, I was optimistic about the situation. I was hopeful that being apart for a month would give everyone a fresh start. Within the first month, my housemates made it clear that they did not want to be friends with me; however, it seemed like we could all still coexist peacefully. In early February, one girl in particular, Abbigail Jacobs, started bullying me. She would play music at loud volumes late into the night. When I politely asked her to turn it down, she would either ignore me or simply say no. At times she pretended that I did not exist, disrespected my boundaries by going into my personal space when I was not home, and disregarded my need for adequate sleep and quiet study times. However, I still felt like I had the situation under control. I would leave the house as much as possible, go to my friend's house, or spend time at the library. I attempted to find somewhere else to live for the last few months of school, but was stuck in the lease until May 2022.

The week of March 14th is when the situation escalated. On multiple occasions, Abbigail screamed at me, called me obscene names, said I did not deserve respect. More than once she banged on the door of the bathroom, screaming at me to get out, while I held the door shut in fear. She would sit outside my room late at night playing music loudly, again ignoring me when I asked her to turn it down.

I had a support network throughout this distressing period. My parents assisted me in contacting a lawyer who reached out to Abbigail, requesting an immediate stop to her behaviour or I would seek a Peace Bond or Restraining Order against her. This email hardly changed her attitude towards me. I was speaking to a therapist weekly as these events were causing my mental health to further deteriorate. I also had a meeting with the off-campus housing advisor, Adam King. His only solution was to suggest a mediated discussion between my housemates and I, which they would not agree to.

The final straw was at the end of the winter semester on April 8th, when Abbigail barricaded me in my room with furniture so it was impossible for me to exit. My room was on the top floor of the house, with no fire escape, causing me to panic and fear for my safety. My parents insisted I move out and I left the next morning. At this point, I still had four exams to write, so I am sure you can understand how that level of stress would impact my ability to focus on studying and thus, my performance on those exams.

Over the past six months I have not been myself. I was constantly anxious, to the point of not being able to eat, sleep, or concentrate. I take pride in being a dedicated student, yet these events made me act in ways that were out of character. The courses I took in the past academic year were content-heavy and required devotion to succeed. Due to the situations described above, I was stripped of my abilities to be successful. I do not think I fully realized how big of an impact these events had on my life until I was living in an environment where I felt safe and was no longer being subjected to daily harassment.

Next year, I am living in a new house with girls who share my lifestyle and values. I am continuing to meet with the therapist, and we are devising a plan to stay on track in my future academic career. Furthermore, my parents have offered to pay for a tutor, if needed, to fill in the gaps. This past year is an anomaly in my academic experience and I truly believe it will never happen again.

If you have any other questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Respectfully,
Maya Hochberg