Calling it the “right thing to do,” Western officials issued an apology today for the university’s role in and response to the actions of former Student Health Services psychiatrist Dr. Stanley Dobrowolski.
“We apologize for the trauma and pain his victims endured as a result of Dr. Dobrowolski’s conduct while at Western, and we apologize for any role that Western may have played in contributing to that trauma and pain. We also wish to apologize to any staff members who were affected by his behaviour,” Western President Amit Chakma wrote in a letter released by the university today. “We continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Dr. Dobrowolski’s tenure at Western in order to ensure, as best as possible, that such a situation could not occur today.
“Western strives to ensure those delivering health and counselling services to students and staff uphold the highest professional standards, as well as honour the University’s values around ensuring a safe and respectful environment in which to learn and work.”
The unprecedented apology comes as Dobrowolski serves a four-year sentence for sexual assault and voyeurism, stemming from incidents that happened after 1995 and involved his private practice. He has been stripped of his right to practise medicine.
Dobrowolski worked in Western’s Student Health Services from 1985-94. During this period, the university has since learned concerns arose about his inappropriate actions with some of his female patients.
Western officials were first alerted to the possibility of the misconduct when a former student came forward a few years ago. The university supported her in going to police on the matter. However, Western officials only became aware of the extent of Dobrowolski’s actions as the result of recent media attention, including a recent Fifth Estate episode.
No senior administrators remain from that time.
In January, one of Dobrowolski’s former patients at Western filed a $2.85-million lawsuit against the doctor and the university. Western gave the former patient, known as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, and her lawyer advanced notice of the apology.
The decision and timing around the apology, however, was not sparked by the lawsuit, said Janice Deakin, Provost and Vice-President (Academic).
“The decision was purely made on the basis that it is the right thing to do. We view the safety of our students as paramount and want to publicly acknowledge that what happened to these young women was wrong,” Deakin said. “Western takes responsibility for how the university responded – even though it was 20 to 30 years ago.”
In the decades since Dobrowolski left the university, Western has taken a number of steps to prevent and respond to sexual violence, including counsellors and health-care professionals seeing clients only during the clinic’s regular hours; counsellors receiving training on the importance of maintaining professional boundaries with patients; forming a standing committee on sexual violence education; and hiring a first-of-its-kind sexual violence education coordinator.
In September 2014, Western adopted its first standalone Policy on Sexual Violence. Prior to that, sexual violence was – and still is to some extent – addressed by both the Code of Student Conduct and Non-Discrimination/Harassment Policy.
All this reinforces the university’s commitment to doing all it can to keep students safe, Deakin said, but these steps neither erase the past nor offer guarantees for the future.
“The victims have suffered a lot of trauma and, while the university can’t undo what happened 20-30 years ago, we believe it’s still very important to recognize publicly that abuse occurred. We are taking responsibility for how the university responded at that time,” Deakin said.
She continued, “It’s not possible to guarantee sexual violence will never happen here anymore than it’s possible to guarantee it won’t happen in our city or anywhere else. But we are continuing to investigate this matter because we want to know if there are things we can learn that will help ensure it is not repeated.”