Students returning to campus this year may have noticed something missing; that being the once-visible initiative, Consent Peer Education Program (CPEP), which was quietly restructured at the beginning of September. 

The free program was introduced seven years ago, aiming to educate students on consent, sexual violence awareness and sexual health through a peer-to-peer approach. 

The program connected students via events, like Game of Life: Sex Edition and movie nights, through educational workshops, such as Bring in the Bystander, and tabling. 

In September, CPEP was quietly reworked into the broader Peer Wellness Education and Programs, which aims to provide support about mental, physical, social and financial health. 

Manager of Wellness Education and Program, Bindia Darshan, says that rebranding reflects the priorities of students, as well as the expanded scope of the team’s role. 

“While sexual violence education and prevention remain key priorities, we also recognize the importance of addressing other well-being topics as indicated by Humber students, such as food security and mental health. This shift aligns with student-identified priorities and our institutional strategies,” she says in an email exchange.  

Since its start in 2018, CPEP had almost 8,000 attendees of their events according to Humber’s annual reports to their board of governors.  

Last academic year alone, CPEP held a total of 30 events, with an additional 16 campus partner events, amassing almost 1,500 followers on their Instagram account. 

“There’s a bit of loss there,” says Chris Mahon, former sexual violence prevention and education coordinator at Humber. “But at the same time, with the size of team in general and the fact that there was student staff in both areas, I do think there’s enough overlap that the combinations does ultimately make sense.” 

But for a program dedicated to awareness, its own transformation remained largely quiet, with little effort to inform students of the change. 

The only announcement about the redesign occured on Sept. 6 through an Instagram post shared by @peerwellness_humber, formerly @cpepteam, stating CPEP is now called Peer Wellness Education and Programs, adding: “New name, same vibes.” 

However, there was no other announcements from Humber Polytechnic or the University of Guelph-Humber about the restructuring.  

In fact, Guelph-Humber has yet to reflect this change on their website, where they still promote and link CPEP to current students on various pages. 

As a result, many students were left wondering: where did CPEP go? 

“It definitely seems as though they almost disappeared and that’s something I’d like to know more about where they went, where did they go?” says Stephanie Sylvester, a second-year early childhood education student at Humber, who had interacted with CPEP and their events last year. 

Concern has been raised in some students about the dilution of consent education and sexual violence awareness. 

“I know that also a lot of sexual assault and that stuff is extremely common in the first year for … first year students, especially women,” says first-year justice studies student Elizabeth Richens. “There should definitely be a program like focusing just solely on consent, rather than something they’ve tried to make more broad.” 

Darshan reassures that sexual violence will remain a priority, despite the program’s broadened focus.  

“While the student peer education roles have evolved, our commitment to sexual violence prevention education remains unchanged,” Darshan says, adding: “Consent education remains both accessible and specialized. Within the Peer Wellness team, we have dedicated Consent Peer Educators who focus specifically on sexual violence prevention.” 

Additionally, the Campus Safety Grant, which received funding from the Ontario government, helps publicly funded institutions prioritize and address safety and security needs on campus, including sexual violence. 

“There still is a prioritization of that because it’s necessary. It’s in our laws … It’ll look different now and that’s absolutely allowed under those policies, but it still needs to be a priority that is well thought of,” says Mahon. 

With consent education and sexual violence awareness remaining critical issues on campus, only time will tell if the restructure was a step forward, or a step away, from the program’s original mission.