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Fast forward to December of this year, when a sexual-assault activist and UBC alumna named Glynnis Kirchmeier revived the allegations in a lengthy tweet in which she demanded Furlong’s speech be cancelled (and that he be banned from campus).

That was on Dec. 19.

In the days afterwards, Kirchmeier tweeted at least once directly to Ono (“@ubcprez Please cancel the @ubc fundraiser in February with John Furlong #silenceisviolence”) and to UBC generally (“Will @UBC cont this hypocrisy? Will it cancel Furlong keynote? Or will it stop promoting knowledge of residential schools?”), as did others, in response.

On Dec. 23, Ono tweeted “I’m very pleased to announce I will be keynote speaker at the 2017 ZLC Millennium Scholarship Breakfast on Feb. 28,” and on the same day, Kirchmeier again tweeted directly to him, “Thank you … for the keynote lineup changes. I hope the fundraiser is very successful for the deserving athletes!”

Ono is an active guy on Twitter; on Christmas Day, for instance, he tweeted nine times, mostly just holiday greetings, hellos and a picture of his dog.

But he’s engaged, it appears, and it would seem unlikely he missed the fact that Furlong’s appearance-cum-cancellation was controversial.

Ono didn’t reply to emails Tuesday, but I asked Susan Danard of UBC Public Affairs if he’d noticed Kirchmeier’s tweets and if so, why the delay in apologizing. She replied in an email that Ono “personally contacted Mr. Furlong on Dec. 30 to apologize. A public apology was issued today to ensure it received prominence and was not lost” in the holiday slowdown.