<p>Anyone see the Huffington Post Article yestdray about a suicide of an Amherst student? Just Google, “Amherst Suicide Huffington Post.” to read the entire thing and come to your on conclusions. Very tragic.</p>
<p>Oh, Amherst.</p>
<p>Amherst was a topcontender for my D until we visited, read the police blotter, and had every person we asked lie about it. Gorgeous campus, though. This is a very sad story, and I hope it will force change, but somehow I’m not optimistic.</p>
<p>Well, it makes sense: the Corporation of the Board of Trustees of Amherst College, and its employees, aren’t going to expose themselves to liability to satisfy your morbid curiosity.</p>
<p>Sakacar, what do you mean “had every person lie about it”? I feel like it is so hard to know the whole story in this case and the case of the female student recently in the news, or in any such case. The victims can tell their side of the story (and I’m not in a position to know whether their story is a subjective or objective experience of their treatment by the College, but I do trust that is was their experience), but the school for reasons of confidentiality laws, at the very least, can’t say much. The students who’ve shared their experience of this crime are definitely brave and responsible to do so. I don’t think there’s any reason to think anything happened in the course of the crimes other than what the victims have described, but I do think the second half of the tale --how the college and its employees responded-- may well be an area with more shades of grey. </p>
<p>I think the confidentiality laws that prohibit counselors, doctors, therapists, deans, etc. from talking about the details of these cases are critical and must be honored, but I’m wondering how you know what was a lie and not a lie since those of us outside the events can really know so little. Maybe the College is completely wrong, unethical, inept, unprofessional, mean and/or callous, and anyone who claims otherwise is lying – but how do you know that?</p>
<p>I am talking about weekly reports of crime published in the paper, not a specific incident. The sheer numbers of students being stopped and fined for drunken/inappropriate behavior reported by Amherst in the police blotter section of their paper was alarming, but no one that I spoke to was willing to say it was an issue. They all seemed to think it was funny, or kids being kids. The culture seemed to look away from bad/dangerous behavior and pretend it was something else - that is all I’m saying. Without seeing a problem, you can’t fix a problem, and both students and admin seemed to ignore the problem of VERY frequent alcohol-related problems. (Ex. on one weekday, over twelve students were fined for public urination in the quad. This seemed to be just slightly higher than the norm of 7-10 students per night. Fun? Maybe, but I don’t want to send my daughter there.)</p>
<p>And, yes, I know students drink and get drunk, and yes, I applaud the use of campus police and reporting of incidents, but if you read Amherst’s own student publications, the very real suggestion that students routinely act poorly with respect to alcohol, drugs, and women is everywhere. Others may feel differently, but I was bothered enough to ask everyone I saw, and got the same response - We don’t have any problems here.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification. Yes, there is a lot of drinking. My son was quite taken aback by the extent of it when he started as a freshman. (He was also on a sports team, so add an exponent of your choosing there.) He opted for the sub-free freshman dorm after two friends of his who were a year older had the same experience of way-too-many-drunks in their freshman years at their colleges (Northwestern and Stanford).</p>
<p>My daughter had the same experience at her school, too, a flagship state u, where she had to step around puddles of vomit on the sidewalks on Sat. and Sun. mornings as she made her way to the dining hall for breakfast.</p>
<p>Wherever your daughter chooses to attend, you might want to check out the sub-free housing option, if they have one, for freshmen. My son loved his dorm experience his freshman year at Amherst, he made his core-group of friends there in the sub-free dorm that year, and they remain close as brothers and sisters still.</p>
<p>^ Does sub-free mean no drinking?</p>
<p>I think sakacar’s reaction is one of those very important subjective responses we can have to certain campuses. Just that naggy feeling that should be accepted, for that kid or that family. </p>
<p>Sub-free is supposed to mean no drugs/drinking.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s a dorm where the students agree to no alcohol and no drugs. It is of course not as though no student in the sub-free dorm ever drinks, but it is largely minimized, and when students do, it’s usually done somewhere else on campus. The dorm itself stays pretty sober. It’s a very different environment on Thurs/Fri/Sat nights from the more drinking/partying dorms.</p>
<p>The NY Times ran a story on this yesterday.</p>
<p>The school president’s response to the rape of the boy seemed weak I thought.</p>
<p>“the College resolved the report through our disciplinary system, resulting in a finding of responsibility for the respondent.”</p>
<p>What does this even mean? Did the rapist get detention hall? Shouldn’t the school be turning matters of rape over to the police?</p>
<p>Amherst is now off the list of schools my son will apply to.</p>
<p>Sorry you would take Amherst off your sons list. As the parent of an Amherst grad, I am satisfied that the administration is taking positive steps to address the situations of late. Unfortunately, sexual assaults happen on every college campus, so if that is the reason you are taking Amherst off the list, he might as well not go to college at all. If I had another child, I would send him/her to Amherst today with NO hesitation.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I should apply now</p>
<p>What is your concern about applying Freda? I see you are international and Amherst is very international friendly and diverse.</p>
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<p>I would hope the student would call the local police. Don’t we as parents teach our kids “call 911?” As far as the college calling the police, I don’t know what their protocal is, or is it a privacy issue? Maybe somebody else knows.</p>
<p>I feel certain that the lens being focused on Amherst only reveals the situation at college, unless a student attends a single sex college, a military academy or an extremely religious institution. Greater scrutiny does not indicate greater incidence.</p>
<p>I am a Williams parent, so traditional rivalries leave me with no vested interest in defending Amherst’s reputation, but I do out of fairness.</p>
<p>As for reporting rapes to the police, I firmly believe that that decision should be in the hands of the victim. I spent several years working in a women’s crisis center, and we counseled victims to think carefully about the decision. If the DA decides to bring a case the victim cannot say no. This is traumatizing for many victims who need to be able to say stop and have their voices heard.</p>
<p>I found Barnard an extremely empowering campus for my D. I throw this in as an aside. My S attended Williams.</p>
<p>If you are so concerned about sexual assaults on campus, I suggest that Biddy Martin and Amherst are assuming a national leadership role in combatting this endemic problem, which just might make Amherst the best college thatplace you or your child could attend.</p>
<p>^^^^I’m sorry, but is there anyone who shouldn’t be concerned about sexual assaults on campus? I think it’s great that Ms. Martin is taking this issue on, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s her job and she’s obviously making up for decades of lost time. Are other colleges just as culpable? Of course, and what that means, is that each individual parent is going to have to do their due dilligence and use their best judgment about what that may mean. Putting the focus on what is or isn’t “fair” to Amherst is impertinent at best.</p>