Would be interested in hearing the community’s thoughts on this.
Boston Globe needs to have a life other than going after sex offenders! The theme has become the newspaper’s blood line since the successful coverage of the Catholic church sex scandal, which of course was a great deed… In the Exeter case, first of all, in this day and age letting an old Rev play a major role in any sexual harassment complaints was a bad idea in the first place. It’s a sensitive issue, and could draw huge fire if not being handled appropriately. The school administration should know better. Secondly, apparently the school administration did have the intention to sweep the incidents under the rug because they believed there was no “penetration” so no real harm was done. It could be an excuse they found, hence defining the incident “sexual harassment” instead of “sexual assault”. Or it could be genuine ignorance of the gravity of such matters. They obviously didn’t handle it well because the victims are complaining. In my view, all schools should just routinelyreport all these incidents to the police, letting the law enforcement determine all those “nuances”. They should make it clear to students in the beginning so potential culprits and victims are aware what’s coming their ways if ever there’s such a complaint.
@panpacific Yep. 100%
And boys be forwarned, you will always be guilty until proved innocent. There is something bizarre about this story, Separately from the idiotic behavior of the reverend and the Dean.
" Michaella was frustrated by the attention on past misdeeds rather than on the suffering of current students. She battled sleeping problems and had trouble getting to class on time. Her college plans weren’t panning out." Such melodramatic self pity. I found the reference to her college plans a red flag. The boy was headed to Penn …he was lauded publicly. She wasn’t accepted anywhere she wanted to go to and was pissed .
Some of us having been discussing it here, starting with my post #1645:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1803082-prep-school-rape-p110.html
@doschicos thank you. Sad. All of this is really ugly and depressing.
As the parent of an Exeter student, this story was tough to read. I have met or communicated with all of the PEA school officials referenced in the article, at some point, during the past school year. My son is a student/athlete at PEA, and therefore knows the alleged perpetrator. Exeter is, well…Exeter. It was a great honor for my son to be accepted as a student. Just some of the reasons this is a difficult incident to digest.
Having said that, it’s crucial to be objective. On two occasions this year, my son had to attend ‘hearings’ at which dorm mates ( I believe that was his connection in each case ) were being charged with, as he termed it, ‘rape’. He may have been taking liberties with the term, and it may have been ‘sexual assault’ he meant to say. Admittedly we didn’t discuss these incidents in depth, but I do recall him saying that 1 of the 2 students was removed from school. When I commented on the harshness of that, his reply was that " It’s not that rare, Dad,‘so-and-so’ just got booted for rape last week". Sure enough he then mentioned a student whom I had met (along with his father) this year on a visit to Exeter.
When the Globe piece came out, I asked my son about it. He obviously didn’t wish to discuss it much…though he did offer the statement " things are kinda sketchy at Exeter." That statement caught me totally off guard, and will require obvious follow-up! The ‘sexual harassment culture’, if there even is such an animal at PEA, is not necessarily my son’s largest concern as a PEA student. But, for what it’s worth, the issue of sexual harassment was a topic he brought up earlier in the year. On his own. In hindsight, he might have even done it more than once. Hindsight is 20-20, and now I suppose he was hoping to get a dialogue going, without wishing to seem like it was a big deal to him. I guess the academic onslaught kept it off my radar as a parent? I suppose it’s a conversation we need to have going forward.
One point I’d like to mention, from my perspective as a PEA parent as well as someone who works in a field where I am a Mandated Reporter of suspected abuse: The meeting with Reverend Thompson, the alleged perpetrator, and the victim created an imbalance of power. Thompson is a male, and a rather imposing figure at that. The acknowledged testimony from that meeting seems to support a contention that Thompson was sympathetic toward the alleged perpetrator, possibly from the start. His goal seems to have been to squelch the incident. His actions allow one to reach that assumption. That, if true, is criminal. The subsequent actions of the staff at PEA can be characterized similarly. In short, the ‘victim’ was victimized once again, for the good of the school’s reputation. That is extremely egregious and regrettable.Almost as regrettable as the aspersions cast upon the alleged victim…Center, your remarks seem out of line. You wrote:
“Such melodramatic self pity. I found the reference to her college plans a red flag. The boy was headed to Penn …he was lauded publicly. She wasn’t accepted anywhere she wanted to go to and was pissed .”
What the hell does any of that have to do with what took place in that church basement, which appears to be corroborated by the testimony of both parties present? Hopefully you don’t have a daughter or work in law enforcement, education, etc. I’m guessing you didn’t intend that to be worded in that manner?
@MaxBasner The article/writer wrote in the Globe article that “Michaella acknowledges that there was no sexual penetration. In fact, the evening had started out innocently when Chudi — until then a casual friend — invited her to the church to keep him company on his birthday while he was working a campus job. But Michaella was sure what happened in that basement was more than sexual harassment.” Why is it more? Why is she sure of it? Clearly the police didnt think so.
“Michaella was frustrated by the attention on past misdeeds rather than on the suffering of current students. She battled sleeping problems and had trouble getting to class on time. Her college plans weren’t panning out.” The suffering of current students? Her college plans werent panning out…
Odd things to say to a reporter. To quote you: what the hell does that have to do with claims of being sexually assaulted?
" But Michaella was sure what happened in that basement was more than sexual harassment." Why is it more? Why is she sure of it? Clearly the police didnt think so."
Reading comprehension: PEA administrators were telling Michaella it was sexual harassment ( a lesser offense) not sexual assault. The State of NH charged Chudi with misdemeanor sexual ASSAULT. Clearly, the police DID agree with Michaella.
@doschicos of course. Because in todays world the girl is automatically determined to be telling the whole truth. I am not defending PEA AT ALL. I am concerned about the veracity of many of these incidents and the unfettered power of females to cry rape…
^^^Must not have daughters.
A non-sequitur, but when I told my wife about this case and the bread baking/delivery “penance”, she flipped.
From the article:
A fine point, perhaps. However, I read these paragraphs to mean that the school officials knew of allegations from other female students of sexually aggressive behavior from the same “outstanding senior athlete.”
If a school has a culture of not reporting sexual assault, a reasonable person would ask how many incidents have been found to be harassment, not assault. (How convenient for the school officials, who are all mandated reporters.) The pressure put upon the female student by deans to shut up about the assault is shameful.
Later in the article, it is reported that:
“Multiple cases.” This is not the only case, it seems.
I hope the SPS and the PEA recent cases of sexual assault will be a wake up call that boarding schools need to do more on prevention of sexual assault. Sexual assault is not something that starts at the college level. There is a lot of work to be done at the high school level to help educate our kids both men and women. Two years ago I made it a point to contact my two girls’ Dean at their boarding school to let him know that each my two girls had been inappropriately “threatened” by male peer students.
I suggested that more education should be done and maybe even a self defense class should be offered to both men and women on campus. He was not sympathetic, and nothing changed in the curriculum. I went ahead and had both my girls take a self defense class. The younger one graduated this year and is off to college.
Let this be a wake up call. So much is espoused by these prestigious boarding schools on the topic of their honor codes and character formation. Let’s get back to the basics please and refocus on more urgent issues, respect, and no contact between anyone without expressed consent.
@Center I’m having trouble following your logic.
First, you wrote: “‘Michaella was sure what happened in that basement was more than sexual harassment.’ Why is it more? Why is she sure of it?” This implies that you believe Exeter’s administration, which said the incident was ‘just’ sexual harassment. When doschicos pointed out that the police had, in fact, found it to be sexual assault, you replied: “Because in todays world the girl is automatically determined to be telling the whole truth.” Exeter and the police department are both part of ‘today’s world’, yet one believed Michaella and the other didn’t. So, in ‘today’s world’, it is clear that a girl is not “automatically determined to be telling the whole truth.”
I would also point out that there are so many very public cases of sexual misbehavior in which the women accusers are not taken at their word. For example, something like 20 women came forward against Bill Cosby before people really started believing that he just might be a sexual criminal. Proof:
(non celebrities) http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/support-bill-cosby-sexual-assault-charge-article-1.2482030
(celebrities) http://newsone.com/3317134/seven-celebrities-support-bill-cosby/
There is also the Roger Ailes case, which is definitely less cut and dry, but, once again, the accusers were not automatically believed. Then there is the case of Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas, which is also not as clear as Bill Cosby’s case (actually nothing is as clear as Bill Cosby’s case). a person could argue that his appointment is not ‘today’s world’ because it happened in 1991, but that man is sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court now. Another argument is that these men are famous, so it would be harder for non famous women to take them down, which may be true, but I was looking for cases that people would recognize or remember with minimal Googling.
Alright, on to the next order of business: Was this incident sexual harassment or sexual assault? Let’s look at the testimony of both Michaella and Chudi and how the law applies to it. We will refer to this source, which is unaffiliated with the case at hand: http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/sex-crimes/new-hampshire-sexual-battery-laws.htm. Both agree that Chudi touched Michaella’s backside sexually and without her consent. A point of contention appears to be whether the touching was over clothes or under them. According to the source, the state of New Hampshire defines ‘battery’ as ‘any unwanted touching.’ I know, that doesn’t sound right at all, but legal language is what it is. The same source goes on to say, ‘New Hampshire law refers to battery that is sexual in nature but does not involve penetration as sexual ‘assault.’’ In plain English, that would say, ‘New Hampshire law refers to unwanted sexual touching that does not involve penetration as sexual assault.’ To me, that describes Michaella and Chudi’s case perfectly. Apparently, the police thought so, too.
This is just a thought: Perhaps Michaella’s trouble with sleeping and college admission was included to highlight the lasting trauma she experienced due to her sexual assault. Or maybe it was a writing choice of the author, included to humanize her story’s protagonists. Regardless, there’s a good chance the evidence could be thrown out on a relevance objection if it were ever brought into a court of law. It just really doesn’t matter, especially because Michaella was vocal about what happened before she would have heard back from colleges.
@natakwali I rarely understand @Center’s logic and am always put off by his views. But different strokes for different folks, I guess.
It is imperative to speak with your children about consent before they go to high school, whether that school is public or private, boarding or day. They should also know that they can go to the police. (I know that this is a difficult conversation.)
By the way, Center, you don’t mean to say “females,” do you? You really should say “victims,” because there are also male victims of sexual harassment and assault.
Wow. I find @center’s responses very troubling. My son graduated in 2013 and while shocking, this wasn’t news to him. I was very disappointed in Rev and Mr. Witherspoon after reading the article and gathering more details from former staff and alum. To force her to be victimized over and over again with a weekly bread delivery is absolutely horrible. I too flipped out @SevenDad.
Did arrested student’s acceptance to Penn get revoked? I’m not suggesting it should, I am only asking how Penn handled it.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought Center was a woman.
I am super proud of you @natakwali for continuing to look hard at rape culture. Thanks for leading our focus
They put his acceptance “on hold.” http://www.thedp.com/article/2016/07/chukwudi-sexual-assault