<p>There has been much press about the USAF sexual harassment problems - how has it impacted WP? I note that a couple WP upperclassmen were kicked out and sent to prison last year for incidents. How does it work - especially with drunk cadets - both male and female. What kind of punishment is meted out? Has it really changed in the past 2-3 years?</p>
<p>ooooh i've been wanting to ask this question too!</p>
<p>If your looking to talk to a female cadet, try marines4me. She's been a wealth of Academy information since I've joined the site.</p>
<p>I think a big difference in how the academies handled sexual harassment issues is in how it was communicated. West Point wa up frong and even had links to newspaper articles on their web site. They never tried to hide anything. The guilty parties were punished. West Point has come a very long way.</p>
<p>Actually, the Superintendent takes the sexual harassment issue very seriously. We have had - and will continue to have - numerous briefings about the topics with actual generals in the Army.</p>
<p>Recently, as some people may have heard, West Point instituted a new 'door lock policy' in which all cadets must lock their doors starting at 2330 through the morning, at the earliest 0520. This has caused some uproar, as we do have an honor code which the body of cadets tries to uphold; however, incidents still happen, and the new policy (started within the last couple weeks) aims to lower if not eliminate the possibility of sexual assault in the barracks.</p>
<p>I hope that helps a little bit. Don't worry - higher takes this issue very seriously, and they will not be hesitant to press criminal charges. In addition, there are several means for which any victim can potentially communicate anything which may have happened, be it through a counselor, a chaplain, the telephone, or simply through the chain of command.</p>
<p>I was curious about the door lock policy and what provoked it? Assuming the honor code has been in place for 100 plus years, there must have been "incidents" and I am interested in reality. Forgive me, but drunks have little or no honor.</p>
<p>Here's a link to a recent article regarding the locked door policy.</p>
<p>FYI. Air Force already has a manadatory locked door policy and Navy has a voluntary policy.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the policy was put into place because of the potential liability faced by USMA given the recent report by the Defense Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Services Academies and the fact that another academy, USAFA, has a mandatory locked door policy.</p>
<p>Are there any cadets out there that might chime in? With a dose of reality? I know it is not all sweetness and light - it is a military academy!</p>
<p>Yah, I'll chime in as soon as this week's over--it's been a bad one.</p>
<p>In light of the recent CG Cadet incident, ran across two West Point bad apples from last year that probably lead directly to the locked door policy: <a href="http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/02/18/point18.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/02/18/point18.htm</a>. Any continued fall out?</p>
<p>what's up with marines4me. did you originally want to go to USNA?</p>
<p>8IzEnuff</p>
<p>Lets try to keep the crudeness off this board.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, being accepted to West Point or any other Service Academy doesn't mean you belong there (as demonstrated by several individuals as of late). One must prove it by remaining all 4 years and actually graduating.</p>
<p>I am a bit removed from the current situation as I graduated from USAFA in 1978 -- women were first admitted during my Junior year.</p>
<p>However, my personal experience (along with some secondary experience with my Daughter who is at UVA), is that most (but not all) of the sexual assualt issues do seem to have some component of alcohol abuse associated with them -- this problem is not relateged to just the Service Academies.</p>
<p>During my time at USAFA, we experimented with segregating the women from the men in the dorms, integrating the women with the men in the dorms and instituting a locked door policy, and finally went with integrating women and going with an open door policy when men were in the room.</p>
<p>All of these approaches had their pros and cons, and none eliminated unacceptable actions by someone who went out and got drunk.</p>
<p>While not a complete answer to the problem, I do believe finding ways to reduce/prevent alcohol abuse is a central issue that needs to be addressed.</p>
<p>Every year Cadets are injured or killed in drunk driving incidents, so the alcohol abuse problem go beyond just the sexual assualt issue.</p>
<p>Anyway, I encourage all of you to maintain the high standards of conduct your parents have instilled in you while you are away at College.....this includes making smart choices about who you hang out with and avoiding situations that may put you or your friends in potentially dangerous situations.</p>
<p>The Academies are in the end made up of students who come from across America and have all kinds of different views on what is acceptable and what is not. I expect there will be individuals in every class that do not live up to the high standards of behavior we all expect of them. At the end of the day, it is often your own personal moral compass and the choices you make that will determine how well you do at West Point.</p>
<p>Sorry for the lecture, but I have had these same discussions with my Son who is trying to become a member of WP 2010 and would like to see all of you succeed in your quest to become leaders in our Army!</p>
<p>College Dad,
You are dead on about the part alcohol plays in these assaults.
My son is a Yearling and I've asked him about specific cases and these Cadets are so drunk they are incoherent. Doing what they did at a civilian campus would most likely get them thrown out, not 10 or 20 years in Leavenworth.<br>
OMW2</p>
<p>"Back in the day", when I was a AFA Cadet, we would only get a limited number of off-base priviledges a semester (Fourthclassmen only got one per semester).</p>
<p>An unintended consequence of this was that the Cadets had a tendency to get very wild and crazy for the short period of time they had off. This resulted in binge drinking coupled with little sleep which was always a dangerous combination. Cadets did try to look out for each other, but there were always plenty of opportunities for bad things to happen.</p>
<p>It is difficult to realize the potential for very negative consequences at such a young age when everyone is full of confidence and feels invincible.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there were always a few who had to find out the hard way that alcohol in large quantities can lead to poor decisions that can have very bad outcomes.</p>
<p>Fortunately 8izenough's offensive post was deleted. Watch what you say here and remember the adage "if you wouldn't want your mom or grandma to see it don't post it here."</p>