<p>20% of the student body has their major extracurricular taken away from them because of these allegations.</p>
<p>Let’s hope there is progress to prevent this from happening in the future.</p>
<p>The problem is letting universities police themselves, when there is no reason to allow that and it should in fact be illegal, just like the Catholic Church policing itself. If they took away tax exempt status from religious organizations that have even ONE case that was not prosecuted through the courts, and the same with colleges, this would not happen.</p>
<p>I watched the interview with Dean Eramo in its entirety. There was not one thing wrong with her responses in my opinion. I thought she clearly answered the questions and even risked hinting that she thought that the single response of the honor board prohibits reporting. Her explanation of the difference in the evidence requirements in the two different cases (Honor vs. sexual misconduct) was clear. I am not sure what all the condemnation is about? I think maybe it stems from all being upset that she doesn’t use a heavier hand in convincing these victims to file official complaints. </p>
<p>I have been reading a lot of articles on the internet. There are a bunch of articles written prior to RS that lay out the history of having the Universities handle this in house. They also, again prior to the RS article, lay out in many of the articles a fear of how ill prepared Universities all across the country are to have such an important judicial system that is only based on a preponderance of evidence. There is also an article about a girl at Columbia who is carrying a mattress around school for a year as a protest because she did not agree with the outcome of her compliant after opting for the internal judicial option at Columbia. </p>
<p>What was most interesting is that the internal option seemed to be forced on them by the government fairly recently. The facts in Jackie’s case argued here are very upsetting, but honestly mostly because of the fact that charges were not sought by the victim. Based on the description it would seem there would have been plenty of evidence in Jackie’s case for a criminal case let alone one that only required a 51% opinion. She chose not to pursue it. But when you read examples of some of the other incidents given as examples in these articles I don’t envy anyone who would have to judge those cases. To call it a grey area is an understatement. I don’t know how you change that without ending up with a system where all you need is an accusation for guilt to be assumed. </p>
<p>Hundreds took part in a march on Saturday night that was organized by UVa faculty. Some bystanders took offense.</p>
<p>Dailyprogress.com wrote: Men lining the patio of a bar on The Corner were quick to yell “insults and slurs” at the protestors as they walked by, said Carl Goette-Luciak, a fifth-year student who helped to lead the march.</p>
<p>Others volleyed comments scorning the actions of the crowd as it marched through the streets, but Goette-Luciak contends that facing such a reaction was the protest’s way of “confronting the issue where it lives.”</p>
<p>“If male students at this school will deride the people who are demanding change, [if they] won’t take seriously how important this moment is, it just stresses the gravity of the situation we’re facing,” he said.</p>
<p>Later in the night, Goette-Luciak said he saw five students, both male and female, tearing down a memorial that students had created at Peabody Hall. In support of those who had been sexually assaulted, students had covered the doors of the administrative building with Post-it notes filled with stories of their experiences and encouragements toward survivors, he said. They also placed stones, creating a “small mountain” in front of the building, to symbolize survivors they knew.</p>
<p>Goette-Luciak said he walked past the memorial an hour or two after the protest when he saw students tearing down the notes and discarding the stones.</p>
<p>“We confronted them and they were very aggressive, very violent towards us,” he said. “One young man in particular, with chest puffed out, kept screaming, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ and then left.”</p>
<p>That is repulsive. Even if those types of students are a small percentage of the overall student body it is still extremely upsetting. I’m so mad I can’t stand it.</p>
<p>“The mental health of the victims is the MOST important outcome.”</p>
<p>Well this has been the approach, but it seems to me that it has failed. The problem is that without any punishment for the guilty there are more and more victims.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with you, that there are more and more victims. Do you really think we have that many more rapists now than in the past? That suddenly boys are more predatory? I think its just more and more the victims are coming forward which is a good thing.</p>
<p>There are punishments for the guilty when the victims choose to press charges and they are found guilty. That is our system of law in this country. If you listen to the Dean Eramo interview she had 38 cases in one year but only 9 victims wanted to move forward with any type of hearing. That is the victims choice, not anyone else. Education is the piece missing on the college campuses. Education for the bystanders so they can be more supportive and recognize potential predators and victims. And education for the victims so they do move forward with hearings.</p>
<p>How have parents failed their children so badly that so many lack empathy for others? That’s the real problem here. Where have we -as a nation- gone wrong that we (as a group) are producing ever larger numbers of kids who think it is fine to rape others and to hide criminal activities instead of doing the right thing? </p>
I think you misunderstood the post to which you refer. The point was not that rapes are occurring more frequently but simply that the cumulative total continues to rise (i.e., rapes continue to occur).<br>
Lack of education is not the reason why most victims do not move forward. </p>
<p>@momalumper
First, I am not saying it is happening more often. What I am saying is that it happens too often, and by tolerating this behavior, we enable it to happen over and over again. Many of the perps in these cases rape repeatedly. To my knowledge no student has ever been expelled from UVA for rape. Not ever. How can that be?</p>
<p>Furthermore, the decision to prosecute a crime is not made by victims in America. It is made by prosecutors or a grand jury. Universities are failing to reports of felonies to the police and prosecutors. All colleges need to stop doing that. Instead of discouraging victims, they need support, protection, and assurance that by coming forward, they are helping the University become a better place, they are not betraying the school.</p>
<p>Mamalumper wrote “I watched the interview with Dean Eramo in its entirety. There was not one thing wrong with her responses in my opinion.”</p>
<p>I realize Mamalumper has a personal connection to UVA and the vast majority of students are fine upstanding people, but how about this exchange to the Eramo interview:</p>
<pre><code>WUVA: The university has decided that expulsion is again the appropriate punishment for lying, cheating and stealing and by setting such a standard has inevitably set itself up to have its punishments for other offenses compared to this standard. By not expelling students who have been found guilty or have admitted guilt in sexual assault cases, the school is tacitly making a statement that sexual assault cases are less punitive than cases of —.
ER: I don’t believe that at all.
WUVA: Why not?
ER: Well first of all, let’s be honest. People find the fact that we expel people for cheating quite controversial and have difficulties with that fact, and as you know, the reporting rates [to the Honor Committee] are quite low and many people attribute that to the fact that expulsion is the only sanction. So I think the expulsion for honor is fraught with issues in and of itself so I don’t think the university is necessarily saying, ‘oh sexual assault’s not as important as honor because we don’t expel in every single case,’ I don’t buy that at all.
WUVA: So the university is not making the statement that sexual assault cases are less punitive than lying, cheating or stealing when the punishment for sexual assault is suspension —
ER: I think I’ve already answered your question.
</code></pre>
<p>Wow. What a chilling article. I’m a petite female EA applicant to UVa, and honestly, I’m almost ready to withdraw my app. The lack of concern from those at the top, and the culture that seems to insist that it’s normal are disturbing. Other students just call rape a “bad experience.” More concern for the social percussions of calling “rape” than you know, actually being raped. Having such bureaucratic rules that the one girl who did report (Stacy) could only get a one year suspension for her attacker even though there was evidence that he raped not one, but two other girls. I know I’m sheltered as a non-partying nerd in my suburban town, but still, what a scary thought that this still happens. </p>
<p>The only upside is that now that the light has been shined on them, UVa will probably try to put their foot down on this stuff (they already are - closing the frats down is a pretty huge move), if for no other reason than to keep them out of the press. I guess the really dangerous schools are the ones where this is still happening and nobody really knows yet. </p>
<p>As someone who spent many years working with sexual abuse victims, I can assure you that many less victims will come forward if they know they have no choice in whether the police will be involved, or whether the case will move forward with prosecution. And despite what is written above that “the decision to prosecute a crime is not made by victims in America”, according to my experience, this is not true. A prosecutor needs to have a willing and strong witness, and I very often had cases that didn’t go forward because the victim was unwilling or unable to testify. These victims were not discouraged from testifying, and were given great support to do so, but they were not ready or strong enough to do so. Victims of rape have intese feeling of loss of power, and forcing them to move forward with a criminal investigation can add to the loss of power. The victim must feel like they are in control of what happens next, and taking that control away will further traumatize them.</p>
<p>There are problems that need to be solved, but forcing all cases to be reported and investigated by police will have negative consquences for some women, who will no longer feel safe and ready to come forward for the emotional support they need. The answer is unfortunately not that easy. I wish it was.</p>
<p>butterfreesnd, I don’t think closing the frats down right before Thanksgiving and through the waning weeks of the semester (with finals and winter break right around the corner) is a huge move. But you are right that shining a light on the problem is the first step toward solving it. </p>
<p>At this point frankly, Jackie has to name her attackers. The anger right now is directed at brothers who were’nt even brothers in 2012. They had to evacuate their house for safety reasons. They have received threats. Guilt by association is not the law of the land last time I checked.</p>