Sexual Assault at Grinnell

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/03/grinnell-sexual-assault_n_6780632.html

This is pretty scary stuff. One girl reported being raped at an admitted students event.

@KAMmom‌ where did you read this?

@ormdad It’s in the article. It’s pretty disgusting stuff. The student said that she was with the president of Grinnell only a few hours before she was assaulted.

Yes, it’s in the article. Grinnell is one of my d’s top choices, so this is scary. Hoping some Grinnellians will chime in here.

Sorry I only really skimmed the first part of the article. Very disheartening, my view of the Grinnell Administration has gone from neutral to very bad. I have heard from recent alumni/parents that the administration is very unsupportive in matters of mental health as well. I sort of thought Grinnell was different.

“If a prestigious, close-knit college like Grinnell cannot avoid letting down students who report rape, it raises the question of whether any school truly can.”

Yep, that sounds like the Grinnell Administration.

While I am only the parent, not the student at Grinnell, I want to chime in and say that actually as a parent I would be more concerned about a college that didn’t allow for the level of openness and conversation that is happening at Grinnell right now. I challenge anyone to find at top tier small liberal arts college without challenges related to the environment. That is not to say that I’m happy to hear about the situations that have been discussed on the active parent listserv. I only say that I do feel Grinnell has been unfairly singled out for what is likely happening at many other comparable institutions as well.

In terms of emotional and mental health support that has been lacking. However I also understand the challenges the college faces being in such a small town with access to larger supports at least an hour away.

My D has had an amazing 3 years at Grinnell. It’s unfortunate that this is darkening the school’s reputation. The media has the power to do that! Think about UVA’s recent scandal. And I’m sure if reporters dug deeper they would find many, many more.

Thanks for commenting, @mommaoftwo

@mommaoftwo – I have a first year (son) at Grinnell and am unaware of a parent listserv. Could you point me in the right direction so that I can subscribe to it?

I have a first year son as well. To join the listserv go to : http://www.grinnell.edu/about/offices-services/college-services/resources and click on the family forum discussion listserv and it will give you the email link to join the list serve. Hope you son is loving Grinnell as much as mine is.

The listserv is great. Welcome! There hasn’t been anything in the 2.5 years my D has been at Grinnell that has concerned me. She’s happy, maturing, working hard, and finding her adult voice.

Thanks @grovesmom and @mommaoftwo! I will join today! My son seems to be very happy with his choice to attend Grinnell. I saw on twitter that the alumni assoc sent all of the students a mid-sem care package this week. I am so impressed with this act of kindness!

As a current student, I would like to encourage this group to read the website of the student group Dissenting Voices here at Grinnell:

http://dissentingvoices9.wix.com/dissentingvoices

In regards to the parent who was worried about the media giving Grinnell a bad reputation: this is something that students initiated, not the media. This cause is too important to be sacrificed for the reputation of the school. We need to make the campus a safer place for current and future students.

I found out about an app that can be very useful for increasing safety, it is called “Circle Of Six”

I haven’t used it, but even though the website seems to suggest it is only for certain colleges, my friend said it could be used by anyone, anywhere.

http://www.circleof6app.com/colleges/

flowsoar - I am the concerned parent. I didn’t mean that the story shouldn’t have been told. However, I do feel that there are likely many similar stories at other institutions across the country and beyond, and it’s unfortunate for Grinnell that they appeared to be singled out. And by media I don’t mean the initial story - I was referring to the facebook twitter yik yak and comments. I heartily support the conversation and hope that the Grinnell community will learn and grow from this. But I would also hope that the impact spreads beyond Grinnell to other institutions with similar issues with sexual assault.