I would do that, but I don’t live in America. @Much2learn
@ewho idk, do I hope it will be safer? yes. yes I do. But can I do much about that? No. Generally personal opinions won’t make such a big impact at this point, especially those from people who are not ‘directly involved’ in this issue. I’m talking about people related to Stanford, like students and faculty… parents. I really just hope it gets better by the time I choose to apply, which is in two years. So I doubt much will change. Just try to stay safe on school grounds
As I mentioned in my earlier post, Stanford’s Clery geography is unusually broad and picks up a lot of reported crimes that do not involve students. One example is the Stanford hospital. As Stanford explains in its campus crime statistics report: “Because of their proximity to the Stanford University campus, and because medical students receive training at these medical facilities, the Department of Education has advised Stanford University to count Clery-reportable incidents occurring at the Stanford Health Care Adult Hospital at Stanford and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford as ‘on campus’ crimes.” If I understand that correctly, that means this article from yesterday confirms that this one hospital tech is responsible for at least 4 reported “on campus” sexual assaults, none of which involved Stanford students in any way. http://mv-voice.com/news/2016/06/30/former-stanford-anesthesia-tech-gets-year-in-jail-for-molesting-patients That is a terrible situation in and of itself, but not what most people think of as a campus crime. Again, when you are trying to “rank” crime statistics at different colleges it is important to understand what the statistics actually show.
And @fredthered, with regard to your quest to find convictions, Stanford’s most recent crime statistics report (for 2013/2014) shows no arrests for any sex crimes in those years so it seems unlikely there were any Stanford students convicted in connection with any of the sexual assault incidents reported during that period. Further, as recent events confirm, any criminal case involving a Stanford student naturally gets a lot of headlines, so we probably would have heard about it if there were any. Nevertheless, as others have pointed out, these crimes are infrequently reported and even less frequently prosecuted, so a count of successful criminal prosecutions would tell us little.
@Much2learn - I agree that there is more to be done by ALL universities. Policies, procedures, education, etc, should constantly be scrutinized for ways to improve. However, regardless of what is done, this serious issue will (sadly) never be completely eliminated.
As far as what should have been said by the President, I don’t think a graduation ceremony is the place to say it. IMO, graduation is a time for students and their families (many who have traveled thousands of miles) to celebrate the accomplishments of thousands of students over many years time. It should not be a forum for anything other than that (though, I’m not sure Ken Burns got that memo). Perhaps the President should have done or said more, but graduation is not the proper forum.
@Hoggirl “regardless of what is done, this serious issue will (sadly) never be completely eliminated.”
I don’t see that as relevant. The point is that it happens way too often, and is greatly underreported. By improving awareness, education, prevention, intervention, reporting, and law enforcement, the rates can be reduced. Saying that it can’t be eliminated gives me the impression that you think that Stanford is helpless to reduce the occurrence, and I don’t believe that. If we are not going to try to reduce the incidents of crimes that can’t be eliminated, then we would not have any laws at all.
@Hoggirl “As far as what should have been said by the President, I don’t think a graduation ceremony is the place to say it.”
That is fine, but it appears that he has avoided addressing it whenever he speaks. It looks like he only wants to issue statements reviewed by legal. That gives the impression that either he believes that he needs to invoke his 5th amendment rights, or that he fails to understand why this issue is important to the university community.
Notice the stark contrast between President Hennessy’s response to rape concerns and the OU (Oklahoma U) President’s response when there were race issues on his campus last year. The OU President was immediately on camera saying that this behavior is not acceptable at OU, and assured all stakeholders that the administration will make this a top priority, and would actively work to identify potential problem areas and address them forcefully. That is called leadership.
I applaud the Stanford students and faculty who are working to obtain a stronger response from the university, but it is discouraging that the administration needs to be prodded for a firm response. It gives me the impression that the administration may be more concerned about image, athletics, and it endowments, than they are in doing the right thing for students. Much like Penn State’s administration did.
@Much2learn - no, I don’t think Stanford is helpless to reduce the number of occurrences. As I wrote above, there should be a constant review of what is being done to continuously improve. Reducing the number of instances is a worthy goal, of course. Stating that reducing occurrences to zero is impossible does not imply that I think nothing should be done. It’s just reality. A sad reality, to be sure.
I don’t know what President Hennessy has or has not said and whether it is “enough.” I have not looked it up.
I understand that you believe Stanford and President Hennessy have not done what they should. He’s no longer the president. Maybe you will be more satisfied with the leadership of the next president.
I hate to revive an old thread. But NYtimes is reporting on another controversial Title IX case at Stanford . (I assume there has been a lot of discussion on Title IX on CC.) This time NYT is writing about Stanford’s controversial 4-1 requirement instead of a simple majority for conviction. (since the incident the requirement was changed to unanimous 3-0). http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/sports/football/stanford-football-rape-accusation.html The case involves a current football player.
I think Stanford and other universities should look into having independent individuals, who have no connection to the university, set the policy as well serve on the panels to avoid any hint of bias. Otherwise there will always be questions regarding decision like this when administrators are accused of protecting the image of the university and in the case of Stanford its athletic program also.
