Tufts not a "feminist friendly place"

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
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<p>http://****yeahfeminists.tumblr.com/post/2450724249/so-i-feel-a-little-wierd-asking-this-but-why-are-you</p>

<p>I subscribe to a lot of feminist blogs, and a (transferring) student from Tufts posted this upon being asked by a student why she was transferring:</p>

<p>First of all, the school basically kicked me to the curb because I was raped. I reported another student for physically assaulting me and raping me and they did nothing about it (well except for the dean of students who laughed at me behind my back and called me crazy). When I started speaking out about what they did, that’s when they said I couldn’t be a student anymore, which is clearly against the law. So now they’re being investigated by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. They broke their OWN RULES so they could let my rapist go completely free, which is really ****ed up; ALSO when called out on their policies being illegal, the Dean of Students refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing and makes very weak, inaccurate arguments in support of what they’ve done.</p>

<p>I’ve had a friend who went through a similar experience. Raped and reported, but they thought her case was more important so they followed the rules a bit more. They still let her rapist go free, despite all the evidence brought forth at the hearing. They asked her things like what she wore that night and suggested MEDIATION between her and her attack (it was part of the policy at the time). She obviously refused. Even though the policy is different now, I’ve still had survivors and their friends email me (since i run a blog about rape at tufts) about how Tufts is still not supportive and letting them down and not adequately addressing rape or taking it seriously at all. Basically you have a better chance of being suspended for copying someone’s homework than being raped.</p>

<p>Oh, and after the HUGE REPORT listing how the Department of Education fined and ruled against MULTIPLE SCHOOLS for having confidentiality clauses in their rape policy, Tufts ADDED it to their policy.</p>

<p>Aside from being inadequate at addressing sexual violence, they also do not support students of colour. There’s a lot of tolerance and perpetuation of racism. Also, their graduation rate for students of colour (especially blacks) is consistently significantly lower than at other comparable school. However, they don’t see this as a problem and have boasted that their graduation rates are good - well yes they are good, but they can be wayyy better. They make a lot of compromises for white students (especially white students) to help them succeed, but there is no such programming to fill in the race graduation rate and I’ve personally experienced lack of cooperation from the same people who were so willing to help others. Oh, and I remember when the Vice Provost went to the culture houses and I went to the one at the Women’s Center. We talked about the bad rape policy and the lack of professors of colour he basically told us our feelings are wrong. That we have enough professors of colour and the policy is good. After he left we all wondered, why did he bother coming saying that he wanted to hear our concerns so they can be fixed if he dismissed them all?</p>

<p>Their career services isn’t very great. A lot of students complain that they don’t get the support they need in finding jobs after graduation. Most of them have to do it all themselves.</p>

<p>Oh the place has gotten a lot more dangerous, too. Unsafe. There’s been stabbings at frat parties, students robbed at gunpoint, and serial rapists in the area (not all of them we were notified about, however). When Tufts was named the most unsafe school in the country, I read the comments from parents & students who basically agreed that the school is not nearly doing enough to bring change even if it isn’t exactly the MOST dangerous.</p>

<p>So basically, I just cannot in good conscious recommend that someone go to that school. It is an institution that perpetuates racial and gender inequality and refuses to change. All they care about is not being sued or keeping the “good name” of the school alive. I know they did not care about me being raped because I am black and was on scholarship (read: no money) and they thought it was better & easier to brush me off than to deal with my perp’s mother (a judge) and all the money his family has at their disposal.</p>

<p>Sorry that this is really long. I didn’t even really cover everything, but this is definitely what sticks out in my mind. I just don’t like how unapologetically unfair they are. I know no school is perfect, but I clearly have my personal disdain for the school and I know other students and alumni who felt the same. It isn’t a feminist friendly place and if I knew what I knew now I would have NEVER applied to the school.</p>

<p>I doubt this will change anyone's mind who's set on Tufts, but it's something I would without a doubt factor into my college decision, and I do think that this is important, so I'm posting it on here so any applying students may read it.</p>

<p>Edit: Link does not work because the four asterisks are not asterisks, they are a word. So just edit that I guess if you want to see the actual post.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://institutionalresearch.tufts.edu/downloads/4yrGradRatesByRaceEthnicity1.pdf[/url]”>http://institutionalresearch.tufts.edu/downloads/4yrGradRatesByRaceEthnicity1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This is not true. The differences are very small, pretty much comparable to similar institutions. The difference between white males and black males is around two or three percent.</p>

<p>Everything about this post really brings out the skeptic in me. Every BS-ometer in my mind is going off. She says that she talked to the Vice Provost and “he” was some kind of misogynistic racist, but the Vice Provost of Tufts is a woman. Something makes me think this was more than a simple pronoun error.</p>

<p>I’m not going to address every problem in this, of which I think there are many, because I think a current Tufts student would be better qualified to address them. This does not dissuade me from applying at all, not because these complaints don’t bother me but because they find them rather hard to believe.</p>

<p>Labelling the entire university of Tufts as “unfriendly to feminists” and making these blanket accusations of racism is just as damaging and unfair as what the author complains that the university has done. If I go to Tufts, will that make me a misogynistic racist all of a sudden? I doubt this author would hesitate to make that assumption. These comments are insulting and potentially costly to thousands of perfectly good people who work and study at Tufts and do not contribute to these problems (if they even exist to the extent described).</p>

<p>Lastly and most importantly, if you are raped go to the police not the university. Rape is a serious crime and it is beyond the scope of the university’s authority to deal with such things. The attack should be going to jail for a long time, not getting suspended. Of course, given the abundancy of exaggerations and even straight out lies contained in this diatribe, I think there is some question as to whether this rape really occured.</p>

<p>I have no sympathy for people who seek to promote racial or sexual discrimination and I have no intent to excuse or justify discrimination that may be occuring against black people or women. At the same time, I take great offense to the insinuation that white males are racist, violent rapists who like to use the system to hurt people. There are cases of this but on a whole it is NOT true. I’ve said it enough times, attempting to label and entire university this way is extremely offensive.</p>

<p>If it is somehow shown to me that the author is being honest and did not substainally exaggerate than I will take back my comments. However, I don’t believe on such scant evidence that a liberal, elite school in Boston is actually a bastion of sexism and racism.</p>

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<p>Take a look at the OP’s posting history, mostly in the “High School Life” threads. My guess is that she was denied ED admission to Tufts and is bitter.</p>

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<p>Tomofboston–
I applied Early Decision to Smith College, it was my absolute top choice, and I’m happy to have been accepted. I know almost nothing about Tufts. I didn’t even know it was a university, I looked for it under Top LACs first. I just know that a lot of people on CC apply there, and I read this, and I thought it was something that should be put out there. Whenever I see articles like this about colleges, I post them to the college board. I think that it’s important that both the “light” and “dark” sides are explored.</p>

<p>Go ahead and go the ad hominem route though.</p>

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<p>Agreed that Tomofboston’s comment was rude and irrelevant.</p>

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<p>Disagreed that it is necessary to promote shameless libel in order to do this.</p>

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<p>While I do agree with tom and grape, I still find it odd that there’s a website called rapedattufts.info and the weak sexual assault policy has been noted in the Tufts Daily both in 2009 and 2010. </p>

<p>2009:[</a>" + artTitle.replace(“-”,“”) + " - " + “Tufts Daily” + “](<a href=“http://www.tuftsdaily.com/campus-has-weak-sexual-assault-policy-1.1730287]”>http://www.tuftsdaily.com/campus-has-weak-sexual-assault-policy-1.1730287)
2010: [</a>” + artTitle.replace(“-”,“”) + " - " + “Tufts Daily” + "](<a href=“http://www.tuftsdaily.com/tufts-sexual-assault-policy-under-scrutiny-1.2179474]”>http://www.tuftsdaily.com/tufts-sexual-assault-policy-under-scrutiny-1.2179474)</p>

<p>My dad went to Case Western Reserve, and the admissions director for the school mentioned to him a couple of months ago that it was “well-known” in academic circles that Tufts had a lot of sexual assault.</p>

<p>That being said, I am still applying and view the previous articles as a problem every college faces. The Case lady was actually really supportive of the schools I’m applying to, even though they didn’t include Case. She may have simply had a slight misconception. I think that many colleges have the same issues, and for victims the best thing is to really go to the police. Tufts isn’t there to baby you around like at home with your parents.</p>

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<p>I really laughed at this when I read it. Not because I think rape, violence, and/or racism are laughing matters, but that the way you frame it is just absurd.</p>

<p>First of all, the link doesn’t work. Secondly, it’s a blog? I mean, it’s very anecdotal evidence and it isn’t exclusive to Tufts. </p>

<p>Third, I believe Tufts being the most dangerous school has been discussed and shown that it’s because of the Medical campus and that Harvard is ranked 3rd (the funny part, is that they actually don’t count rapes as being dangerous in that report…ironic isn’t it? Mainly because that’s the complaint you try to make). They also over-lap crimes for institutions (e.g. Harvard and Tufts).</p>

<p>Fourth, in regards to the rape allegations: Rape happens at every institution (statistically, 1 in 4 women will be raped by the time they graduate), but that doesn’t mean it’s rampant or that it’s exclusive to ANY college. Tufts is ranked 14th in the country for happiness by the Princeton Review—I am am pretty sure a racist, sexist, and violent school wouldn’t be placed so high. Again, rape is a huge problem on ANY college campus. So is drinking. Alcohol probably fuels rapes. But are there laws banning that liquor store right down the street? Are people under 21 and just starting out in college going to abstain from underage drinking?</p>

<p>That being said, Tufts is very diverse and inclusive (e.g. racially, religiously, internationally, gender-wise, sexual preferences wise (it’s considered among the most gay-friendly schools in the country), and socio-economically). As a school well known for international relations, I am pretty sure both gender and racial issues, in particular, are studied, discussed, and known by many. Tufts is one of those schools that if such an incident occurs, there is a community dialogue where people can voice their opinions and have an informative and critical discussion.</p>

<p>I think, however, by showing the quote “dark sides of universities” you are doing a disservice. Why? Because you are generalizing as if it’s an epidemic at one institution. If anything, that perpetuates racism, sexism, etc. because every incident has to be about that instead of focusing on instances where it actually matters (you reinforce the atrocity). You reinforce stereotypes. You frame it to where minorities (whether it be sexual minorities, racial minorities, religious minorities, sexual oriented minorities, etc.) are these victims and are totally innocent. THAT’S racist, sexist, polemic, discriminatory, etc. I am not saying these things don’t exist in the world, I am saying that by creating a dichotomy of either/or, us and them, perfectly innocent minority versus malicious majority, you are propelling discrimination (by retrenching discriminating stereotypes. Because, you know, as an example, white experiences discrimination and statistically, 10% of rapes happen to men).</p>

<p>I think the only thing “dark” here is ignorance. It’s a tragedy that people try to put such slander towards any, yes, ANY, institution. This isn’t exclusive to Tufts, but any other place you feel to show “the dark side.” It has no quantitative evidence only anecdotal claims. It’s these unfounded claims that have the unfortunate consequence of giving false impressions. I find that offensive because as someone said above, it’s generalizing. By generalizing you are implying that most of a given college is a racist, violent, and sexist bubble. That’s not only false and wrong to assume about ANY institution, but it’s very offensive to me (and I am sure others) because you trivialize ACTUAL instances of these acts.</p>

<p>My point is that it’s really naive to just take the word from a blog you read or from the web. Seriously. The problem with a lot of people (Especially on CC) is that they take the word of anyone as just given. They say that because some random person said it on a blog, a thread, or on CC, wherever, that it’s true.</p>

<p>Yet none of this is backed up by sound (keyword, SOUND) statistical testing. It’s usually anecdotal evidence. It’s like…</p>

<p>Idiot 1: "hey, so I heard from my cousin that college XYZ sucks and that’s why they are switching schools</p>

<p>Idiot 2: “OMG, no way. College XYZ must totally suck then because I also heard that from 2 other people.”</p>

<p>Idiot 3: “Yeah dude, if 3 people say it, it must be true.”</p>

<p>(Note, for something to be statistically significant, it needs more than 3, 10, and even 20 observations).</p>

<p>Oh, and FYI, people make websites for everything. There was one student which my friend showed me made a website called biasincident.com. The website actually parodied people who called EVERY incident racially charged if it involved a minority (because, you know, that’s absurd).</p>

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<p>One more thing. I have never ever heard anyone complain about career services at tufts. If anything, it’s the total opposite.</p>

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<p>I write this as an extremely feminist minded Tufts student: while Tufts, like most colleges, has many problems in the ways it deals with sexual assault and gender issues, it is not as bad as the OP makes it sound. I have sympathy for the quoted person’s experience have no doubt they are telling the truth. I don’t have much respect for Bruce Reitman and Veronica Carter (Tufts’ Dean of Student Affairs and Judicial Affairs Officer, respectively) because of their adherence to the old Tufts’ sexual assault policy. However, I think many things have changed since the quoted person was a student at Tufts. The new policy, while not created at the suggestion of the aforementioned administrators, has nonetheless been more or less welcomed by them. </p>

<p>The sexual assault policy used to be really terrible and stress mediation with the perpetrator. However, this policy is no longer in place. There is a new policy, as the result of lobbying by student groups. That policy can be found here [url=&lt;a href=“http://oeo.tufts.edu/downloads/SexualAssualtPolicy.pdf]here[/url”&gt;http://oeo.tufts.edu/downloads/SexualAssualtPolicy.pdf]here[/url</a>], and [url=&lt;a href=“Homepage | AS&E Students”&gt;Homepage | AS&E Students]here[/url</a>] is the university’s new judicial process for allegations of sexual assault. The new judicial process is based on Harvard’s process, and gives much more agency to the survivor. I definitely encourage anyone interested to read it. It’s not hard reading. There are still problems with the new policy and processes, and it is certainly not well publicized. </p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“http://ase.tufts.edu/healthed/topicsSexual.htm]Here[/url”&gt;http://ase.tufts.edu/healthed/topicsSexual.htm]Here[/url</a>] is Tufts’ sexual violence resources website. It has a lot of information on all the different options available to survivors of sexual assault at Tufts, from counseling to stay away orders to the judicial process to working with the police. I wish this information was more widely known and better disseminated. Tufts has counselors and a Sexual Violence Resource Coordinator (contact her if you have more questions) to help students navigate the aftermath of an assault, but the university could do a better job of making people aware of these resources and making the topic less taboo to discuss. </p>

<p>Rape and sexual assault most certainly exist at Tufts, but they are not problems exclusive to Tufts. There is a lot of sexism among college students. It is a huge problem, and a lot of college drinking and hook up culture perpetuates it. There is a problem at colleges, with college students, in the way the dialogue about rape exists. It is generally swept under the rug, allowing many harmful untruths to remain prevalent. From my friends at other schools, I know this is not unique to Tufts. While of course this is not enough information to base a thorough comparison on, there are really larger cultural attitudes about women and women’s sexuality and the commonality of ‘slut-shaming’ that make it difficult for women to come forward and report a sexual assault. </p>

<p>That said, there are many things about Tufts that have made me a very happy feminist. Nancy Bauer’s Feminist Philosophy class (among others) is awesome, and very popular. I have a number of feminist minded friends, male and female, which I could not say before coming to Tufts. I recently attended an incredibly packed Gender and Culture symposium on Lady Gaga and feminism. There is sexism, yes, plenty of it, but I’ve generally found people to be willing to discuss it if it is brought up.</p>

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<p>Is this really a big issue on campus that I should feel unsafe if I get to go?</p>

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<p>No. This person is silly.</p>

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I honestly don’t know how prevalent rape is on campus (the first one I heard of was the one they sent out an email about), but that doesn’t necessarily correlate to the happiness of the entire student body. If even 1% of students are victims of rape then I would say it constitutes a huge problem, but that doesn’t prevent the student body as a whole from being happy.
Also, alcohol may in part contribute to rape (especially if both parties are drunk), but that by no means it fuels rape, or that if underage drinking occurs then rape is sure to follow. And if that were the case, then it would definitely be something worth investigating, rather than just dismissing it as “college kids are going to drink, so rape is inevitable”.</p>

<p>Also, regarding biasincident.com - that’s entirely different from rapedattufts.info. I guess some people were offended, but I thought biasincident.com was pretty hilarious. I also thought that the Dan Foster incident was way overblown, though.</p>

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<p>Actually, studies have shown that around 70% of rapes involved alcohol. Alcohol is related. Also, rape is prevalent in all campuses. As I said, 1 in 4 women will be raped by the time they graduate from ANY university.</p>

<p>Yes, rape is a huge problem…but for ANY university. I promise you that occurs (at probably great percentage than 1%) at almost EVERY university. It’s not a unique problem to Tufts. I agree it’s a problem everywhere, but I am saying that the OP made the issue way overblown and made it seem it was unique to Tufts. Rape actually occurs more often at larger state schools (more frats, more populations, more drinking, etc.). That being said, the happiness issue is to show that despite the bad stuff that occurs at EVERY campus, Tufts students are still generally happy albeit that minute .5% or whatever that go through crap at, again, EVERY campus. I am not saying disregard them or that what they have gone through should be taken lightly; rather, I am stating that it’s silly to frame it as exclusive to Tufts.</p>

<p>I am not saying that colleges kids drink and thus rape is inevitable. I am saying that alcohol contributes to most rapes at ANY university. That DOESN’T mean that if you drink you will get raped. In fact, the majority of people who drink don’t get raped at all (no surprise there). I am simply saying this is a problem that is systemic across US campuses, not just one place (in fact, Harvard has a reported amount of rapes that is 4 times greater than that of Tufts. U of Michigan has about 3 times as many. And Yale and Tufts are about the same).</p>

<p>Biasincident.com was used to respond to the OP’s claims of racism. You are right, it’s different from the other website, yet the other one is obviously a traumatized person (as it’s only a one person blog). Of one person out of 10,000, that’s representative of .01%. Does it suck? Of course, but it’s not like such occurrences are the norm. And to think that is a hasty generalization, much like saying all people from the south are hicks or something erroneous to that effect.</p>

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<p>Honestly I am surprised by the response that OP has recieved, for several reasons. One, The purpose of this site is for individuals to share their personal experience with various schools, so that potential students can get information that they would otherwise not obtain. as such, ancedotal evidence is the point of this site, you can search yourself if you want hard numbers (and should since trusting numbers quoted on a forum is not really sound practice. If People like OP didn’t share their experience though, you probably wouldn’t bother to even check the facts anyway. </p>

<p>As to the comments made by Buzzer, as you pointed out, it is estimated that 1 in 4 women will be rape at a college. I guarantee you that that will be more then .5% of the population. The fact is less then 10% of rapes on campus are ever reported, and of the ones that are that the majority of rapes reported at schools do not result in any significant sanction for the accused rapist. In my opinion, a felony against another student should be grounds for instant dismissal. </p>

<p>As to the Question of whether Universities or the police should deal with rape on campus, the answer is both. While rape is a criminal act, and the police have a responsibility to deal with it, providing a safe environment for the student body is the responsibility of the University, and ignoring allegations of violence against a student, and worse, giving a rapist a slap on the wrist, or forcing a victim to sit across from their attacker in an empty mediation session is a failure of gross proportion. How can Universities expect students to take sexual violence seriously, if the school itself doesn’t. By not taking a stance against rape, and treated it like the breach of trust with the University community it is, the school is promoting a rape-friendly environment that makes the entire student body less safe. IMHO, if anyone has ever brought an accusation of rape to a school, and it was treated with anything less then the utmost of seriousness, that is a real problem. The fact that it happens at many schools, does not make the situation excusable, or any less noteworthy</p>

<p>Finally, I am sorry that OP had the experience that she did. To anyone who doubts her experience, you are free to do so. But consider the fact that as recently as last Feb the Boston Globe wrote a report where tufts is specifically cited as falling to provide any real sanction . It is worth noting that tufts has just updated it’s policy this month, <a href=“Dean of Students Office | AS&E Students”>Dean of Students Office | AS&E Students, in part thanks to the efforts of the Campus accountibility project.</p>

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<p>One thing I noticed in their policy is that if their is not current litigation ongoing at the end of the Judicial Process, Tufts new policy requires that all evidence used in the process be destroyed. This means that the school will be destroying evidence of a felony. Since The statute of limitations in MA is 15 years, every single one of these cases will to still be prosecutable when the evidence is destroyed. Tufts may have come a long way, but a policy of destroying evidence of the criminal action of their students just seems wrong-headed.</p>

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<p>Actually, I just read that bill and it actually seems very reasonable.</p>

<p>Also, litigation is meant to not just be for Tufts, but also for litigations outside of the University (it’s not specific to just the Tufts judiciary). Evidence is destroyed unless the issue goes to court and/or is being reviewed by the Tufts judicial. This makes sense–because there already would have been a trial, no person can be tried twice for a allegations.</p>

<p>This is why the bill says: </p>

<p>“After the case has been decided, and all appeals exhausted (see section on Appeals in the Student Judicial Process booklet), all materials created by or reviewed by the Dean and/or the fact-finder will be destroyed, unless the case or elements of the case are in litigation or moving toward litigation, in which case the materials will be preserved until the litigation is resolved.”</p>

<p>This means that after the school has reviewed everything, they will destroy evidence UNLESS the issue is taken to court or is MOVING towards going to court.</p>

<p>But as a response to my earlier stuff, I am just saying that rape sucks. I don’t doubt that. But Tufts has taken many strides. And rape just doesn’t occur here. Check out Notre Dame:</p>

<p>[Freshman</a> Commits Suicide After Alleged Rape By Notre Dame Football Player](<a href=“Care2 is the world's largest social network for good, a community of over 40 million people standing together, starting petitions and sharing stories that inspire action.”>Care2 is the world's largest social network for good, a community of over 40 million people standing together, starting petitions and sharing stories that inspire action.)</p>

<p>And this one:</p>

<p>[Notre</a> Dame Accused of Mishandling Another Sexual Assault Case](<a href=“Care2 is the world's largest social network for good, a community of over 40 million people standing together, starting petitions and sharing stories that inspire action.”>Care2 is the world's largest social network for good, a community of over 40 million people standing together, starting petitions and sharing stories that inspire action.)</p>

<p>Rape cases are very difficult not just in University settings but also in court of laws. Why? Because a lot of times it involves alcohol. And it’s hard to prove that the rapist wasn’t “just as drunk.” I think in general, the system of flawed everywhere. Hopefully Universities can continue to make strides.</p>

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<p>JustyFacts-
I don’t think that the OP is about that poster’s experience. In fact, the OP is a Smith student, who doesn’t appear to know much (if anything) about Tufts. Rather, supposedly in the name of feminism, she is simply republishing a diatribe from someone else’s blog, and that someone appears to have a substantial chip on her shoulder and a considerable axe to grind.
I have been practicing law for long enough to know when there’s more to someone’s unsupported diatribe than meets the eye, and as far as I’m concerned the blog quoted is just such an example. I am skeptical, to say the least.</p>