Ivy League’s rape fiasco: A personal reflection of progress and sadness

[unhappycamper]

http://www.salon.com/2014/10/09/ivy_leagues_rape_fiasco_a_personal_reflection_of_progress_and_sadness/



Since my case made headlines over 20 years ago, the problem is finally getting attention. That's good -- and bad

Ivy League’s rape fiasco: A personal reflection of progress and sadness
Jesselyn Radack
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 06:58 AM EST

In the fall of 1990, Brown University gained notoriety when graffiti naming alleged rapists was found on the stall walls of a central campus bathroom. Though the series of scribbles in the stall was as much a conversation as a collection of names, it came to be known around campus as the “Rape List.” It began with a single sentence inscribed inside a stall. There, in a forum that guaranteed a female-only audience and anonymity, a woman had written, “_______ _______ is a rapist.” The man she named was a Brown student. Over time other women added other names along with complaints about the university’s failure to adequately discipline Brown men who had sexually assaulted female students.

The dialogue on the stall walls continued quietly for months as the list grew to perhaps twenty names. When the school newspaper alerted the university to the underground list, the campus erupted into controversy over concern that innocent men might be targeted. By mid-November, the story had appeared in the New York Times.

What did not make the front-page news was that for years women had tried to bring charges against many of these same men through official channels. I was one of those women. I reported a case of sexual misconduct to the police department (like at many urban colleges, campus police and the city police have overlapping jurisdiction). It interviewed the men involved, who admitted to their participation in the incident, but said they were just joking around. The police investigation stopped at that point, and the complaint was channeled to the dean of students. He met with the accused men and later told me that there was no need for a hearing because they had confessed to their involvement in the incident. He then turned the case over to the football coach to mete out punishment: extra laps at practice.

I expressed outrage at the lax disciplinary measures and demanded something more substantial and permanent. This ultimately resulted in a Letter of Warning to the perpetrators—for alcohol policy violation, but not for sexual misconduct—and a polite suggestion that they write me a letter of apology.