To the Editor:
Having attended portions of this weekend's conference on " Women Writers and Social Change," I feel particularly motivated to write this letter in response to several articles that appeared on Wednesday, May 4 and Thursday, May 5 in The Dartmouth that addressed recent campus activities on the issue of sexual assault.
My first critique is of Thursday's article entitled "Coalitions formed to examine COS," and Friday's House Editorial, "Research Must Precede Reform." I feel that The Dartmouth has done a disservice to those students who have already put in many hours discussing issues and strategies by focusing on the division between the coalitions that have developed to address various concerns. One of the reasons that I chose to not continue my involvement in one of the groups was because I was concerned that the newspaper coverage of the group's activities would suggest that students were anxious to indict "the Administration," or were squabbling amongst themselves.
Rather than preferencing one group's strategies over another, The Dartmouth could have focused on the fact that many students are concerned about issues of sexual assault and about the administration's handling of such issues. Another topic that would have made interesting reading would be different approaches to social change. Writing, as evidenced by the writers participating in this weekend's conference, is certainly one among many approaches.
I would like to express even deeper concern about the extensive article, "Sexual Assault: It Happens Here," that appeared in Friday's paper. Initially, I was pleased to see such an effort to address the issue of sexual assault and to demonstrate some of the difficulties in reporting and not reporting incidents to the College. However, I was struck by the images that appeared with the article: The people were all white. By showing these images and, of necessity, preserving the anonymity of the women whose stories were told, the article continues to mask the stories of women of color who have dealt with and deal with sexual assault as well as other acts of violence against women, including domestic violence. The absence of images of women of color who have experienced sexual assault not only disempowers these women, but also contributes to misunderstandings within diverse communities about how the issue of sexual assault affects white women and women of color.
Although for a number of reasons I did not choose to continue my involvement in the coalitions which have arisen to address the issue of sexual assault at Dartmouth, I am clearly one of many students, male and female and of diverse backgrounds, who are concerned about sexual assault at Dartmouth and in larger communities of which we are all a part.
