When I graduated last June, I wondered which editorial in the Dartmouth would be the first to cause me grief and anger as an alum. The past few weeks have provided many such articles, but the recent editorial by Elizabeth McConnaughey '99, titled "Greeks Prevent Sexual Assault," managed to upset me enough to respond. While she does make some strong points about this problematic issue, I believe that her conclusion that the administration is to blame -- and that we need to praise the Greeks, and them alone, for all their efforts -- is quite misguided and uninformed. I write this with an intense personal interest. I currently work as a college administrator at a school in the West, so I can see both sides of the coin. And, as a student at Dartmouth, I spent countless hours working on this very issue of sexual assault adjudication. You could even say that at some points in the Fall of 1996, it consumed me. If you were on campus that term, you might remember some campus discussion about the Annual COS Report. I was frustrated and angry about the results of sexual assault cases I had heard about, and couldn't believe that this College I had trusted with my life for four years could be so negligent in its decision making. I wasn't the only one, and we organized together to fight.
Almost three years later, I still get frustrated. Some of my friends and mentors have been hurt by this system, and nothing can change that knowledge. There are still some major flaws in the judicial system, and there are still so many things we should educate incoming students on. But now I know better than to blame administrators. In my last two years at Dartmouth, I got nothing but constant support and positive feedback from everyone I managed to complain to. Coordinator of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program Susan Marine; former Dean of the the College Lee Pelton, Judicial Affairs Officer Marcia Kelly and countless other administrators and faculty members met with us many times, listened to our concerns, explained the liabilities to us, and in some cases, offered a shoulder to cry on. I sincerely believe that they (yes, administrators) have the students' best interest in mind. Not only did they take me and the group I worked with seriously, they provided me with so many opportunities to learnabout the issue and make changes that I couldn't always take them up on it! In fact, the College paid for me to attend a four day conference in Colorado about sexual assault adjudication issues. I came away from this whole experience knowing you can't solve the problem with one discussion or program at a house, and that unfortunately, many times it is the students who play "see no evil, hear no evil."
Clearly, five minutes at Orientation is not enough. Students and administrators alike recognized this and implemented some changes. Katie Koestner, a renowned speaker on gender relations and sexual assault, will be coming to campus next fall to speak to the incoming students. For the past three years, UGA groups have held discussion groups on their floors for students to process through the issues brought up at Community Night. I regret to say that many UGAs and ACs still have a hard time getting people to talk (believe me, I was on the ORL staff for three years) -- students just seem a little too psyched to get on with their partying to pay attention to those who try to give them information!
Elizabeth McConnaughey also claims that the Greek system is the only place on campus where education takes place on issues of sexual assault and alcohol abuse. Kevan Higgins and Anne Mullins also write in their editorial on February 19: "The Greek system, particularly the sororities, offer virtually the ONLY spaces on campus for discussion on topics such as sexual assault." I am saddened that supporters of the Greek community have needed to resort to exaggeration and to belittling the rest of the campus to display their positive qualities. Administrative events on sexual assault issues abound -- take a look around campus come April each year for Sexual Assault Awareness Week programs. In addition, the Women's Resource Center regularly sponsors discussions and events that are related to this issue. Susan Marine alone facilitates over 50 open programs on campus every year. Please do not ignore the hard work that so many administrators and professors put in every day -- I can tell you from this side of the job -- it hurts.
You have a right to be frustrated. Sexual abuse is a terrible thing, and we should not tolerate it on the campus and in our lives. But the people you should be frustrated with and consider negligent are not administrators. You should be taking action and speaking out against the perpetrators of these crimes. Clearly, this doesn't just happen in the Greek system. But please stop and pause for a moment. How can you say the Greek houses prevent sexual assault? I recall situations where women did not bring up charges because the guy was popular with their sisters in the house. Other times, men in houses chose to support a brother because he is a "brother," no matter what he did. I have yet to see a house which has kicked out a member even if they were found responsible for an assault. Before you accuse the college of not holding people responsible enough for their actions, start showing that accountability within the system. Discussions and programs can only go so far -- what really matters is how people act when the issue hits.
Do yourself a favor, don't push the blame onto the people who are trying to help you. Deal with the problem, build coalitions and fight for positive change for all of us. You'll be surprised at how many people will listen.
