This year, we decided to suspend our annual Green Key issue in favor of an in-depth look at the subject that has seized campus dialogue — sexual assault.
Our goal is not to interrupt the festivities this weekend, but we do hope you’ll pause to look through our coverage. When it’s warm out and all your friends are relaxing on the Green, it’s easy to ignore the deep fractures marking this campus, both at an institutional level and within the supportive subcommunities that make Dartmouth feel so special. We think that identifying those divisions, providing the necessary context for understanding them and analyzing their future is one way our campus and the people whose lives have been influenced by sexual violence can heal.
The issue has taught us that there are many, many people at the College working to improve Dartmouth’s handling of sexual assault. And throughout the process, we’ve come up against the limits of words, the limits of reporting. There are some experiences that journalists cannot possibly convey. By all accounts, sexual assault is one of those experiences.
If there’s a flaw in our approach, it’s that the issue feels a little policy-heavy. While all the new policies, centers and acronyms introduced over the past few years merit our attention, sexual assault is, at its core, a violent crime committed against another person. That matters most.
If you have questions about any of our editorial decisions, please let us know.
— Min Kyung Jeon, Charlie Rafkin and Josh Renaud
The project:
The stories:
News analysis:Sexual assault dominates campus dialogue in a year of turmoil
Reported assaults higher than peers', Clery analysis shows
