Thanks for sharing your insight as one who is right there in the trenches, as it were. It's very valuable to hear this kind of perspective.
I hope all the coverup monsters are held to account for their transgressions, and that this will turn out to be the kind of watershed moment that lead to some lasting and badly needed change.
Sometimes you have to shake things up before you can begin to fix things up. I hope this is the kind of shakeup that ends with a lot of things finally getting fixed.
[Sorry for all the edits. I can't seem to write coherent sentences on the first try tonight!]
Your welcome. I had honestly been debating posting about this, but was unsure since I'm kind of in the middle of things. Well, less so than my coworkers because I work the Graveyard Shift and therefore miss the phone calls we've been getting since the article was released. The other shifts have been fielding those, and we were instructed to not engage and transfer it to the Shift Commander to handle.
I hope so, too. That kind of attitude has no place here, and our community will only benefit from those responsible being made to answer for their actions. I sincerely hope this brings strong change, both in terms of policies and attitudes within the college culture. I personally think since our department does exist, using some BS disciplinary council within the school for crimes is insane. You've got your own police department, UVA! Sexual Assaults and Misconduct should come to us, not to some secretive council.
Sexual Assaults and Misconduct should come to us, not to some secretive council.
I've been wondering about this sort of thing ever since I started reading about this and similar cases in the US - where I live, of course a rape would be reported to the police (not "college police", as we don't have that, but rather normal police). Any university disciplinary measures would follow far after that, and reporting a crime to the university rather than police would not occur to me.
ETA: That's not to say colleges here don't and didn't try to keep sexual harassment hidden. I know about a few cases of professors sexually harassing students, and it's not supposed to be hidden, but when in doubt higher authority tries to find a way to make out things were totally consensual and so on. They'd probably draw the line at covering violent rape, but "flirting" or "jokes"... they like to point out that all are adults and ignore the power difference there.Of course the university culture here is totally different in any case and, I think, a lot less
( ... )
ikr! i knew society was bad but i had no idea university/frats were so bad. :( i subscribed to RS after reading the article cause i felt like its very important reporting and well done
I honestly don't understand why fraternities exist anymore. Networking? Isn't it better to have a network not made of that guy who held your head out of the toilet when you were horking up a pitcher of cheap beer or the guy who made you wear bedsheets and paddled your ass just for the privilege of calling him a friend?
...and yeah, I think frats encourage this kind of behavior even IF not explicitly.
I wonder that, too. For us, the frats are nothing but trouble. Drinking, fights, shady shit, and even more shady shit.
But let's be honest, the REAL reason they remain is all about $$$$. They bring in money, and they bring in the support of alumni and the families of the members.
The President's letter really does sound sincere and heartfelt. But as I read the article (I'm a little over halfway through as of this moment), it gets harder and harder to believe she REALLY had no idea at all that this shit was going on. She HAD to know something; if nothing else, EVERYONE on that campus had to have been aware of that fucking RAPE song that's quoted at intervals all through the article (since it's supposedly such an "integral part" of UVA culture). Maybe she didn't know because she didn't want to know. You know?
Having said that, though, I do think that seeing it all laid out so starkly in this article in a major publication for the whole world to see may have forced her to open her eyes, take off the rose-colored glasses of denial she's been wearing, and SEE things as they really are for once. Here's hoping she doesn't put those glasses back on, EVER.
Personally, I don't give a rat's ass for "sincere and heartfelt". What matters is behavior. It sounds like Rolling Stone has shone enough light on this that it will be very hard to sweep it back under the rug. If the administration is sincere and heartfelt about starting to reform their institution, so much the better. If they do it out of cowardice, so what? The point is getting it done.
Yes, behavior is the most important thing. No question. I guess my fear is that if the isn't some genuine sincerity behind the behavior, any changes may be only superficial and short-lived.
Right now, there's enough attention on this that there's no way the UVA Administration can ignore it. But that attention isn't going to last forever, and unless there's a genuine realization that things have gone horribly wrong, together with a genuine commitment to making some sweeping and fundamental changes, my hopes for truly lasting improvements aren't very high. For those reasons, I really hope the sentiments expressed in that letter weren't just window-dressing.
idk to me it sounds just like pandering PR BS she only suspended them for six weeks, during xmas vacation. IMO at the very least they should have been suspended for the year. its a serious issue, idk what 6 weeks is supposed to do/mean to anyone
Comments 18
Reply
I hope all the coverup monsters are held to account for their transgressions, and that this will turn out to be the kind of watershed moment that lead to some lasting and badly needed change.
Sometimes you have to shake things up before you can begin to fix things up. I hope this is the kind of shakeup that ends with a lot of things finally getting fixed.
[Sorry for all the edits. I can't seem to write coherent sentences on the first try tonight!]
Reply
I hope so, too. That kind of attitude has no place here, and our community will only benefit from those responsible being made to answer for their actions. I sincerely hope this brings strong change, both in terms of policies and attitudes within the college culture. I personally think since our department does exist, using some BS disciplinary council within the school for crimes is insane. You've got your own police department, UVA! Sexual Assaults and Misconduct should come to us, not to some secretive council.
Reply
I've been wondering about this sort of thing ever since I started reading about this and similar cases in the US - where I live, of course a rape would be reported to the police (not "college police", as we don't have that, but rather normal police). Any university disciplinary measures would follow far after that, and reporting a crime to the university rather than police would not occur to me.
ETA: That's not to say colleges here don't and didn't try to keep sexual harassment hidden. I know about a few cases of professors sexually harassing students, and it's not supposed to be hidden, but when in doubt higher authority tries to find a way to make out things were totally consensual and so on. They'd probably draw the line at covering violent rape, but "flirting" or "jokes"... they like to point out that all are adults and ignore the power difference there.Of course the university culture here is totally different in any case and, I think, a lot less ( ... )
Reply
Reply
Reply
...and yeah, I think frats encourage this kind of behavior even IF not explicitly.
Reply
But let's be honest, the REAL reason they remain is all about $$$$. They bring in money, and they bring in the support of alumni and the families of the members.
Reply
Having said that, though, I do think that seeing it all laid out so starkly in this article in a major publication for the whole world to see may have forced her to open her eyes, take off the rose-colored glasses of denial she's been wearing, and SEE things as they really are for once. Here's hoping she doesn't put those glasses back on, EVER.
Reply
If the administration is sincere and heartfelt about starting to reform their institution, so much the better. If they do it out of cowardice, so what? The point is getting it done.
Reply
Right now, there's enough attention on this that there's no way the UVA Administration can ignore it. But that attention isn't going to last forever, and unless there's a genuine realization that things have gone horribly wrong, together with a genuine commitment to making some sweeping and fundamental changes, my hopes for truly lasting improvements aren't very high. For those reasons, I really hope the sentiments expressed in that letter weren't just window-dressing.
Reply
Reply
Dear Members of the University Community ( ... )
Reply
Leave a comment