OT: Meghan Gardler - #MeToo

[Charliebball]

outsider pounce cause it's a rivalry and it's no holds barred... some are wicked

just incredible that anybody could compare Baylor to UConn at this point in the discussion........

 

[bags27]

More to the matter at hand, The twitter post reflects an issue with victims of sexual assault that is pervasive in society, not just at college campuses (although we all like to think that colleges are better and safer places than the world at large. In my opinion and from my experience that is not the case). Ask any woman who has been interviewed by law enforcement after reporting a sexual assault and I think they will tell you that it felt like the "powers that be" were treating them as if they themselves were responsible for what happened to them. This isn't right by any stretch of the imagination, but it is the reality for many. Hopefully things are changing, but it won't be all rainbows and unicorns over night. Interactions between the sexes are, and have always been, fraught with roiling emotional undercurrents, misconceptions and misperceptions.

Colleges and Universities are businesses. Ultimately they exist to perpetuate themselves. Their image and reputation are paramount in the quest for students and the money they bring in. As such, the first instinct of the institution and those who are responsible for maintaining the image is to push unpleasant occurrences that don't fit the image under the rug to hide it. Inevitably it backfires. This has happened at many institutions of higher learning and it will continue to happen. Some places have a bigger problem than others. Some have been more forthright in trying to fix things than others, but it is a pervasive issue that is not going to go away tomorrow. No one should be shocked that this happened at UConn or at any other college/university, at least in my opinion. It would be nice if this were not the case. Hopefully in time we get to a point where such news truly is shocking.

Colleges and Universities are large and powerful in relation to a student and the student's family. They have legal and investigative resources not available to you or me. Is it any wonder that it is hard for these kids to push forward when the first thing they encounter from the administration/campus security apparatus when they report a sexual assault are questions like "Are you sure this is really what happened?" or "Did you clearly say no?" "Had you been drinking?" "Did you do anything to lead the person who assaulted you on?"

These are all parts of the whole that need to be understood when you talk about sexual assault, reporting the same, and why people struggle with their experiences for years before they feel ready to talk about it, if they ever get to that point.

You're absolutely correct in your characterization of universities, Ozimoto. At the same time, there is an entirely different and equally valid characterization of a university: an institution so large and complex and consisting of so many different interests and moving parts that very often one part doesn't have the vaguest notion of what another part is doing. It just takes one cop (and a female cop at that!) who believes that young, pretty entitled undergraduates who wear short skirts "have it coming," and maybe her sergeant hears it or maybe not, but if s/he does, s/he just sweeps it under the rug. It almost never rises to the level that someone who has responsibility and oversight and caring can respond....that is, until it's too late and is on twitter or TV, etc. And at that point, there sits around a table a bunch of administrators who might mean well but are themselves motivated by vastly different interests (including the administrator who, for personal or ambitious reasons, sort of hopes that the president messes up).

In other words, universities, at the best of times, project overarching purpose. But in the day-to-day they sort of run themselves in a deeply, deeply decentralized way, and the university president who spends all day pleading with the legislature for urgently needed funds goes to sleep every night, hoping she won't be wakened at 3:00 am by a phone call from the police or suicide prevention.

 

[Charliebball]

According to Meghan she's done talking...........I'm glad that this subject was raised, it's always good to stay focused on these important issues but that said I see no reason to continue down this road unless she decides to say more..............

 

[JS]

According to Meghan she's done talking......I'm glad that this subject was raised, it's always good to stay focused on these important issues but that said I see no reason to continue down this road unless she decides to say more....

Agreed. Anything more would be speculation that, taking her at her word, won't be resolved.

On to the season . . .