<p>mini, I hear and appreciate what you’re saying. I do think, however, that administrators and college presidents are in a tight situation when a rape is reported. From what I know, rape is traditionally dealt with by police; college administrators have not generally been effective at doling out punishment to perpetrators. Of course, we want justice to be served, and of course, rapists should be punished severely. On the other hand, setting up the system so that administrators are predisposed to punishing accused rapists could very well result in people being punished undeservedly. As I see it, the focus at Amherst now is preventing rape and taking steps to initiate cultural change (specifically increasing awareness of rape and increasing respect for women), rather than punish. Which is not to say that administrators have not considered pursuing the latter as a main strategy, but I personally feel that the former is both more effective and more aligned with the goal of maintaining a strong community. In addition, as I’d mentioned earlier and as numerous other people have caught onto, determining guilt is a process that is difficult to carry out.</p>
<p>All this to say that I feel that administrators at Amherst are committed to investigating reports to the best of their ability. Their handling of the Angie Epifano case was terrible. The story really impacted me, as a female, and made me question the administration’s humanity, but I’ve come to empathize with administrators, too - And I don’t think that empathy for victims and empathy for administrators are mutually exclusive. We need both in large doses to move forward.</p>