Chancellor Zeppos responds...

I have not read all the postings on this thread, so perhaps this point has already been made, and if so, I apologize in advance for being repetitious. Sexual misconduct and sexual violence continue to be way too prevalent in our society. We hear about the highly publicized cases such as the Steubenville High School Rape case, Maryville High School Rape case, University of Virginia Rape case, etc. and we hear about them because they are high school or college athletes or fraternity guys. The fact of the matter is that sexual misconduct and sexual violence occurs every day to high school and college aged women–but many of them never get reported. Unfortunately, our society tolerates a Rape Culture in which includes victim blaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, and refusing to acknowledge the harm of some forms of sexual violence. Regardless of what kind of clothes a woman is wearing or how she is walking or talking, her appearance does NOT mean that “she is asking for it”. If a women is under the influence of drugs or alcohol (whether she took them voluntarily or involuntarily), she can NOT consent to sex! If a woman says “yes” to have sex and then says “no”—no means NO! Until our society stops having the double standard of “boys will be boys” but “girls must always be a lady and the thermostat” nothing will change. College campuses now have programs called RSVP (Rape and Sexual Violence Prevention), but those programs need to be occurring before our young men and women get to college. Each and every one us that has a son or grandson needs to convey the message that “no means no” and sex should ONLY occur when there is mutual enthusiastic consent by both parties. No more “Blurred Lines”!