Rapes hushed up by administration at Amherst

SwatGrad · November 24, 2012, 4:57pm

I have not read all the posts, but has anyone tried to explain why an elite school like Amherst seems to be having a such problem with rape and other forms of sexual abuse? Why did the school work so hard to sweep the problem under the rug? (Similarly, why did Horace Mann work so hard to quiet the very serious issue of sexual abuse of male students by male teachers). Is there something about the school’s culture? The type of male students it attracts?

Can parallels be drawn between Amherst and Horace Mann? Both formerly all male schools. Both preparing students to be “leaders” one day. Is there an attitude of entitlement that permeates both places? How is this transmitted by faculty and administration to the students? At Swarthmore, we were told we were the best and the brightest, but not in an entitled way. Contrarily, we were expected to give back to society because of the gifts and privileges we were afforded. Does such an atmosphere of giving back existing at Amherst, or does giving back mean working on Wall Street then contributing large sums to the Annual Fund and Capital Campaigns?

I think there must be something “special” about Amherst because one doesn’t see this problem to this degree at other similarly situated liberal arts colleges.

GA2012MOM · November 24, 2012, 10:03pm

Swatgrad, you are making broad assumptions. Amherst students are taught and expected to give back to society in a meaningful way, the same as you say you are at Swathmore. For you to assume that Amherst students are entitled Wall Street wannabees and misogynists is completely unfounded. If you choose to buy into the hype that Amherst has any more or different problems than other schools, well then I have to assume that Swathmore didn’t teach you much. How’s that for assumptions? Let’s take it a step further, let’s say there is NO sexual assault at Swathmore, yep, thats true. Probably none at HYPMS, Slippery Rock or Ball State. I seriously don’t know what you or anybody else that comments think, is every other campus pure and safe? Of course not, but what I do know is that Amherst is addressing the problem in a vigorous manner. Just because a victims story of sexual assualt wasn’t in your schools newsletter doesn’t mean it didn’t happen there. I can 100% assure you it did. And yes, there is something “special” going on at Amherst, just not what you think.

End rant.

SwatGrad · November 25, 2012, 12:36pm

GA2012MOM – not making assumptions, just asking questions. Horace Mann has serious problem with male teachers abusing students, while Fieldston and Riverdale and Dalton don’t. Amherst has a rape culture, not demonstrated at Swarthmore, Williams, Pomona, etc. Asking why do these differences exist is not making assumptions, just posing questions for inquiry. Though you may want to lump Amherst with every other college in America, saying it’s so doesn’t make it so. There is likely something institutionally defective about Amherst that needs discovering and eradicating. It’s not a sign of weakness but of strength if Amherst confesses to its sins and then tries to prevent them from occurring again. But the first state of that healing process is acceptance and unfortunately you seem to be stuck in a state of denial. That is understandable, but nothing will change until acceptance occurs. It’s not all about the US News ranking in the end, but about whether an environment exists about which all members of the community can be proud, just not the dominant culture which contributed to the problem in the first place.

GarnetTide · November 25, 2012, 1:51pm

SwatGrad. You may want to read the article in The Phoenix (swat paper) before casting such generalizations at Amherst. Swat students expressed some of the exact same issues and concerns that were raised at Amherst. Hopefully others will not assume your attitudes are indicative of all swat alums.

lillypod · November 25, 2012, 2:27pm

[The</a> Phoenix | Sexual Assault On Campus: A Bigger Problem Than It Seems](<a href=“Sexual Assault On Campus: A Bigger Problem Than It Seems - The Phoenix”>Sexual Assault On Campus: A Bigger Problem Than It Seems - The Phoenix)

mythmom · November 25, 2012, 2:52pm

As a Williams parent, I am delightedly surprised to see Williams on the side of the angels in any discussion of campus culture that includes booze, masculinity, etc.

But that is the exact reason I feel it vital to stand up for Amherst.

Our competitiveness, chauvinism, whatever should not goad us into jumping on a bandwagon that isolates Amherst.

We know what influences rape culture: alcohol, frats, and athletes.

I don’t believe Amherst has frats, so it’s the alcohol and athletes.

We won’t get rid of the former and we don’t want to get rid of the latter.

So, our solution always needs to be education. That’s what these schools are there for. If the president can create an environment of no tolerance, this will filter down to the population of the school pretty quickly.

We’re all in this together. I don’t think sexism, abuse of alcohol and abuse of women is leaving any time soon.

It’s unfortunate that the administration at Amherst responded in a non-supportive way. Perhaps I should even go beyond unfortunate all the way to shameful.

However, I think the administration is taking strong steps to redress that.

As long as our images of masculinity include control and power sexual assault will continue to be a problem as will domestic violence and a host of other maladies in terms of foreign policy.

I just don’t want Amherst singled out and villainized for widespread, negative behaviors and beliefs.

Our time is better spent combatting this beliefs by practicing understanding and compassion and standing shoulder to shoulder with Amherst.

It was really discouraging how Columbia students vilified Barnard students because Obama chose to give the commencement address at Barnard, not Columbia. The insults hurled at Barnard women were really vile; most of the them were of a sexual nature. No, that’s not sexual assault, but it does show that misogyny is alive and well in many places.

My daughter, a Barnard alum, was shaken by the vitriol in his these attacks.

GA2012MOM · November 25, 2012, 3:38pm

Thank you Mythmom for saying what I wanted to say, in a much more eloquent way.

Thanks garnet and lilypod for the links, and the confirmation that it is NOT just an Amherst problem, it is a societal problem.

SwatGrad · November 25, 2012, 7:37pm

The Swarthmore article discusses two apparently isolated incidents over a number of years and the issue of the administration’s response appears far less insensitive than that of the Amherst leadership. In fact, several people comment under the article, disputing the claims made in the article. I seem to have come away with the impression from this webiste that there is a distinct culture of rape existing at Amherst, materially distinguishable from the very serious problems at other campuses. It does no good to try to diminish the problems at Amherst by saying it “happens everywhere” because that does not seem to be the case; unfortunately a situation has been allowed to fester at Amherst for quite some time; the damage is only now being addressed and many have suffered for the delay which seems rooted in a culture of entitlement and secrecy, much like as what happened at Horace Mann.

pollyocheese · November 25, 2012, 11:44pm

Dude, stop trolling the Amherst forum. Your assertion that “there is a distinct culture of rape existing at Amherst” is, quite frankly, unfounded.

SwatGrad · November 26, 2012, 12:31am

if there’s no culture of rape at Amherst, then why the threads and all the postings here? Does anyone here recall the reports of the misogynistic, hateful t-shirts worn by male students there? Did I invent that too? The sexual assaults, administrative indifference/insensitivity and trumpeting of toxic heteronormative attitudes do not exist in a vacuum, but are rather tacitly encouraged by an environment and dominant culture that has likely not adapted to the norms of this century, but are rather stuck in a Mitt Romney like view of the proper power relations between men and women. There is no other way to explain the events reported in the national media such as The New York Times.

pollyocheese, your denials smack of a lack of acceptance of a pervasive problem, an unfortunate attitude which if existing in more powerful places, such at the Amherst Board, for example, will only delay the solution to this unfortunate problem at a reputedly fine institution of higher learning.

If I were associated with Amherst in any way, which I am not, I would rightly be embarrassed and mortified by the stain which is now spreading over Amherst’s reputation in the academic and prospective student community. I’m sorry those vested as stakeholders in Amherst are suffering now, but this pain was self-inflicted, by all accounts.

water13 · November 26, 2012, 10:20am

@Mythmom-
1)Amherst does have off campus fraternities that are not regulated by the college since fraternities were banned there in the 1980’s.
2)As a parent of a collegiate athlete, your broad generalization regarding athletes is offensive as well as not supported by facts. Had you substituted any other campus group (you choose the group) there you would be vilified by many.
3)As a lawyer:
a) the legal issues here are complex and the college’s responses are taking that into account- for example, privacy laws, HIPA, Title IX
b) the statement with the author named Angie Epifano is just that a statement. Our country’s laws still operate under the aegis of “innocent until proven guilty” Various persons have already pointed out factual errors in the statement. Additionally, the author confirms the author’s own mental state raising additional questions.

4) SwatGrad, just because Amherst is openly engaging in these conversions does not mean other schools are not experiencing the same things (by the way have you read Triggered by Fletcher Worttman, also a Swat alum? Not a pleasant picture of the Swat social scene and also an account by a person self identifiying with a mental illness, so I take it with many grains of salt and recognize it as one person’s experience of Swarthmore which most probably is the exception rather than the rule
[Swarthmore</a> College :: Religion :: “Triggered” A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Fletcher Wortmann '09](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/academics/religion/studentalumni-spotlights/fletcher-wortmann-triggered.xml]Swarthmore”>http://www.swarthmore.edu/academics/religion/studentalumni-spotlights/fletcher-wortmann-triggered.xml) ).
5)Keep an eye on this case moving through the federal court system. It should have a good chance of overturning the recent federal regulations regarding Title IX compliance on college campuses which many believe are discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional [Holy</a> Cross expulsion challenged - Worcester Telegram & Gazette - telegram.com](<a href=“http://www.telegram.com/article/20111127/NEWS/111279830/1101]Holy”>http://www.telegram.com/article/20111127/NEWS/111279830/1101)
Note that alcohol is a factor in this case, as it is in over 80% of campus sexual harassment reports.
After much observation of college campuses and students, many students arrive on campus without the life skill set to operate independently and, fueled by alcohol, engage in the hook up culture in an effort to fit in. Parents need to be as concerned with life skills as grades and extracurricular activities.

circuitrider · November 26, 2012, 2:14pm

I think the NYTimes put it best in the original article on Ms. Epifano’s “statement”:

<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/education/amherst-account-of-rape-brings-tension-to-forefront.html?[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/education/amherst-account-of-rape-brings-tension-to-forefront.html?</a>

I think the reporter was comparing Wesleyan, which had been mentioned earlier in the article, to Amherst, but the comparison could be just as aptly made between Swarthmore and Amherst.

SwatGrad · November 26, 2012, 2:31pm

I would argue that Swarthmore is elite and supportive of women’s rights (always co-ed, one of the first colleges in the country to be so) and that Amherst would be seen more as having a culture of entitlement, especially given its all-male history, see also, e.g., Dartmouth. There is just no way Swarthmore men would wear those t-shirts worn by the Amherst dudes. Would. Never. Happen.

mythmom · November 26, 2012, 2:49pm

I’m sorry, but studies do show the relationship of these things to sexual assault. If my son were an athlete or frat member I would not deny these relationships, and we lived through many threads about the drinking culture at Williams. Much as we love Williams, if its true, it’s true.

It was not my idea that these factors are related to sexual assault. I would have no idea. But I have been involved both as a college faculty member working on this and working at a rape crisis center.

I don’t think this means the majority of athletes or feat members, nor do I think it impacts Amherst specifically.

Swat grad: I remember the rush to judgment on Duke. Why isolate schools? I very much doubt Amherst fosters a rape culture, nor do I think fears or teams do.

The fact that these incidents seem more prevalent at Amherst may or may not be statistical anomalies.

I’m sorry I offended, but the literature does show these relationships.

FWIW: I think some recent political talking points devalued women.

Swat does have an amazing record on women’s issues and on difference in general. It gave us Alice Paul, and we’re grateful. That doesn’t give it a platform to take pot shots at everyone else.

SwatGrad · November 26, 2012, 4:13pm

I doubt Amherst fosters its rape culture consciously – there are probably no smoking guns to be found. But it obviously tolerates a culture where male students feel comfortable designing and wearing heinously misogynistic, degrading apparel. As I said in an earlier post, such behavior does not occur in a vacuum, nor would it possibly occur at other similarly esteemed LACs. So despite all its virtues, there is something rotten at the core of Amherst and it will take more than nicely written emails or commissions or studies to have it eradicated. There must be a fundamental rethinking of the way this institution conducts business from its very mission, to faculty hiring to admissions to alcohol policy and enforcement, etc. For that to happen, there must be a true acceptance of this endemic problem; until that happens, the likelihood of progress remains low.

amfreborg · November 26, 2012, 5:34pm

BINGO Circuitrider - “Are sex crimes more surprising at a school thought of as elite and supportive of womens rights, or less surprising at the kind of place often labeled as having a culture of entitlement?”

The apologists posting here (alumni and parents) are merely reflective of the administration - more concerned with the elite reputation than acknowledging and fixing a problem. It took a public outing of this situation to get any action, and then the responses are “It’s not only OUR school.”

3togo · November 26, 2012, 5:44pm

I have no relationship to Amherst other than having toured the school and I do not believe that is what people are saying at all … in fact, they are saying the problem is bigger and fixes are needed across all colleges and that Amherst is not unique bad pocket while things are much better everywhere else.

For me personally an analogy would be the threads that show up on CC every couple years claiming Cornell (my school) is a suicide school after a cluster of suicides. In this case data clearly shows that Cornell’s suicide rate is not high and, in fact, college suicides are a HUGE issue but the issues are not Cornell specific but issues for all schools to be concerned about.

muckdogs07 · November 26, 2012, 6:35pm

I applaud the student for describing her harrowing rape and for describing the pitiful follow-up by Amherst’s administration. I also applaud Amherst’s student paper for printing it despite the clear negative publicity it would bring on the school and, unfortunately by implication, its students the vast majority of whom would never engage in or otherwise tolerate such behavior.

I find it surprising that Amherst’s president appeared to be so shocked by these turn of events (especially if lawyers in Boston had previously alerted Amherst to this issue, as the student stated). This is kind of like in Casablanca – I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here – and if the president is telling the truth paints her as out of touch. The bottom line is that, like at Penn State, it took a public humiliation from the student newspaper for the president to take at least a few concrete steps to address the issue (such as using an investigator and changing the procedure at hearings ).

But the president’s idea that what Amherst needs is a committee to study things further is laughable. This is the time in memoriam way to act like something is being done, while really not doing anything, until the heat passes over. What will a committee tell Amherst’s president that common sense would not?

One thing the committee most likely would not do is recommend a crack-down on under-age drinking. But unless colleges, including but not limited to Amherst, get alcohol under control the probabilities of sexual assaults will remain high.

Another obvious step is for Amherst to institute a policy that, with the victim’s consent, the college will report rape or sexual assaults to the police regardless of how much time has passed between the student report and the incident. If the victim does not consent, then Amherst would continue its own investigative process. In addition, Amherst should make it clear that any student found responsible for a sexual offense will be expelled from school with a permanent mark on the student’s record that will not be subject to expungement. These steps would hopefully have an in terrorem effect and at a minimum will make it clear that offenders will not be coddled.

Rapes hushed up by administration at Amherst

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