<p>Read the article about it in the Daily Gazette. There’s quite a lot of drama on campus. Just in time for Ride the Tide. </p>
<p>[Op-Ed:</a> Vote Yes on the Greek Life Referendum | Daily Gazette](<a href=“daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed”>daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed)</p>
<p>Any idea when we might see the results?</p>
<p>I have no prediction. I’m very involved in the Vote YES campaign so I have a very skewed perception of how campus feels in general. We’ll find out Wednesday.</p>
<p>Thank you, I´ll be waiting.</p>
<p>However, there were so many votes at the stroke of midnight (the vote is online) that it crashed the server. Guess it’s a hot-button issue.</p>
<p>Anyone who’s been on campus this year knows - not guesses - that “hot-button issue” is putting it nicely. </p>
<p>It’s unfortunate and un-Swarthmore-like how ugly much of the discourse has been.</p>
<p>It’s been interesting following this as well as the Zoellick issue.</p>
<p>Unfortunately these hotly contested debates aren’t good for the community as a whole (in my opinion). Though open discourse should be commended and welcomed, many debates have turned hostile and frankly, Swat isn’t as open of a place as I had first expected. It’s hard to maintain conservative views without being looked down on and it’s very hard to be happy in the current social climate. To be honest, it’s driving students away, including myself.</p>
<p>I’ll tell you the rape culture is driving me away. I love Swarthmore but the administrative cover up of sexual assault on our campus caused me to put out two transfer applications to Smith and Wellesley. </p>
<p>Want to know something interesting (rhetorical question)?</p>
<p>Swarthmore was in violation of the Clery Act for many years by not having a blotter on campus with all of the reported crimes. This year is the first year Swat has had one. Magically, the sexual assault rate has gone up 6 fold (and the year isn’t even over). </p>
<p>I think that evidence speaks for itself.</p>
<p>hopebrinn13, there may be problems, and working to bring information out into the open is important. Things can always be improved. But it is not true that Swarthmore has a “rape culture.”</p>
<p>Now Zoellick has withdrawn from the commencement program. This is a shame, a little crazy, and out of balance. Mr. Zoellick sited a desire not to disrupt the commencement which belongs to the graduates. But what about the group of Swarthmore graduates who wanted him there and now cannot hear him speak? Aren’t they disrupted? He’s a brilliant public servant and Swarthmore students ought to be proud of him.</p>
<p>[President</a> Rebecca Chopp Announces Change to College’s 2013 Commencement Ceremony :: News & Events :: Swarthmore College](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/news-and-events/president-chopp-announces-changes-to-colleges-2013-commencement-ceremony.xml]President”>President Rebecca Chopp Announces Change to College's 2013 Commencement Ceremony :: News & Events :: Swarthmore College)</p>
<p>Harriet: In what way isn’t it true? When administrators have refused to file official reports on instances of rape when they’re legally obligated to, that is rape culture. </p>
<p>Rape culture is defined as: “a concept used to describe a culture in which rape and sexual violence are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media normalize, excuse, tolerate, or even condone rape.”</p>
<p>By the example I just gave, Swarthmore most certainly has a rape culture.</p>
<p>If you’re talking about facts and proof you have in hand regarding actual cases in which “administrators have refused to file official reports on instances of rape,” then I would hope you are taking responsible action to help ensure that this doesn’t happen again. Are you working with AMP-SAFER? I know that various on-campus groups have had help from them in hosting teach-ins and more, certainly in the fall of 2011, and probably subsequent to that (I just don’t know without looking it up).</p>
<p>I would hope that everybody reading this agrees that if this has happened, it is unacceptable, and that attention should be drawn to it. I believe that working to address such problems is imperative. I believe that there is much to be done at every college, including Swarthmore. </p>
<p>Still, I disagree that your “example” (and I’m just putting that in quotation marks because I’m not entirely sure what you are saying your example is) proves demonstrably that Swarthmore has a “rape culture.” You can’t meet a definition that broad - and that open to judgment - so easily. And what I mean by “open to judgment” is that your idea of “common” may not hold up against facts and figures; your idea of “prevalent attitudes” may not accurately reflect the attitudes of the population, and so on. </p>
<p>What are you basing your statement about the Clery Act on? What “number of years” are you talking about?</p>
<p>I came back hoping to edit most of that away, but I missed the time window.</p>
<p>What I wanted to edit it down to was this: While there are venues where it’s appropriate to use inflammatory language to call attention to a problem or to force open a dialogue, I don’t believe this forum, where people are coming to seek solid information about schools, is such a place. </p>
<p>I disagree strongly with your assertion. If you want to carry on a private dialogue with me about it, PM me. A really quick look at a pile of Phoenixes dating back to 2006 tells me that your Clery claim, if nothing else, is off base. But I don’t think that’s where this thread needs to go.</p>
<p>In any case, I hope that if this is a problem you truly want to address, you’ll put your time and energy into addressing it on your campus, whether you stay at Swarthmore or transfer.</p>
<p>This is information I would’ve loved to have had as a prospective student. It may have led me to select Bryn Mawr (my second choice college) over Swarthmore. </p>
<p>The Clery Act says this: “The institution’s police department or security departments are required to maintain a public log of all crimes reported to them, or those of which they are made aware. The log is required to have the most recent 60 days’ worth of information. Each entry in the log must contain the nature, date, time and general location of each crime and disposition of the complaint, if known. Information in the log older than 60 days must be made available within two business days. Crime logs must be kept for seven years, three years following the publication of the last annual security report.”</p>
<p>This was not available to the general public last year. They only ever published numbers at the end of the year that didn’t include a breakdown and brief description of each crime as specified in Clery. </p>
<p>The year-end data is right here. It even has contradictory data though which is pretty bizarre. Best case scenario, sexual assault has already doubled since last year. Worst case scenario, it went up 6 times. Here’s the link: <a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/Documents/administration/publicsafety/CleryStats2011.pdf[/url]”>http://www.swarthmore.edu/Documents/administration/publicsafety/CleryStats2011.pdf</a></p>
<p>And here is the Swatter: [Daily</a> Gazette | Archive | Blotter | 2](<a href=“daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed”>daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed)</p>
<p>Already 12 sexual assaults this year. And we’ve got a good chunk of the semester left. </p>
<p>Sure, it’s entirely possible that magically the number of sexual assaults spiked the first year they started providing the crime log. But it doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me at all. And I think the numbers speak for themselves. </p>
<p>My interpretation of what’s going on though, is that administrators have been receiving reports of sexual assault and not filing them for the purposes of Clery stats. Until this year, there was nobody who could check to make sure that their report of sexual assault was in fact filed. It could have “slipped away” and nobody would have known. Now, if I’m assaulted and tell an administrator, I can check on Tuesday to make sure that my report was included in the crime log. There’s accountability. </p>
<p>Swarthmore, like many other colleges, has demonstrated its commitment to protecting its own image at the expense of the safety and well-being of its students. It would rather actively cover up rape than address it. </p>
<p>Finally, why are you saying that my language is “inflammatory?” Because it says something you don’t like? I haven’t been rude. I have cited statistics and examples. And you have told me to stop sharing them because the information is not “solid.” </p>
<p>I am attending Swarthmore right now. And you are not. Please don’t invalidate my experiences.</p>
<p>@kaukauna: I just talked to a friend who interacted with Bob Zoellick when the latter headed the Word Bank. My friend’s parting comment said it all: “I am sorry for Bob and I am sorry for Swarthmore.” He noted that Zoellick became more moderate during his time at World Bank and developed a nuanced understanding of poverty. It is this sort of intellectual growth that would have been a great lesson to Swathmore graduates. Instead, because of a few bullies–and that is exactly what they are–this message will not be heard. I do not share Zoellick’s political affiliation, and I disagree with many of his previous positions, but he should have been welcomed back to Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Nothing in what I said was designed to “invalidate” your experience. It was intended to point out that it is that: your experience. I am not attending Swarthmore right now, but I did attend Swarthmore, and I am a parent of both a recent alum and a current student. I talk to students and alums (of my generation and more recent ones), I read campus publications (and comment threads), and I host students (other than my own children) in my home. I also talk to administrators.</p>
<p>I do not think there is an overwhelming feeling that there is a “rape culture” at Swarthmore. </p>
<p>And I didn’t choose the term “inflammatory” simply because I disagree, but because “inflammatory” is an appropriate description for language which goes beyond stating of facts into applying hot-button labels that are open to discussion. In other words, to go from “I and others see a problem” and “here are some statistics which I think support my concern” to “there is a rape culture” is inflammatory. As is your claim that the administration “would rather actively cover up rape than address it.” </p>
<p>It’s good that the blotter is now being published. It’s good that people are working to address these problems. Discourse and dialog are good, and so is access to information. </p>
<p>I would agree from a quick look that the numbers strongly suggest a problem, and warrant further study. But they don’t “speak for themselves.” Along with the discrepancies, what you’ve linked to isn’t actually tracking year to year. That doesn’t mean good data can’t be found; it just means (again) the numbers in these links don’t “speak for themselves.”</p>
<p>I think it’s far more helpful to prospective students and families to state facts and raise concerns without labels like “rape culture.”</p>
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<p>@moonman: I am sorry to hear about the hostility. There is no excuse for it. I am very much with Voltaire on this issue.</p>
<p>@coase, I agree re Zoellick (and re the hostility).</p>
<p>I don’t agree with the referendum, as a sorority woman myself I will fully admit they are not organizations without fault. However for most members they are amazing supportive sisterhood that foster lifelong friendships, provide invaluable networking, pride themselves on academic excellence, and raise massive amounts of money for philanthropic causes. </p>
<p>Yes they are single sex organizations and much like single sex schools, or the girl scouts, the junior league, the DAR, or sports teams I don’t see anything wrong with it being women only. </p>
<p>If you don’t agree don’t agree with greek life you don’t have to join, but there is no reason to dismantle it for the people who are involved and gain something worthwhile from it.</p>