Everyone in Cville knows that sexual assault at UVA has been a huge problem for a very long time. Whether or not this specific instance was fabricated or not, it still desperately needed this attention.
Comments like these aren't helpful either, just like inaccuracies in the original article aren't helpful. Because, well, bullshit. All it takes is me naming one person in Cville that was shocked by the story to discredit you. And I can do that easily--I'm related to a few--and yeah, it's probably been pushing a half-century since my mom attended a frat bash, but there, I have discredited your "everyone in Cville knows". Hell, I had a conversation this weekend with a UVA grad--with a degree from there in Womens' Studies, no less--who was shocked by the story and upset that this could happen at "her UVA". And it's not like she went through school being blind to the issue of rape--she had been raped prior to coming there and that experience was what drove her to focus on Womens' Studies, so she was far more on the hyper-aware side.
And I know I have an ingrained bias when it comes to UVA so this is the only time I'll address it. I didn't go there--I was the only person in my immediate family that didn't. My parents loved it so much, they "retired" there (both worked second/third careers while there--some linked with UVA, some not). And a good number of my extended family and close friends also when there. I was there for every home football game for two years and attended many parties at frat houses. I also spent ~1 weekend a month there my junior/senior years in college. And attended many events/parties. I never once felt uncomfortable or unsafe, I can't say that about the school I actually attended or others I've visited. Maybe I was just extremely lucky. I know many women that attended UVA, across many generations. I knew several of them were raped--but not one of the them was raped while at UVA. Again, maybe they were just extremely lucky, but I somehow doubt it. Not saying I've never heard of rapes happening--because I have--just not involving someone I personally knew.
I'm not trying to claim it isn't a problem at UVA. But acting like UVA is worse than other schools, or that you can't walk a block down Rugby Road without getting attacked, isn't going to help convince people it's a problem that needs to be addressed. It's actually going to make the people that need to listen tune out.
UVA is a great school; I didn't say it wasn't. I would be happy to send my daughters there, and I am immensely grateful for the medical center affiliated with it. But this IS a problem and HAS been a problem. EVen before the RS article came out and everyone was applauding Tim Longo for his handling of the Hannah Graham case, I read many comments criticizing him for his sweeping university-related sexual assaults under the rug.
I am not claiming that this situation should entirely discredit UVA; that would ridiculous. But to suggest that it hasn't been an issue is also ridiculous. As far as it being a bigger problem than other schools? I don't know. I do know that UVA has an insane amount of money attached to it, and as we all know, money talks. Or silences, as the case may be. However, it is my hope that other schools are paying close attention to what we as a community and a university - and I am personally affiliated with it - are experiencing and will use that to better similar problems on their own campuses.
ETA: I'm sorry, I just had to add: anyone who is truly "shocked" that this is going on is either in denial or deliberately obtuse, because to believe that this isn't a problem on every major campus in America, you'd have to be living in a bubble.
I found this because I had read on UVA's newspaper page that there are some smaller rushes in the fall, and this article corroborates it: The school’s fraternity rush period for undergraduates occurs in the spring semester while transfers and second- and third-year students can rush during the fall.
The school’s fraternity rush period for undergraduates occurs in the spring semester while transfers and second- and third-year students can rush during the fall.
I was wondering about this. My school did a spring rush for freshmen too (or anyone but mostly freshmen) and it was the main one, but there was still a rush in the fall for upperclassmen. I've never heard of a college having 1 rush per year, but I guess it's possible.
There are a lot of things about this story and its criticism that make me very uncomfortable. I certainly want to give the victim here the benefit of the doubt because I cannot imagine how horrifying it would be to endure a gang rape. That said, I find it really problematic that "everyone knows" who the alleged rapists are (and as sunny just showed, it's easy enough to find out names of that year's pledge class via a simple Google search), but the author of the Rolling Stone article has been evasive about whether she ever attempted to contact them. It's not like these are anonymous, unknowable people like the woman in the Shia LeBouef story. It's not immaterial if "Jackie's" specific story is untrue when the article is effectively naming the alleged perpetrators. If the article is completely true then they deserve to be publicly outed so they can rot in the hell of public opinion (and jail), but if it isn't those men are going to suffer for a crime they didn't commit and had no way of refuting in the original article.
That said, I'm not happy that all of the media criticism I've read about this story have been written by men, and that most of it (particularly the story in the OP) has contained dismissive comments about rape culture, the existence of gang rape at a place like UVA, etc... Has anyone seen any thoughtful, articulate female media critics weigh in?
Most importantly, my biggest problem with the article is that the portion that should alarm everyone, that UVA (and many other universities) completely mishandles reports of rape, is indisputable and (moreover) fixable. This part of the article is sadly getting buried in the discourse over the problematic reporting of the specific assault.
This is the first I have read of this story so I have no comments as to its veracity or it's author's journalistic abilities or lack thereof, but this author pretty much lost me right away with his belief that gang rapes are limited to war torn countries (wtf?) and when, after reiterating Jackie's claims that one in three UVA women is raped, he writes "this is silly." Um fuck you dude. What she says may be unsubstantiated, it may even be untrue but a woman's claims about rape are not and will never be silly. Especially bc his lack of facts match hers.
I do have to disagree though with those who think the truth is not what is important here. I get what you are trying to do there...even if this one story is false, there are other stories, other women, that have been silenced. I understand, but at the same time you know there will be an investigation into the specifics of THIS story before there is any deeper investigation of the rape culture that exists on the UVA and other campuses. And if for some reason it was found to be fabricated it has implications (bad ones) for every other woman who comes out with her own experience, for every other article that is published about rape,rape culture and college campuses. I don't think anyone should ever dismiss truth just for the benefit of the greater good.
The first time I read the "is this story fake?" article was yesterday's NY Post and it made me sick. Remember the intellectually disabled girl who was gang raped in New Jersey in the 1990's? Those boys weren't even drinking. It certaintly COULD have happened. I admit the above article is more persuasive and it bothers me that there are unanswered questions about the writer verifying accounts. BUT you know who was named? The UVA administrator who handles rape cases. AFAIK she has not disputed the account. Colleges like UVA should not handle sexual assault cases internally. That's the most important take away for me. If the actual gang rape occurred I hope it is investigated and the assailants imprisoned.
ETA: I'm sorry, I just had to add: anyone who is truly "shocked" that this is going on is either in denial or deliberately obtuse, because to believe that this isn't a problem on every major campus in America, you'd have to be living in a bubble.
Frankly, if the full "Jackie" story *is* a well-known problem on every major campus in America, then I *am* living in a bubble. Sexual assault, sure, but this? Systematic, pre-planned gang-rape happening as a standard part of a pledge process, with not a single boy balking or reporting others (or stopping and thinking--um, nope, not gonna risk cutting *my* pecker in all that glass on the floor), "everybody" knowing it happens/happened and who did it and not one person reporting it to the police, the friends shitty advice/"support", the administrations/police depts all handling the way it is claimed in this article with this story--and this being common enough to be an ongoing problem at every major campus?
Yeah, I've got three responses once I get over my true shock: 1) I've never been happier, more confident with my child-free life decision, 2) all my nieces, god-daughters--hell, every female I know--is getting a box of Rape-aXe's in the mail from me asap, and 3) I quit. I just fucking quit this world.
I guess for me the larger issue that needs to be addressed is how universities handle sexual assault allegations. I hope this article shines a spotlight on that for longer than a few weeks. My alma mater was recently in the news for inappropriate handling of reported sexual assault. It was a big scandal we were all up in arms about and then it faded away. For every story that makes it into the media like this, there are probably many that do not - both those "handled" by the university and those that just went completely unreported, even to the university, likely due to the knowledge that often the victims are hurt worse by reporting the incident than the attackers (that is what happened at my school). Until the response of universities is confronted and changed, not just in the cases that make national news, but in ALL cases, I don't know if we will see change in rape culture at universities.