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(10/10/13 2:14am)
Sexual misconduct on college campuses has garnered much recent national attention. This is especially true since the April 2011 release of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) document — the Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) — setting out expectations regarding institutional response to sexual misconduct. It has caused every institution to reevaluate policies and procedures. U.Va. was in the middle of a comprehensive policy review when the DCL came out, and we incorporated its guidance into our revised policy issued in summer 2011. While one could write a piece on the impact of the DCL on higher education, my hope in writing today is to demystify what happens on Grounds when a case of sexual misconduct is reported to the Office of the Dean of Students (ODOS).
(10/10/13 2:07am)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the question, “If we can expel people for cheating on a test, why can’t we expel someone for rape?” As someone who has worked on sexual assault prevention and adjudication during her time at U.Va. and as a survivor myself, I feel the deep frustration the apparent paradox generates. And yet, I’ve come to understand that the seemingly obvious answer—expel them, duh—is constrained by a whole host of federal legislation and precedent. It’s not about U.Va. It’s about our national system. Many of us live in the glorified legal fiction of “Law & Order: SVU.” The realities are far more complex, and sadly, far more bleak. I want to take this opportunity to clarify the frustration with a cursory legal overview of the problems institutions like U.Va. face when confronting the conflict between Title IX and due process.
(10/09/13 2:07am)
A jury found 21-year-old Charlottesville resident Manneh Vay guilty Friday of the rape of a 17-year-old female University student. The jury recommended 30 years in prison for Vay, who was also found guilty of abduction and forcible sodomy, according to a Charlottesville Police Department press release.
(10/01/13 1:56am)
Last November, Student Council’s Committee for Safety and Wellness held a forum for all then-active student CIOs with a health- or safety-related mission. Representatives from each organization gave a brief presentation about their purpose and goals followed by a series of small-group discussions. CIOs in attendance included One In Four, the all-male sexual assault peer education group, and Active Minds, the University’s primary organization dedicated to mental health issues. As a moderator for one of these small groups, it struck me that each CIO seemed to have one of two chief complaints: 1) the group had the right facts, data and pamphlets but lacked strategies at encouraging students to pay attention to their information; 2) the CIO had decent student exposure but felt it was not providing students with enough helpful information.
(09/17/13 1:17am)
Ken Cuccinelli has recently defended himself in his gubernatorial campaign against accusations that his positions are anti-woman by pointing to his involvement in starting the group Sexual Assault Facts and Education (SAFE) on Grounds at the University of Virginia while he was a student. As vice president of One Less, an organization that the University created last year through the union of SAFE and Sexual Assault Peer Advocacy (SAPA), I feel that his involvement in sexual assault prevention during his time at the University only makes his poor track record on women’s issues as a state senator, attorney general, and a gubernatorial candidate even more egregious.
(08/26/13 9:52pm)
Each fall, University students are reminded of the spirited extracurricular involvement which defines life on Grounds — and the tendency for many engaging groups to be pushed out of the spotlight. While Honor, StudCo and Madison House garner the majority of attention because of their visibility and strong ties to University ideology, U.Va. boasts an impressive 675 Contracted Independent Organizations, many of which can be easily overlooked. We take a look at eight of the most interesting groups you may never have considered.
(04/26/13 1:17am)
The past 365 days have been quite a ride for the University. With a summer that will go down in history as one the University’s defining moments, a few tear-jerking tragedies and some unbelievable and unthinkable occurrences, there was rarely a dull moment in the past year. Although we could undoubtedly publish several books with all the material we have — indeed, we’ve already published more than 100 newspapers — we will try to sum it up in fewer than 1,000 words.
(04/24/13 3:07am)
Dear President Sullivan,
(04/22/13 9:33pm)
The University Judiciary Committee announced its Issues, Marketing and Sexual Misconduct subcommittee chairs Sunday evening.
(04/16/13 10:00pm)
At 2:44 p.m. Monday, Deadspin tweeted out a headline to a story that read: “How an Achilles Tear Affects NBA Players (or why Kobe Bryant is screwed).” The tweet demonstrated a willing conformity to the parameters of the sports world, in which wins are triumphs, losses are tragedies and hard work, resilience and selflessness are the three pillars of excellence. In that context, in which we constantly evaluate and reevaluate legacies by wins and losses, Kobe Bryant’s season-ending Achilles tear after several months of Herculean performances indeed qualifies as something of a disaster.
(04/15/13 6:48pm)
At the moment I’m writing this — Sunday, April 14 at 3:22 p.m. — we have exactly 12 days of classes left. By the time this column prints, we will be well on our way to a mere 10. Looking back on this time last year, as we packed up brown boxes full of clothes, threw out nine months worth of trash and headed off to the sometimes-horrifying Myrtle Beach to toast to the school year’s end, I think it’s safe to say we had no idea what we were in for the next fall.
(04/12/13 2:22am)
Humility, forgiveness and catharsis created a somber experience in the amphitheater Thursday night, as survivors and supporters gathered in a vigil to cap off this year’s Take Back the Night campaign, a weeklong effort to eliminate sexual violence in the University community.
(04/11/13 5:52am)
One in four college women have been sexually assaulted or have experienced attempted rape, according to a 2010 Department of Justice study. Women between the ages of 16 and 24 will experience sexual violence at a rate that is four times higher than the rate for all women. And approximately 32 percent of college students are victims of dating violence.
(04/10/13 3:09am)
In an effort to raise awareness about University policies for taking sexual offense charges to trial, the Sexual Misconduct Board presented a mock trial Tuesday. The trial was part of a weeklong sexual assault advocacy program, Take Back the Night, which began Monday.
(04/10/13 2:30am)
On Sunday, several hours before fraternities were required to initiate all pledges, the Inter-Fraternity Council hosted its second annual MadBowl Madness philanthropy event.
(04/09/13 12:40am)
As last semester wound to a close, University students woke one Saturday to find seven black banners hanging prominently around Grounds. “No man is an island, Entire of itself,” they began, summoning the famous words of the poet John Donne. The Seven Society hung the banners in light of a series of tragic events during the fall 2012 semester, including the death of a student, several sexual assaults and an alleged hate crime. The words invoke the principles of our honor-inspired, student-maintained “community of trust.”
(04/02/13 3:19am)
Writing a science article is a bit like coaxing a 5-year-old into eating foie gras. Upon seeing the plate, the kid will become suspicious. He will complain about the color, poke the spongy texture and make a few skeptical faces. He must be spoon-fed the first couple of bites. If he likes it, you’re lucky. More often, you simply realize a 5-year-old won’t eat foie gras and maybe jumping straight from chicken nuggets to duck livers wasn’t the best idea.
(04/02/13 2:07am)
The national press surged on Steubenville, Ohio in March, as two high school football players — aged 16 and 17 — were convicted of raping a 16-year-old classmate while she was too intoxicated to give consent. The nationwide conversations about rape culture, prevention and policy that the trial prompted remain particularly relevant on college campuses across the country.
(03/27/13 1:27am)
The topic of rape and sexual assault is not easy to bring up or discuss, but here at the University, broaching tricky topics is somewhat routine. Rape discussion has dominated the media recently because of the conviction of the perpetrators of the Steubenville, Ohio case as well as a similar case emerging in Torrington, Conn. Most of us have friends on Facebook reading and posting about these specific cases or just the topic of sexual assault. Pundits have taken on the issue: celebrating the verdict in Ohio, calling for better treatment of the victim by educational and legal systems and, in some instances, criticizing the “be careful” message that arises around rape and sexual assault cases. It is the criticism of the “be careful” message that concerns me.
(03/27/13 1:15am)
A University lab headed by Chemistry Prof. James Landers is working with forensics labs to develop a more efficient process of separating sperm cells from epithelial cells, which would have an important impact on sexual assault cases.
