An open meeting was held Sunday night to discuss issues of sexual assault and abuse.
AMHERST -- Amherst College President Carolyn “Biddy” Martin is making it clear that sexual violence and misconduct will not be tolerated on campus.
Martin wrote a letter to the college community in response to a first-person account of an alleged May, 2011 campus rape written by former student Angie Epifano that appeared in the Amherst Student Wednesday. The story also detailed Epifano's attempts to get help from the campus.
Martin called the account "horrifying."
Changes in disciplinary procedures
Martin, who became college president in the summer of 2011, wrote, "[I]n response to [Epifano's] story still more accounts of unreported sexual violence have appeared in social media postings and in emails I have received from several students and alumni."
She continued: "Clearly, the administration’s responses to reports have left survivors feeling that they were badly served. That must change, and change immediately. I am investigating the handling of the incident that was recounted in The Student. There will be consequences for any problems we identify, either with procedures or personnel."
Martin's letter outlined several changes to the school's disciplinary hearing process. The changes, approved earlier this year by the College Council and Committee of Six, are specific to sexual misconduct:
In the past, Martin said, both the person accused and the accuser had to to gather information on their own to support their case. "That was deeply problematic," she said.
Now, the campus is using a trained investigator to meet with the complainant, respondent, and relevant witnesses to gather evidence and prepare a report for distribution to the two parties and the discipline committee. "Using an investigator permits a more complete investigation and lessens the burden on the complainant and the respondent in preparing their respective cases," she wrote.
Martin, who is the first female president of the college that became co-ed in 1975, said she learned there had been problems with existing policies last year after meeting with faculty and staff about the campus.
"Quite a number of students thought the sexual assault policies were in need of improvement and change," she said.
Forum held; next steps outlined
On Sunday night, three days before the Amherst Student story appeared, Martin held an open meeting about issues related sexual assault to abuse, prompted by outcry over a cartoon printed on t-shirt distributed by a fraternity last year.
The shirt depicted a scantily clad woman being roasted on a spit over a fire. In the foreground stood an anthropomorphized pig smoking a cigar. The t-shirt's slogan read, "Roasting Fat Ones Since 1847."
Students felt the issues sparked from that cartoon were not adequately addressed and "were linking it to problems of the lack of respect for women and sexual misconduct," Martin said.
At the end of Sunday's meeting participants agreed upon a number of "action steps," including:
- Student membership on the Title IX committee.
- Enhanced communication about the changes that are in play.
- Improvements in support for survivors of sexual assault.
- A review of penalties for those found responsible for sexual misconduct and assault.
- Student representation on the Student Life working group that will be part of the College’s strategic planning effort.
- Consideration of the regulation or disbanding of off-campus fraternities as part of the longer term strategic planning discussion.
Further meetings and a teach-in are planned, and the college will bring in Gina Smith, a nationally recognized legal and policy expert, to present her observations and recommendations, according to Martin's letter.
"What's happening here is students are empowering themselves to speak out about it. We will do everything possible to educate and try and change a culture so we can be on the prevention side," she said.
"I'm an at an age of where it’s both shocking and unsurprising that in 2012 we’re still fighting battles that have been fought for a long time.” And the battle is “far from gone."
Story goes viral
Meanwhile word of the Amherst Student story has gone viral on the Internet.
A story on the t-shirt and sexual violence was reported on the Huffington Post earlier Friday.
More than a dozen pages of comments have been posted in response to Angie Epifano’s, story on the Amherst Student site.
According to the Clery Report which requires intuitions to provide a security report yearly, there were 15 forcible sex offenses reported on campus in 2011, up from 14 the year before and seven in 2009.
But those are only the reported numbers. Martin, who has been at two institutions previously, knows the problems are not unique to the campus.
Still, she is speaking out publicly to address it.
“I think acknowledging problems…one has a better chance of making this better than staying silent,” she said.