RAINN — the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network — says that 1 in 6 women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. College aged women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.
For most people these are just numbers. Those things don’t happen to you. They happen to someone far away. And that one time that you were drunk and so-and-so did this and that doesn’t count; he’s a nice guy.
Elizabeth Seeberg was the one out of six who was sexually battered. She is also one of the 1,000+ college students who commit suicide on college campuses every year.
Elizabeth, a freshman at St. Mary’s College took her own life nine days after she bravely reported sexual assault at the hands of a Notre Dame football player. Notre Dame has quite possibly one of the most beloved college football teams around. Elizabeth, aware of this, was afraid of getting the athlete in trouble for fear of her own reputation. But the incident must have been scarring enough to risk her reputation and Elizabeth — rightfully so — turned to the authorities.
However, friends of Elizabeth feared retribution from damaging Notre Dame’s precious football team. One friend sent her this text: “Don’t do anything you would regret. Messing with notre dame football is a bad idea.”
Elizabeth — who reportedly suffered from depression and anxiety in the past — reported to the Notre Dame police on Sept. 1 that she was the victim of sexual battery and sexual assault by an acquaintance the night before. She did everything right as a victim of sexual abuse. She told friends and family, wrote a hand-written statement about the abuse, sought treatment, consented to a rape kit, reported this to the police, and even underwent counseling.
Notre Dame police handled the case on their own — reportedly doing very little to punish Elizabeth’s attacker — but now the St. Joseph Country Prosecutor’s Office has stepped in. They explained that they will not be prosecuting the man who sexually battered Elizabeth and led her to take her own life. They will also not be taking action upon the person who sent Elizabeth that potentially harassing text message.
Elizabeth’s parents are looking for three things from Notre Dame — none of which they have gotten: “a full and vigorous investigation surrounding the allegations; transparency of the investigative process; and an “appropriate disciplinary response” from Notre Dame. It appears Notre Dame was covering up the case.
Not until two months after the case did they say something. “We take our obligation seriously, we involve law enforcement officials as appropriate, and we act in accordance with the facts.”
There are numerous issues at hand here. Here we have a woman brave enough to report sexual abuse who gets harassed for doing so and the people she trusted to handle the problem — the police — did nothing. Notre Dame seems to be setting a precedent of protecting precious student athletes — something dangerous for other students.
The case of Elizabeth Seeberg reminds me of Yeardley Love — the UVA Lacrosse playing senior who was murdered by her on- and off-boyfriend, George Huguely another UVA Lacrosse player. At the time, the inflation of student-athlete egos (particularly within Lacrosse) and the treatment of them as demi-gods was explored as something detrimental.
What do YOU think of the way Notre Dame handled Elizabeth’s case? What issues do you see — or not see — with the way this was handled and the precedent it sets for future cases? Do you think there is a connection between Elizabeth and Yeardley? Do you think another person can even be blamed for another’s suicide? Weigh in below; I’d love to hear what you think.