The recent arrest of a Davidson student on the charge of sexual battery has put Davidson College in an unwanted national spotlight. Sexual assault and sexual battery incidents have occurred frequently at Davidson. Evidently, there were 42 reports of rape from 2013 to 2015 (according to the Davidson College’s annual security report). This year alone, there were 12 rapes reported. As a Davidson student, the reported sexual assault wasn’t shocking news.
This incident has caused a lot of tension among the students in the Davidson community. There were students who stood on the side of the complainant (an individual who reports an experience of sexual misconduct, stalking, or relationship abuse or violence). They believed that the respondent (the student whose conduct is alleged to have violated this Policy and whose conduct is being investigated) should get suspended from the baseball team for the rest of his case. In contrast, the other group of students believed that it’s unjust for the accused to get suspended from the l team. They argued that with the presumption of innocence, the accused is innocent until proven guilty, and he shouldn’t be treated differently.
Jeneshia Washingon-Hughes ’18, one of the advocates of the petition to ask the administration to have the respondent suspended from the baseball team, explains: “We will not allow a student charged with that kind of misconduct to represent us.” In only two days, nearly 800 students signed this petition. Hughes and other students also organized a demonstration at the baseball field in demand for the administration’s action. In response, Athletic Director Jim Murphy’s email said that “We take reports of sexual assault very seriously. However, it is our policy not to discuss individual disciplinary cases, including the college’s action in response to a report of sexual misconduct.”
The response doesn’t seem to satisfy the student need nor does it improve the situation. Hughes said that “I think that this is a missed opportunity to set Davidson apart from other institutions. Sexual assault isn’t unique to our campus and with so much national outrage about the Brock Turner case, Davidson could have used this case to set a new precedent and reestablish faith in our institutions.”
There are misconceptions when it comes to the purpose of the student demonstration in demand to have the respondent suspended from the baseball team. First, the students who joined this movement and signed the petition never jumped to the conclusion that the accused is guilty. These students are still waiting on the result of the police investigation. Second, the goal of this movement is to have the respondent suspended from the baseball team or extracurricular activities for the rest of his criminal investigation. In the students’ perspectives, allowing an athlete, who is being investigated for a sexual misconduct allegation, to continue to represent the college has a negative impact on the school’s image, as well as the students.
In the past, it has not been uncommon for a college to suspend athletes from team activities in response to sexual misconduct allegations. In reference, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers has suspended ten football players from all team activities following an accusation of sexual assault by a female student (source from “Gophers football sexual assault claim, suspensions, boycott: What we know, ” Dave Orrick). According to the article, the university’s process for discipline and court’s process for criminal convictions differ. Meanwhile, the university’s act is to temporarily suspend students from school activities. Since the accusation of sexual misconduct violated the aspects of university’s student conduct code of integrity, the school’s act aims to limit the plaintiff’s present on the campus until they have the result of the police investigation.
We all have limits when it comes to the truth. The moment that you express your opinion, calling the respondent ‘innocent’, is the equivalent of the moment you doubt and question the story told by the complainant. Therefore, reserve all of your assumption and judgment when it comes to other’s suffering. For those students who fought this battle, who signed the petition, who sat on those bleachers to demand an answer from the baseball team, and who stood on the side of the sexual assault and sexual battery survivors, please remember that we fight a good fight. And, no matter what happens, we should always fight for what we believe in.
In order to prevent sexual assault and sexual misconduct from happening, the burden of effort should not be placed solely on the students. Bystander training, talking to your friends, taking care of your friends, and holding each other accountable are not enough. Telling female students to be careful at a party isn’t the answer. We should teach male students not to rape instead of teaching female students not to get raped. Teaching female students how not to get raped is indeed, reinforcing the rape culture. And, I sincerely apologize for the generalized statement above. Everyone can be a victim of rape. However, men, statistically, are more likely to rape or commit sexual crimes than female. Nearly 99% of sex offenders in single-victim incidents were male, and 6 in 10 sex offenders were white males (source: “Understanding the Perpetrator”).
The moment that the respondent of a sexual misconduct allegation is still allowed to play baseball and to represent the school, it questions the school’s seriousness regarding such misconduct. It questions the school’s priority when it comes to female students. It fuels the race question. It causes panic and distress among students where at Davidson, students are promised to have a safe and intellectual environment where they can learn to become future leaders of the world. It divides the student body when, in such difficult times, we need to unify.
According to Hughes, “The school needs to listen to us on these issues. Part of our agreement to attend this school comes with the understanding that the college will keep us safe, and we are literally telling them what they need to do to help us feel safe.”
Update: On 2/17/2016, Ward Coleman, the respondent, got suspended from the Baseball Team (whether the suspension is permanent or temporary, the school hasn’t disclosed the information with the students). Our voices have been heard. However, we aren’t stopping here. We will keep fighting until sexual assault and sexual battery incidents no longer exist in our college. And, we will make sure that justice is served for the sexual assault survivors. We will make sure that students, despite their backgrounds and privileges, are treated equally under the law and the school policy.
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