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OPINION & EDITORIAL

Incident puts UW’s dedication to safety in question

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Also by Emily Friedman:

Tenure at paper teaches, changes (May 10, 2007)
Straight or gay, hire either way (May 3, 2007)
Tragedy provides opportunity to re-evaluate nation's violent culture (April 19, 2007)
Anti-abortion methods go too far (March 29, 2007)
'Don't ask, don't tell' hypocritical (March 15, 2007)

by Emily Friedman

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Keeping secrets is a bad idea. First, facts are hardly ever worse than rumors. Second, secrets usually don't stay secrets forever.

All of this seems especially true now when it appears the Madison police have kept secrets for two months about another violent crime — an alleged rape — involving a UW student. Unless the Madison police have a good legal or investigative reason for keeping it secret, they haven't helped a situation in which many members of our community already think Madison isn't doing enough to protect us.

What we know so far leaves much to be desired. In short, the UW student — who has since dropped out of the university — claims she was sexually assaulted at a Zeta Psi fraternity party last December. According to Madison's WKOW-TV report, the woman said she brought her own liquor and mixers to the party but woke the next day feeling "ill" and claimed "her memory of the party was largely blurred." The same report says a medical examination backed up her claims of sexual assault.

The most obvious question to ask in light of the recent news is how exactly UW administrators were unaware of the alleged incident. The fact that UW administrators were blind to the alleged incident until they saw it on the evening news Tuesday night is extremely troubling, not to mention embarrassing. Interim Associate Dean of Students Elton Crim even admitted to The Badger Herald yesterday that it was "not [the way to be informed] of our choosing."

No kidding. For a university that has touted its dedication to improving campus safety, this seems to be a clear example of its complete ineptitude for knowing what is going on in students' lives. Further, the fact that the university didn't even know the reason this particular student had dropped out of UW is another telling sign of the lack of communication between the university and the student community — especially when considering newly appointed Dean of Students Lori Berquam's self-proclaimed commitment to preventing students from falling through the cracks at such a large university.

And on the same note, if UW was in fact in the dark about the alleged incident, why did the Madison Police Department not automatically inform the administration about the investigation? It seems some sort of procedure should be set in place where police, who are informed of a campus crime, are required to notify the university. Otherwise, assertions by both city officials and university administrators that they are working together to combat crime will fall short of getting students' trust — and students are likely going to leave the Madison community wondering who, if anyone, is paying attention to campus safety.

Whereas concerns about campus safety following this incident are totally justified, there are other concerns that may not be. For example, many students in the Greek community — more specifically the fraternity in question — are beginning to feel victimized. It is no secret that there is a clear division on campus between the Greeks and the non-Greeks, and I would bet that many from the latter group are automatically assuming a frat boy is to blame. The problem is that while it's a shame that stereotypes are perpetuated, it is not out of line to acknowledge that Greek communities across the country have historically had problems with sexual assaults. This is not to say that all of them do — or even any on our campus do — but it is a real concern, not unique to UW.

And even without the current example of the Duke scandal, it is important to remember that these cases often are not open and shut. The assumption too often is that the woman is telling the truth and the frat boy or jock is automatically guilty.

Still, we have to take these cases seriously, investigate them thoroughly and discuss them openly. Already this case has been complicated because keeping it a secret raises questions about who's hiding what. However painful — in this case to the girl, to the frat and to the university community — it always gets worse when you try to keep secrets.

Emily Friedman (efriedman@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in journalism and legal studies.

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Anonymous (February 22, 2007 @ 10:26am):

Emily, the frat boy or jock IS automatically guilty! That's the whole idea. Everyone hates frats and jocks. It's good to see them get what's coming. As for the poor little "innocent" victims, who cares? There are women pedophiles running around out there nowadays. Why should female victims get all the attention. What's up with an adult female who can't enjoy a healthy relationship with another adult that she has to go and lure somebody else's kid into bed with her? And why are all you women suddenly quiet when the topic of women sexual predators comes up? A lot of us guys are really interested in hearing an answer to that question. Sorry, but I don't get all choked up anymore when I read about some girl getting assaulted, especially when there are so many anti-male mentalities around. And you always take it out on guys that aren't even bothering you, that's what pisses me off the most. That's why so many of us don't care anymore. Go cry to Men Stomping Grapes of you need any sympathy. You won't find it here.

Anonymous (February 22, 2007 @ 11:59am):

"the assumption is too often that the woman is telling the truth ..." - um, or her rape kit comes back and supports her claim

and to 10:26 - when women start committing their 50% of sexual assaults you can start to tell me that rape is not a gendered issue and cry that men are being unfairly tageted.

Anonymous (February 22, 2007 @ 1:32pm):

Wow...that was a very unorganized, unknowledgable comment, 10:26.

Anonymous (February 23, 2007 @ 6:39am):

"Sorry, but I don't get all choked up anymore when I read about some girl getting assaulted."

Wow, you truly are a sick, heartless bastard. I wouldn't be surprised if you've raped yourself, seeing as how you don't seem to see anything wrong with it.

Anonymous (February 24, 2007 @ 9:53pm):

"The assumption too often is that the woman is telling the truth and the frat boy or jock is automatically guilty."

Ms. Friedman, I would have to respectfully disagree with this statement. I seriously doubt that the assumption is "too often" that the woman is telling the truth. In fact, too often the woman is treated suspiciously, the old, "well, what were you wearing?" or other such blame the victim assumptions. Do you know anyone who's been raped? How would you feel if she tried to come foward (a painful, often shame-filled experience) and the assumption was automatically that she was lying? I think the assumption should be that the woman is telling the truth because all too often, sadly, they are. Estimates are that 1 in every 4 women will have to suffer through a sexual assault. Many experts will tell you that percentage is distorted because of the many, many women who are sexually assaulted but don't come foward. Their reasons for not speaking out are various but without a doubt one such reason is that they fear no one will believe them. By making such statements as the one I quoted above, you are unwittingly playing into the myth that most women who cry rape are liars. Please be more responsible in your writing and make your goal to enlighten and inform, not reinforce dangerous myths.

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