Every two minutes, an American is sexually assaulted. Each
year, close to 300,000 sexual assaults will occur and only 60% of them will be
reported to the police. 44% of the survivors of sexual assault are under the
age of 18. 80% are under the age of 30. (rainn.org)
I graduated from the University of Montana in 2013, having
spent four of the best years of my life living in Missoula, a city which I
adored, and attending a school that had been at the top of my list since I was
still sporting braces, studded belts and those black pants with the chains on
the side. The University of Montana (and Missoula, for that matter) is a
treasured jewel of the Treasure State. The campus is at the base of Mount
Sentinel, the city is surrounded by gorgeous mountains and home to the Clark
Fork River. The community is inclusive, diverse, welcoming and home to honest
and good people- people with big hearts and open doors. I cherished every day I
spent living, working and playing in Missoula.
While I attended the University of Montana, I became
involved in Residence Life and Student Affairs. I wanted to give back to a
school that had been such an amazing home to me and help other students have as
an amazing experience at college as I had had. Training to be a Resident
Assistant is extensive- it is truly a crash course in any kind of situation you
could ever be faced with as a Resident Assistant. I learned about all of the
resources my university had to offer. I learned how to plan floor programs, how
to help students succeed in their academics, how to make floor decorations, how
to confront students who were drinking and smoking marijuana, how to help
students struggling with depression and eating disorders, how to help students
conquer homesickness and how to mediate roommate conflict (including the always
uncomfortable “sexiled” situations). One part of training that I also received
was what to do if I were to come across a student who had been victim to a
sexual assault. I remember a pit in my stomach as we approached training on this
issue. What an uncomfortable and difficult task to be faced with. The thought
of being approached by a victim of sexual assault and having to help them
scared me. Would I be able to get them the resources that they needed? Would I
be able to make sure all the legal logistics were taken care of (fulfilling my
obligation as a mandatory reporter as required by federal law)? I remember,
ever so foolishly, expressing gratitude internally to myself that I had male
residents. Men are less likely to be victim to sexual assault than women and
even more less likely to report it. The likelihood of having to be confronted
with this situation would be minimal. It was a horrible thought to have and a
horrible way to look at it, it was also a very humanistic way to look at
it, and with that, I continued my training.
Eventually, I worked my way through the ranks and became a
residence hall supervisor, with my own staff of resident assistants and a
residence hall to look after and manage.
It was winter of 2011 when headlines were made about sexual
misconduct happening involving players from our national championship winning
football team. In December, the local newspaper published an anonymous tip that
three University of Montana football players were alleged assailants in a
sexual assault investigation. In response, the University hired a former
Montana Supreme Court Justice to investigate the claims. On New Year’s Eve
2011, the special investigator reported to the President of the University that
there was a “gap in reporting sexual assaults”.
One week after the report was filed by the special
investigator, a member of the football team was arrested and charged with
sexual assault. A few weeks after the arrest of the
football player, the President of the University, along with one of his Vice
Presidents and the University’s chief legal counsel, held an open forum where
they promised to “aggressively educate” students on sexual assault, look into
the reporting flaws, investigate past incidents of sexual assault and to review
the student athlete code. A few days after the forum, allegations arose
that the local police department and the University police were not doing
enough to prevent and address the sexual assaults once they were reported. Little did I, my friends or the University know that this was just the beginning of a story that would gain national attention.
In February, two women reported that an international
student had sexually assaulted them. An email was sent out to students soon after informing them of the sexual
assaults (as mandated by The Clearly Act) and the international student fled
the country shortly after- before any meeting could be scheduled and formal
investigation launched. He was gone, and there was nothing anyone could do. There
would be no justice for these two survivors.
A few days after the international student fled the country,
I received an email from the University telling me and other students that we
should feel safe reporting sexual assaults, even if they were done under the
consumption of drugs and alcohol. I figured that this was the University’s way
of trying to make students feel more comfortable about reporting sexual
assaults, but I didn’t feel like it was enough. Students don’t want to be told
to feel comfortable reporting sexual assaults. There shouldn’t be a need to
report sexual assaults in the first place, and with this I began to question the school's response to these crises.
Towards the end of February and early March, the two
survivors who had been sexually assaulted by the international student reported
the incident to the city police. The survivors criticized the University’s
response, saying that they had failed to properly act to address the situation,
and because of that inactivity, the international student had been allowed to
escape. In response, the President of the University defended the school and
said that it was the victim’s responsibility to report the sexual assaults to
the police- not the University’s. I read these remarks in utter horror. What he
had done was breaking the cardinal rule of cases involving sexual assault: he
had blamed the victims. But he had not just blamed the victims- he had
essentially washed the University’s hands clean of any responsibility for the
sexual assault.
In early March, headlines were made when a woman
filed a restraining order against one of our most talented and well recognized
football players. I remember thinking it was sad that this
story was receiving so much attention for the sole fact that it involved a
prominent member of our football team. It wasn’t enough that someone had been
brave enough to report their sexual assault. No- it seemed that the only reason
that there was so much publicity surrounding the story was because a football
player was involved.
Despite all of the bad publicity surrounding the sexual
assaults being reported and the school’s lackluster response, perhaps one of
the biggest controversies was when the athletic director and the head football
coach were fired. There was no reason given for their dismissal, but many
speculated that it was a result of the athletic department’s failure to
properly address and investigate the reports of football players committing
sexual assault. Public reaction was mixed. Some saw it as a necessary step to
move forward while others were outraged and concerned for what a change in
leadership would mean for the football team. I remember thinking how different
things would be if their outrage could have been directed to the sexual
assaults taking place and not as to whether or not we would have a winning team
anymore.
In late April, it was made public that the US Department of
Education was actively investigating the University’s reporting process. A few
days later, the U.S. Department of Justice began investigating the Missoula
Police Department, the Missoula County attorney's office and UM in response to
the sexual assault cases. They announced that they would also be looking into a
reported 80 sexual assaults that took place in the past three years in
Missoula.
The next few weeks were like a hurricane of controversy.
CNN, CBS, Fox News, Jezebel, The New York Times and so many other news outlets
came to Missoula and to the University. As a resident assistant, I was barred
from speaking to the press, but even if I could, I didn’t know what I would
say. I was outraged at how my school had handled the sexual assaults. I was
grateful that a dialogue was happening on the issue of sexual assault. I felt
defensive and wanted to protect a school and community that I so dearly loved.
The actions of a select few did not accurately represent the greater University
and Missoula community. But things kept going from bad to worse with new
scandals coming to light every day.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, the New York Times was
able to come into possession of several thousand worth of emails between
University officials. One email that stood out was one in which one of the Vice
Presidents asked if there was a rule in the student conduct code that would
allow the administration to punish a student who had spoken to the press
regarding her sexual assault. Again- a member of the University’s
administration was seeking to shame and punish a survivor of sexual assault for
having the courage to come forward and share her story. Was I offended and
outraged? Absolutely. Was I surprised? Not at all. I knew that unless there was
a change of leadership, nothing would change. The patriarchy was in full force
with the men at the top seeking to hold on to whatever privilege and protection
they had left. (Eventually the Vice President stepped down from his position,
but it was only to move to a new position on campus where he would go on to
make over $125,000 a year.)
I spent the summer working on campus in Missoula. The
students had all dispersed for the summer, but the controversy had not. The
Department of Justice was actively questioning and investigating police
officers from the city and campus who had handled the reports of sexual
assault. The County Attorney made news by refusing to work with the Justice
Department on the investigation, saying that he had no legal authority to do
so. He would go on to ask the county for $100,000 in order to pay for
Department of Justice expenses if he was forced to corroborate with them. The
city council allotted several thousand dollars for an anti-rape campaign for
the city. The University drafted a mandatory class for students that educated
them on sexual assault. It was an online class and test that took an hour to do
but was mandatory for any student and employee on campus. I worked on the
committee set to design and implement the course. I thought it was a good
course for what it was and, with everyone else, recognized that improvements
would need to be made as the years progressed. A patriarchy at work - making sure the issue was being "addressed" but the tactic was questionably as to its effectiveness.
As the year progressed, I found my campus and my community a
different place than it had been when I started out three years prior. There
was a thick tension on the air. There was an elephant in the room and people
were, for once in a long time, forced to recognize the issue of sexual assault.
There were positive moments and negative moments. One negative moment was when
the star football player was found not-guilty of sexual assault. I say that it
was a negative moment, not because I questioned his innocence or guilt. I say that the experience was negative
because I found the community’s response less than appropriate. This was a
woman who had been brave enough to come forward and report that she was
sexually assaulted. She was reported as “Jane Doe” in the press and her image
was concealed from all forms of media, but we knew who she was. She was a good,
decent, honorable individual. Bringing this claim forward was a gamble and she
ended up losing her case. For her, there was no justice and the community’s
main concern was whether or not the football player would be allowed to play on
the team again. The conversation quickly went from awareness and prevention of
sexual assault to whether or not we would ever have a winning football season
again. Seeing the comments online made me physically ill. How could, after the
past months, just ignore everything that had happened and move on like nothing
happened. What sexual assaults? What negligent police officers? What failure of
the University to report and prevent assaults? It was all about football. A few
days after the verdict, I joined hundreds of fellow students and members of the
community for a vigil by the Clark Fork River. We lit candles and placed
flowers in the river in honor of every brave soul who had (and will) come
forward to report their sexual assault. The weather was rainy and the mood was
somber, but the message shined bright and clear: We Are All Jane Doe.
I knew two people during this time who were
sexually assaulted; no matter what capacity you're in, when someone close to you is
sexually assaulted, you always ask yourself “What could I have done? Could I
have done more? Could I have prevented this?” I have made peace with the fact
that there was nothing that I could have done. But there is something that I
can do in the future- something that we can all do. We need to make the problem
of sexual assault a public one. Sexual assault can never go back into the
closet and be a hushed subject that we are too afraid to discuss and resolve.
We need to empower survivors to be able to come forward and share their
stories. Even more importantly, we must respect the survivors who don’t want to
come forward and we need to always remember to not shame survivors. The most
important thing we can do is discuss and educate. Nobody asks to be raped.
If a
woman is wearing a Victorian-era dress, she is not asking for it. If she is
wearing a tracksuit, she is not asking for it. If she is wearing Lady Gaga’s
VMA meat dress, she is not asking for it. If she is wearing nothing at all, she
is not asking for it. We have the power to change the discourse, but more
importantly, we have a responsibility to do so. We are all Jane Doe.
Bradley Kneeland is a 2013 graduate of the University of Montana, in Missoula. A Montana native, Bradley now lives in Springfield, MA where he attends Law School. A great thanks to Bradley for sharing his experience and passion with this guest post!
