Sad to say

[Jack Edmonston]

Brown University and the University of Connecticut had the highest number of reported rapes in 2014, according to the latest federal data.

[b&p]

…”reported” being the operative word.

 

Do you have a link to the article, please, Jack? Thanks!

 

Best regards,

Paul

 

 

 

Paul Payton ‘69

www.presenceproductions.com

www.paulpayton.com

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[Bill Lichtenstein]

Here's the report in the WashPost: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/06/07/these-colleges-have-the-most-reports-of-rape/

Obviously, saddened and troubled to see this.  48 incidents is 48 too many.  

But there are several things that are not clear. 

First, these figures are not reports per capita/student.  When you adjust for size, Brown isn't in the top 10. 

Also, the top six schools are all elite institutions; are we to understand the frequency of rapes are actually higher there than at massive "party" schools?   Baylor only had four reports in 2014 (despite their ongoing sex abuse scandal there...)  Perhaps, but it seems a little counter-intuitive.  

In any case, troubling and hoping the school (and all schools) will do everything it/they can to keep students safe.  

BL

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[b&p]

Bill, thank you for the link to the article. The comments are also enlightening – especially some from some of the unenlightened. (I guess elite schools don’t hold the same cache as they used to.) I think that the number per thousand is a much fairer way to report it. There is also this comment from someone who appears to know their subject:

 

Txreporter

6/9/2016 10:40 AM EST

“The best source of data on sexual assault on campus is none of these sources. It is the National Crime Victimization Survey, and it shows women on college campuses are 20 percent *less* likely to be sexually assaulted than same-age women who aren't enrolled as students. NCVS is the gold standard for this type of information, because the Bureau of Justice Statistics -- a non-political organization -- has been doing it for 40 years, interviewing tens of thousands of people annually to find out their experience of violent crime. And it's from interviews, not reports, so it's not subject to the unreported crime problem. Why don't articles ever reference this best of all sources? By the way, the same source shows sexual assaults against all women are down by about two-thirds in the last couple of decades. And the greatest risk of sexual assault is not borne by college students but by low income and rural women. So what are we trying to do here? Protect women? Or just college women? What *are* we trying to do here?”

 

Also surprising to me – perhaps someone can offer a better explanation than my ideas – is the number of “elite” schools clustering at the top of this list, yet a number of notorious party schools are reporting particularly low numbers (for example, Arizona State reporting 7 out of a student body of 50320). Some thoughts: could it be because the more elite schools emphasize reporting rape? Do the women at the party schools show up expecting sexual activity and “put up with it,” thus reporting it less? Also, is there a comparison of rapes within the student body of schools with mainly on-campus residencies vs. those with a mainly off-campus student body?

 

I’m not trying to be either provocative or defensive, just asking sincere questions. Of course, all rape is always wrong, but I sense that some amount of the currently-prevalent “ooh, ain’t it awful” kind of reporting is at work here, distorting what is a real problem everywhere. Still, as you say, it is “troubling and hoping the school (and all schools) will do everything it/they can to keep students safe.”

 

Paul Payton ‘69

www.paulpayton.com

www.presenceproductions.com

[Bill Lichtenstein]

Meanwhile this was just discussed on Tom Ashbrooks show on NPR; in some ways more troubling:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/06/03/more-than-half-of-college-athletes-surveyed-at-one-university-admit-coercing-a-partner-into-sex/

Bill Lichtenstein
Bi...@LCMedia.com
917-635-2538

[B&P/Presence]

I think this article asks as many questions as it answers, including: "Why is this a 'thing' again now?" And, "In schools where female athletes are valued, such as UConn with its Lady Huskies perennial championship team, do the numbers skew differently?" An interesting thought, especially since UConn is tied with Brown at the top for hard numbers.

And I still wonder about the low numbers reported by "party schools" like ASU.

Sorry I missed the Ashcroft discussion; he usually does an excellent job.

Paul

Sent from my somewhat smart phone

[B&P/Presence]

PS - Apologies - Ashbrook, not Ashcroft, autocorrect has a mind of its own, sometimes an impaired one! (I didn't know that "Ashcroft" was in it dictionary.)

[Adam Blistein]

I asked the recent Brown graduate whom I know best, the former 'BRU sports director and - more relevant for this discussion - a former Meikeljohn (i.e., upperclass advisor to freshmen) as well, if she had anything to add.  Here's what she says

Adam

----------------

The generally allowed statistic is that 1/5 college women is sexually assaulted before she graduates, and 48 is still way less than 1/5 so you know tons of women still aren't reporting. But when you see a number like 48 instead of a number like 2 you know that at least some portion of survivors have enough faith in the system to come forward and report. I would be highly suspicious of any school with less than 20 reports frankly.

The high number is probably due in part to a new rule which lists certain members of the community as "responsible reporters" (or something like that). Faculty and staff like professors, TAs, deans and etc are considered responsible reporters if they have any kind of advisory relationship with students. Meiklejohns and RAs are also considered responsible reporters. What it means is that if any student comes to us in our faculty as an advisor and informs us of a sexual assault we are obligated to report the assault to the Title IX office so they can add it to their Clery Act numbers.

Aside from the obligatory reporting, there is also increasing faith in the Title IX office, which was established when Lena Sclove filed her Title IX charge two years ago. The woman who runs it is supposed to be really great. I think their task force report is supposed to come out this summer.

[b&p]

Thanks, Adam – and thank your daughter (I assume), too. I had indeed thought that better and more honest reporting was at least a factor if not the predominant one. I appreciate that you guys took the effort to give us first-person information.

 

Ever true,

Paul

 

From: wb...@googlegroups.com [mailto:wb...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Adam Blistein
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2016 9:03 PM
To: WBRU
Subject: Re: Sad to say

 

I asked the recent Brown graduate whom I know best, the former 'BRU sports director and - more relevant for this discussion - a former Meikeljohn (i.e., upperclass advisor to freshmen) as well, if she had anything to add.  Here's what she says