SURVIVING BOSTON
Nancy Elwess, a ’76 Eastern alumna, was running the Boston Marathon Monday when explosions shook her foundation. Elwess told The Daily Eastern News her story.
BETTIN’ ON BOULBAHAIEM Sephora Boulbahaiem injured her left knee in a skiing accident the winter before beginning her tennis career at Eastern.
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Dai ly Eastern News WWW.DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM
THE
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
VOL. 97 | ISSUE 141
Thursday, April 18, 2013
The Ugly Truth
Eastern | Suggestions
Officials respond to sexual assault issues By Nike Ogunbodede Staff Reporter
‘We are still here’
Original chalkers say the university’s lack of action prompted them to write Doudna steps’ message
By Nike Ogunbodede | Staff Reporter Editor’s Note: The names of the individuals in this article have been changed to protect their privacy.
A
fter several months of watching their friend struggle with the university to get justice against her alleged attacker, three friends — two of whom are also survivors of sexual assault — took to the Doudna steps on Jan. 19 to share her story. Their original message: “My rapist still goes here…will someone please listen to me?” only took about an hour to write. In the following days, the message would be erased, but each said the collective relief they felt has lasted longer than the actual message. ‘No one has helped me’ Lucy, the female student to whom the original message referred, said she was not surprised that the university erased her message. For the junior biological sciences major, the university’s erasing of her story is the perfect depiction of the struggle she has had to endure since coming forward. “I’ve told several different offices on campus, and no one has helped me,” Lucy said. Lucy said she has had multi-
ple conversations with the Office of Civil Rights and the University Police Department trying to get her alleged attacker expelled from Eastern or fired from his on-campus job. During one of her meetings with an employee in the Office of Civil Rights, Lucy asked what evidence would have been considered sufficient. She received a response she said shocked her. “(The employee) couldn’t give me an answer,” Lucy said. “They don’t know. How can you convict someone when you don’t know what is beyond reasonable doubt?” Eastern needs to clearly define what process a sexual assault survivor needs to go through during the reporting process, she said. “I don’t want to have to worry about if I am going to see him. The anxiety of just leaving that room is almost agoraphobic,”
Lucy said. Her fear of her alleged attacker, a student who is still employed by the university, is one reason she chose to remain predominantly anonymous and not chalk the message earlier. “It’s so hard to say ‘No, this happened, and I need to tell my story,’” Lucy said. “I know what happened to me, and I know that I didn’t want that.” Because she remained silent for three months after her attack, Lucy said her emotions are just now catching up with her. “Honestly, I became numb. Until (Jan. 24), I couldn’t even cry. I would have days where I would feel like s---,” she said. “And that’s why this statement needed to be made because no one should feel this way ever again.”
SEE CHALKERS, PAGE 6
The university takes cases of sexual assault seriously, but its handlings of sexual assault cases could be improved upon, President Bill Perry said. Perry said he will adopt the suggestions given to him by the Women’s Empowerment League in January into account before moving forward with a more concrete plan. “I think that out of all this dialogue will come progress,” he said. He does want Eastern students to feel comfortable on campus, Perry said. “I think Eastern has a relatively safe campus,” Perry said. “That is something that is important. Something that we work on to have it be a safe campus.” Perry said reporting crimes to the proper authority is key. “If you believe you have been sexually assaulted, then you need to go to the University Police Department,” Perry said. But if the accuser decides to only go through university offices like the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity and the Office of Student Standards, then it is labeled sexual harassment case, a civil charge. Jeannie Ludlow, the coordinator of the women’s studies and a survivor of sexual assault, said the current report-
ing process is one that students do not trust. “We must make reporting easier by: allowing confidential reporting to a trained victims’ advocate, like the folks from SACIS; streamlining our process and making it very transparent; and making sure we follow Title IX guidelines for keeping victims updated on the status of their cases,” Ludlow said. “Until we can do these things, we will not improve our report rates.” Ludlow said a number of things would need to be changed if ending rape culture is going to be effective. “We do not have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual offenses on our campus, and I am not at all confident that we could get one here,” Ludlow said in an email. Ludlow said Eastern also needs to alert students to sexual assaults as they happen like universities such as University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign do. “Recently, there was an attempted sexual assault in a residence hall up at UIUC, and an emergency text message went out about it, with a full and accurate description of the attacker — not a generic ‘tall, black man,’” Ludlow said. “My students tell me they have never seen an emergency text for sexual assault on our campus.”
OFFICIALS RESPOND, page 6
E vents | Take Back the Night
Assault survivors to rally in support By Stephanie Markham Administration Editor In an attempt to reclaim the peace of the night, members of the Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Service will lead a march through campus by candlelight for the 22nd annual Take Back the Night. The rally will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Campus Pond Pavilion with a musical performance by Ethan Stephenson. Michael Gillespie, a sociology professor, will be talking about ways for men to prevent sexual violence at 6:45 p.m., and the march will begin at 7 p.m. Gillespie said he would be portraying the message that domestic violence and sexual assault are not just women’s issues. “As men, as human beings, as people who have relationships with women, whether they’re our mothers or our sisters or our siblings or our significant others or whomever, we effect and are effected by these types
of issues,” he said. He said men are often hesitant to speak or act against sexual violence because they are afraid of being considered less manly. “I think that a lot of it has to do with the culture of being macho, the culture of being in power and being in control,” he said. Erin Walters, the director of SACIS, said the route would lead the march up Fourth Street, through the quads and back to the pavilion. Once the march ends back at the pavilion, Walters said people would have the opportunity to share their experiences as survivors or on behalf of survivors of sexual violence during the “fireside speak-out.” “The overall purpose of the walk is to say we all wish to live in a community on a campus free from violence,” she said. Gillespie said it is important to hear from survivors and to put a face to the stories of sexual violence.
RALLY, page 7