The
G atepost
Framingham State University’s independent student newspaper since 1932 volume
83 • number 14
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Snow Daze a n u a r y
Melina Bourdeau/The Gatepost
Allie Carroll helped Joleen Stygles dig out her 2004 Dodge Stratus, which took 20 minutes with help from members of FSU Facilities.
Tensions ran high at an open forum held to discuss sexual violence on Dec. 15, 2014 in the 1839 room located in McCarthy Center. The forum was organized in response to a Dec. 10 Gatepost article, “Coming to terms with rape: One student’s journey towards understanding,” by Editor-in-Chief Kaila Braley. According to a campus-wide email sent by President F. Javier Cevallos, the forum was meant to be a place to “discuss your concerns and how we can stand together to end sexual violence in our community.” At the forum, students were asked if they had any suggestions for the University on how to prevent sexual assault. A male student suggested the administration provide training for students, both abused and abusive. He said, “A lot of the time, when people are sexually assaulting someone, or assumed to be sexually assaulting someone, it’s a miscommunication.” He added that maybe if the victim were to talk to the perpetrator, then the victim may be able to prevent the sexual assault from happening. He said the perpetrators “are a victim inside themselves,” and
added that people who sexually assault others often feel weak, or “not good enough,” which he said is why they “force themselves on others.” He said, “It’s really a tragic thing to have to force yourself on someone to feel compassion.” A female student interjected that sexual assault is not a case of miscommunication. “I’m telling you this as a survivor of sexual assault,” she said. The male student cut her off, saying, “You’re not the only one who has ever been sexually assaulted,” and asked her to respect the group and “keep your thoughts to yourself.” The woman reiterated that she didn’t think every sexual assault situation is a miscommunication. The male student then left the forum. The same female student had some questions for Director of Equal Opportunity, Title IX and ADA Complience Kim Dexter and Cevallos about Framingham State’s website called SHAPE (Sexual Harrasment and Assault Prevention and Education), “it’s definitions of consent, and it’s implementation in school disciplinary process.” Shape is a source of information about sexual harassment and violence, as well as - Continued on page 5
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By Kaila Braley Editor-in-Chief By Mark Wadland Editorial Staff
Blizzard Juno blasted Framingham this week with over 30 inches of snow. Although the historic winter storm prompted administrators to cancel classes for two days, about 1,000 students stayed on campus. FSU President F. Javier Cevallos said administrators estimated that number based on how many meals were served in the dining halls. He said that all essential personnel, which includes Facilities, Dining Services, Residence Life and Campus Police staff, reported to work. Cevallos added that he and “all the vice presidents” met Monday at 10 a.m. to decide when to send everyone home that day. The same group met again on Tuesday and Wednesday at 2 p.m. to decide whether classes would be canceled for the next day, and the group decided it would be safe to “open the campus” on Thursday. “I think it has been a very successful effort. I am quite impressed with the dedi-
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Students protest a lack of response to reports of discrimination
Sexual assault open forum sparks tensions By Alexandra Gomes Assistant News Editor
Dancing to Broadway tunes. Page 7
By Kaila Braley Editor-in-Chief
“FSU does not include! We can’t breathe at FSU!” a crowd of students chanted as they marched through campus on Dec. 15 protesting a lack of administrative response to four reported incidents of discrimination. The protest began with approximately 20 students and continued to grow to almost 40 as they traveled from the library, to the front of the Residence Life office before ending in front of Crocker Grove in front of Dwight Hall. As they stopped at each location, the group of students participated in a “diein,” during which the students chanted, “I can’t breathe!” and fell to the ground as one of the protest leaders, junior Fernando Rodriguez, spoke about the reason for the protest. “There is a suffocating environment here at Framingham State University where students are not getting the treatment they deserve from the administration here at this school,” said Rodriguez. He talked about how people all across the country had been protesting the lack of indictments in the cases of Michael
Jeff Poole/The Gatepost
Student protesters made signs to illustrate their main points.
Brown and Eric Gardner. “Although we are in solidarity with these protests, we feel as though we have our own injustices here on our campus,” Rodriguez said. He went on to recount the events that led to the protest, which included reports of a racial slur written on and an inappropriate image drawn on a Hispanic Heritage Month information board in Towers. In Horace Mann, a swastika was carved into a door and was not investigated as a hate crime. A puzzle club poster was - Continued on page 4
Inside Staff Picks: Best of 2014 8
Women’s basketball goes on six-game win streak 11
Opinion: How ‘Deflategate’ affects Pats 6
Gatepost Interview: Sean Huddleston 2