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Thursday, October 15, 2015
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Lawsuits filed in connection to 2012 rape Victim names UM, attackers in civil suit By Mark Chiarelli Collegian Staff
A woman who was gangraped in 2012 in her University of Massachusetts dorm has filed two civil lawsuits Tuesday linked to her rape, one against the University and the other against three men convicted in the rape and another man facing trial in the coming months. Reports of the woman’s accusations of rape in 2012
against Adam Liccardi, Caleb Womack, Justin King and Emmanuel Bile Jr. shook the campus community, prompting the University to alter its housing policies. The gangrape also spurred a fierce outcry for greater awareness of sexual violence and rape culture at UMass that echoed discussions taking place across the nation. Tried separately, three of the men – Liccardi, King and Bile – have since been convicted in criminal trials on several counts of aggravated rape and rape, and are
now serving state prison sentences. Womack is expected to face trial in the coming months. The woman testified in all three cases held. According to court documents obtained by the Collegian, the woman, identified in the Hampshire Superior Court filings only by her initials, is named the plaintiff in both suits. The Collegian does not disclose the names of victims of sexual assault. The civil lawsuit seeks unspecified damages against the four men on counts of
sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment. The lawsuit comes just over a month after the conviction of Liccardi – the third man to face trial in criminal court for the 2012 rape. He was found guilty of two counts of aggravated rape and one count of rape by a jury on Sept. 2. The civil lawsuit against the University also seeks unspecified damages of “an amount reasonable according to the evidence as the Court deems appropriate” see
JESSICA CHAIKEN/COLLEGIAN
The incident took place in Pierpont Hall in October 2012.
LAWSUITS on page 3
Campus safety a focus following Ore. shooting UMass students talk about security policies By ColBy SearS Collegian Staff
ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN
Toby Armstrong lays the base colors for a painting in from of the Elm dormitory.
‘Talent is a pursued interest’ Student Leader Profile: Art from a spray can By Brendan deady Collegian Staff
A marble collided with the inner lining of a Rust-Oleum spray can, priming the red paint for its ejection onto a small rectangle of paper. Toby Armstrong tossed the can to his left, popped the top off another canister and crisscrossed the red layer with teal streaks. He grabbed another cylinder from the small suitcase to his right and released a mist of white paint in short bursts, adding to the scattered grid of color. Armstrong quickened his pace. A rhythm of hissing paint and rattling cans rose along the movements of his hands. As a pile of paint-covered clutter formed around him, his piece took shape. He dipped his fingertips into a gob and flicked white specks across a night sky. “This is kind of the fun part where I can kind of experiment, I can approximate what it’s going to look like at the start but can’t really tie down how the end product will come out,” Armstrong said. What started out as shapeless layers of color is now an immense planet overlooking mountains and water against the black backdrop of space. The painting took him less than 10 minutes. Armstrong, a BDIC major from Lexington, later commented that many of his paintings combined worldly environments with the color scheme and proportions of a
dream world. Similar scenes of Armstrong’s work lined the walls of his suite in the Elm dormitory at the University of Massachusetts. Rivers, mountains and a solitary figure rapt in meditation drifted in front of massive planets and nebulas of greens, purples and deep blues. Three years ago, Armstrong saw a YouTube video of a graffiti artist complete a painting in three minutes. He was hooked. He watched videos of hundreds of artists, taking notes of tools they use and what images work best with the medium of spray paint. “When I was a little kid, I always wanted to be a street performer. I’ve always had a thing for juggling, still do. I don’t what it is, I was always just drawn to that type of energy,” he said. Armstrong said he’s had an artistic side since he was as a child, his mother encouraged him to sketch and foster his creative side but he never received formal training. “A lot of this medium relies on trial and error,” he said. “The chemistry of the paint suits certain scenes better so that explains some of my repetition. But I don’t believe that talent is a genetic or inherent thing.” Armstrong’s progression was slow at first but he eventually began producing pieces that captured people’s attention. He started to do live spray painting in town squares and at local festivals to sell his work. As sales picked up he started to receive requests from friends and customers through his Facebook page.
“It started as a hobby and then a way of therapy for myself but now it’s starting to develop into a long-term business thing,” he said. Armstrong said he’s drawn to a surrealist style of painting. Many of his pieces contrast images of space, of nature and abstract swirls of vibrant color that Armstrong said is supposed to represent collections of emotion. “I’m really interested in combining the surreal. I like having that grounding in reality or that aspect that makes it surreal or uses abstract concepts. I really like trying to visualize emotions, it pushes me explore all the contrasting meanings,” Armstrong said. A solitary figure in a meditative pose reoccurs in many of his pieces. He explained that contrasting the figure with surrealistic imagery and space settings begs the question of whether the scene exists or is entirely taking place in the figure’s mind. Armstrong sat cross-legged on a thick red mat in his bedroom and as he thumbed through a collection of his pieces and explained his connection to the medium. “I would say this is my form of meditation,” he said. “When I begin a piece, I don’t think. The rest of world is reduced to the scene I’m trying to create before me.” He called music a necessity for when he paints, he prefers mellow electronica or instrumentals that help him connect emotions with color. Recently, he laid out a collection of rainbows while see
ARMSTRONG on page 3
In light of recent shootings and increased gun violence on college campuses across the United States, University of Massachusetts students have started to rethink the safety of residential and academic spaces at the University. Although some students say they feel “perfectly safe” while living and studying on campus, others have doubts about the University’s overall security. Some believe UMass should inform its students of the safeguards it has in place to protect people on campus. “I feel like UMass is one of those campuses that’s very open to the public…in terms of academic space, anyone can basically just walk in. You don’t have to go here and then there’s no way to know if you do go here,” said Jaenyffe Santos, a senior natural resource conservation major. “I feel like UMass doesn’t really have a solid process in case any type of shooting like that happens, and if they do I feel like students should know about it.” Kiara Wynn, a senior theater major, agreed with Santos, saying, “I feel like anybody and everybody has access to this campus…there should be better systems.” Wynn lives in the North Residential Area, where she says she feels generally safe because of her building’s increased security. She referred to the area as “pretty airtight and locked-down,” adding that residents must tap their UCard at three different doors before being allowed access to their own living space. She commented on the fact that the Central, Orchard Hill, Southwest and Sylvan Residential Areas don’t have this kind of security system in place. “As long as somebody taps me in, I could get in anywhere I want…I could get in anybody’s room if it’s open,” Wynn said. Sophomore psychology major Alexis Pascal also believes increased security should be put
in place across all residential areas. “Yesterday, I was walking to my dorm and some guy was sitting outside and he was like, ‘Oh, I’m so-and-so’s father, do you know her?’ I said, ‘No,’ but then as I opened the door he followed me in,” Pascal said. Pascal also said, however, that she feels “pretty safe” on campus because she always sees UMass police officers around campus. Jessica Schores, a junior nutrition major, said, “I still feel safe (after recent shootings) but in the back of my mind I always think about that because it is a big campus…but I do feel safe. The atmosphere is good I think.” Sophomore David Conway thinks differently, saying students on campus should spend their time focusing on their studies and extracurricular activities rather than living in constant fear of a potential attack. “I’m going to have to say I feel completely safe. You really can’t walk around campus with a feeling of being afraid all the time. Everyone has priorities, we’re trying to get an education and in addition to that, sports and everything. So I’m putting my trust in the school here and the framework they have,” he said. Junior transfer student and environmental science major Paul Bongiorni agreed with Conway. “I feel perfectly safe. I feel like there’s a lot of security here, I’ve never felt unsafe at any school or college I’ve ever been to,” he said. “There’s so many people here and I feel like the more people, the more protection, and everybody’s looking out for each other.” One safeguard put in place by the University and the UMPD is a text notification system that alerts students of an emergency situation. According to interim police chief Patrick Archbald, this service is the first method that would be used to communicate with students quickly. “That’s an opt-in system, you have to proactively put in your information into the alert system and you receive notices,” said Archbald. “Not everyone has done see
SAFETY on page 2