******
<strong>UPDATE - March 2014: Michele Rasmussen of the University of Chicago Deans Office answered our letter. You can view her e-mail here:</strong>
http://ow.ly/uDT30******
The University of Chicago is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) for its possible breach of the sex-based discrimination law, Title IX.
A group of concerned University of Chicago Alumni, who had been activists for sexual assault policy reform at U Chicago in the 1990s, sent an open letter to University President Robert J. Zimmer, cc'ed to University administrators and members of the press.
<strong>If you would like to add your name to the letter, fill out the form below (scroll all the way down).</strong> Please include your full name and year of graduation, or explain a different relationship to the University in the Comments. Current students, feel free to sign with your expected year of graduation.
<strong>PRIVACY NOTE:</strong> We update this letter periodically with the names, graduation years and comments of additional signers. All email addresses entered into the form below will remain private and will not be mis-used.
To read more about the investigation, see the Maroon's coverage here:
http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/02/11/university-under-federal-investigation-for-sexual-assault-policy/<strong>Here is the text of our letter:</strong>
February 13, 2014
Dear President Zimmer,
We recently learned of the continued problems with sexual assault at the U of C from a report in the Chicago Maroon, subsequently picked up by national media outlets. We are dismayed that there has been insufficient progress to address sexual violence crimes on campus since we were students in the 1990s.
As alumni of the University of Chicago, we are deeply concerned that shortcomings that we identified in our university’s approach to sexual violence when we were students apparently still persist. We hope that the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigation will be the catalyst to meaningful, permanent improvements in both the response to and prevention of sexual assault.
In 1996 and 1997, some of us formed Action for a Student Assault Policy (ASAP) and the Coalition Against Sexual Violence (CASV) to address what we perceived as an urgent need for reform in how our university prevented and responded to sexual and other forms of assault. The organizations were created in reaction to frustration with what we believed were the administration’s mishandled and inadequate responses to both sexual assaults and assaults against minority students.
These broad coalitions included students involved with the Alpha Omicron Phi Sorority, Comadres, Feminist Majority, the Muslim Student Association, the Organization of Black Students, Queers & Associates, the Sexual Violence Prevention Resource Center, the Women’s Lacrosse Team, the Womyn’s Union, and more.
At that time, allegations of assault were often handled by administrators with little or inadequate training in rape crisis response. Investigations, when conducted, were usually channeled through campus security rather than the Chicago Police Department. Campus police and student health services regularly failed to follow best practices when responding to allegations of sexual assault crimes, resulting in loss of evidence and inadequate care. Victims were offered relocation and “mediation” with their assailant, whom they might see in class again the next day. A major problem was the lack of centralized coordination; survivors could bounce from one office to another until they eventually gave up. Support services and resources for victims of sexual assault were patchwork and woefully insufficient.
In October 1996, based on the shortcomings we identified, ASAP proposed specific improvements to sexual assault prevention and response at the University. The suggested improvements included a centralized position or office with additional resources to coordinate response and prevention as well as improved training and the implementation of best-practice protocols for the housing system, counseling center, health services, campus police, faculty, and administration.
We based our proposals on programs that were already in effect on other campuses in Chicago and around the country. Throughout 1996 and 1997, we met face-to-face with several members of the University administration to present our concerns, research and suggestions. We were discouraged by the slowness of response on the part of the administration and what we saw as a failure to implement urgently needed improvements. Then, as happens, we graduated and left the university. We were not there long enough, or with enough leverage, to see that those improvements were made. We had hoped that the needed progress had been made in the intervening years.
Thus it is disheartening to learn, from recent reports in the Maroon and other media, that the University of Chicago seemingly has not yet done enough to improve sexual assault response since we left campus many years ago. The ongoing OCR investigation suggests that serious shortcomings persist. The failure of the University to fully address this pervasive problem has likely contributed to the suffering of hundreds of bright young people, mostly young women, some of whom chose to leave the University, discontinue their education, and even, in the worst of cases, commit suicide.
The University could rely on the natural attrition of student sexual violence activists to maintain the status quo, instead of acting upon opportunities to make needed changes. Our organization, Action for a Student Assault Policy, was named in part to underscore the urgency behind reform; we believed changes needed to be made ASAP. It is painful and ironic to learn that, two decades later, these pervasive problems have not been adequately addressed.
Former students are watching and waiting for the University of Chicago to do the right thing. To that end, we are heartened that the OCR has taken steps to hold the University accountable. President Barack Obama has recently made it clear that ending sexual assault on campus needs to be a priority in higher education (Footnote 1). The University of Chicago has the opportunity to be a leader on this issue. It is past time for the University to implement the current standard best practices for sexual violence prevention and response on campus.
As alumni, we would like to assist in the improvements in any way that we can. What we will not do, however, is stand by and approve of the status quo, or give our resources to a University that still falls short in addressing sexual assault issues in a respectful and appropriate way. Sexual violence prevention and response at the University of Chicago must improve ASAP.
Andrea Laiacona Dooley, AB ‘96, AM ‘96 and Katie Romich, AB ‘98
<strong>Alumni for a Student Assault Policy in support:</strong>
Erin Barrett, AB ‘94
Amanda Bartoshesky, AB ‘97
Kevin Bogart, AB ‘97
James Felix Black, X’94
Maria Cardow, AB ‘98
Olivia Given Castello, AB ‘98
Jane Ellen Clougherty, AB ‘97
Kathryn (nee Regan) Cullen, ‘97
Benjamin Edmonds, AB ‘92, JD ‘98
Francesca Freeman, AB ‘98
Meghan Getting, AB ‘96
Liv Gjestvang, AB ‘98
Colin Johnson, AB ‘96
Sharon L. Jones, AB '97
Jimmy Casas Klausen, AB ‘98
Alma Klein, AB ‘98
Daraka Larimore Hall, AB ‘99
Margaret Lakin Hardigan, AB ‘96
Kristen Lehner, AB ‘96
Liane Lohde, AB ‘98
Melissa Martin, AB ‘95
Michael Rabinowitz, AB ‘99
Marthame Sanders, MDiv ‘96
Andrea Batista Schlesinger, AB ‘99
Margaret Schwartz, AB ‘98
Ellen Sung, AB ‘98
Stephanie Yu, AB ‘97
<strong>Cc:</strong>
Thomas Rosenbaum, Provost, The University of Chicago
Aneesh Ali, Associate Provost, Affirmative Action Officer, and Title IX Coordinator
Tanya Oliveira, Attorney, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education
Rebecca Guterman and Sam Levine, Editors-in-Chief
Joy Crane, Chicago Maroon, Grey City Journal editor
Jackie Calmes, New York Times
Hillary Crosley, Jezebel
Naheed Rajwani, Chicago Tribune
Todd Lighty, Chicago Tribune
<strong>Notes</strong>
1. <em>Jackie Calmes, “Obama Seeks to Raise Awareness of Rape on Campus,” New York Times, January 22, 2014.</em>
<strong>Additional Signers</strong>
Tucker Bennett
AB '05
John Wenders
2008
Clara Raubertas
2006
Evelyn Dehais
2009
Nicole Lunning
2005
Eliot Feenstra
2010
Katherine Lieder
2009
Rowena Ruan
2009
John Tamburri
2005
Antonia
2010
William David Jarvis
2009
Lauren Beitler
AB '05, MAT '06
Margaret Lebron
2007
Laura Seago
AB '07
Patrick LaVictoire
2005
Laura Fuchs
2007
Josephine Ferorelli
2005
Allison Bretz
2009
John Gabriel
2006
Leah Dugan
2007
Amelia Valdez Quellhorst
2007, 2010
Ana Raquel Minian
2005
Katherine Hove
2005
Stacy Hackner
2010
I was involved with a group that tried to get the university to develop a sexual assault policy in the mid-2000s. Survivors struggled through the same inadequate-at-best procedures that ASAP describes attempting to improve in the 1990s. It's sick and disheartening that the university still hasn't changed.
-- Heather Rosenfeld
AB 2007
David Adamson
2007
Hannah Kardon
2008
Edward Hershey
AB 2001; AM 2003
Rebecca Rothschild
2010
Sara Rezvi
2006
Stephanie Ciupka
2010
Trevor Schechter
2007
Daniel M. Choi
2010
Hannah Gordon
2010
Shana Carp
2010
Marguerite Brown
2010
Ryan Kaminski
2008
Molly Liu
2013
Quan Le
2005
Eliza Behlen
2011
Michelle Schmitz
2011
It is disturbing to think, that there is still no good policy for handling sexual assault on campus!
-- Kyle I.Fuchs
AB 1972
Yuxi Lin
2010
Emiliy Hall
2010
Emily York
AB 2000
Trevor Oliver
AB '97
Loranne Nasir
2004, 2008
Ethan Sribnick
AB '98
Matthew Irvin
1999
Vivian Wong
1998
Alex Lampros
AB 2007
Sexual assault against women at the university was pervasive when I was there and so under-reported it seemed that each woman was the only victim. That is until she asked her friends about it. The assailants are usually classmates. What is the point of the Unviersity of Chicago having one of the largest police forces in Illinois if it cannot protect its students from each other? The South Side is dangerous, but campus is not Eden.
-- Anne Elise Herold Li
1997
Mari Shopsis
AB '98
Megan Hill
2003
Elda Stanco Downey
AB '98
Teresa Wood
AB '98
carrie wipplinger
1999
Sean Stevenson
AB 99
Michael Yarbrough
AB '01
Anne Bazile
1999
Sam Jacob
1999
As a member of the Working Group on the Sexual Assault Policy (WGSAP) from 2008 to 2010, I can only echo and stand in solidarity with this statement from ASAP. It is astounding to me that students have been advocating for more just sexual assault disciplinary policies since the early 90s (at least!), and yet the University is still responding to sexual assault survivors in ways that have warranted attention from the US Dept. of Education's Office of Civil Rights. I am very proud of the work WGSAP was able to do with the University and the progress the University has made since that time, but based on the details I've read of the case that spurred this investigation, it's still not enough. As student activists graduate, the University administration is more responsible than ever for maintaining progress and not failing sexual assault survivors
-- Ursula Wagner
AM 2010
Michaeljit Sandhu
2013
Julia Conte
2012
Emma Cueto
2013
Jaclyn Peek
AB '02
Annie Wu
2015
Sarah Del Ciello
2009
Marissa Lieberman-Klein
AB '13
Caitlyn Buchanan
2010
Shelly Horwitz
2013
While I was a student at UC, a a classmate was raped in one of the libraries. The university immediately beefed up security at building entrances. I ask UC to never stop examining and improving its response to rape. This seat of enlightenment should and can be a place of security and just recourse for women and a place in which every man (student, faculty, or worker) knows that rape is a crime that he will never tolerate or commit.
-- Frances Rigberg Baker
AB 1966
Sharan Shetty
2013
Naseem Jamnia
AB '13
Karen Zainal
2014
Kristina Strother-Garcia
2013
Erika A. Rist
AB 2013
Devyn Russell
2013
Kirsten Madsen
AB '13
Erika Dunn-Weiss
SB'13
Malic White
2012
Adam Rosenthal
AM 2012
Danya Raquel Lagos
AB '12
Sherry Cao
2014
Evan Garrett
2012
Alexandra Belzley
2015
Molly FitzMaurice
2012
Molly FitzMaurice
2012
This is essential on every college campus. U of C risks losing its admirable standing if it becomes known it is taking the ostrich approach
-- Joan Meier, J.D.
1983
Jason Insworth
M.Div 2006
Jesse Hughes
1998
Anh-Thu Huynh
2008
Susan Klumpner
2011
Markie Gray
2012
Ella Christoph
AB 2011
Jake Interrante
2012
Mayte Guerra
2011
Sophie Nunberg
2012
Jeremy Kane
2011
Rob Underwood
2011
Sophia Alice
2013
Lily Baker
AB 2011
Eddie Sung
2002
Kerith Asma
AM 2013
Jennifer Sung
2014
Laura A. McFadden
2013
Jennie Lee
2013
Ariadne Yulo
2014
Roisleen Todd
2014
Catherine Greim
2011
Anna Johnson
2013
Sophie Wereley
2013
Hannah Provenza
AB 2012
Cassandra Walker
2013
Katie Hough
2013
Jordan Poole
2016
Eric Zuesse
1966
Dennis Tseng
2013
I know of two sexual assaults when I was an undergrad that the University did nothing about. For shame.
-- Rachel Landau-Lazerus
AB 2008 MPP 2012
Peter Borah
2012
Catherine Fireman
AB 2011
Constance Grady
2010
Elizabeth Bidwell Goetz
AB 2008
Ethan Rodkin
2010
John Payne
2006
Joanna Zabiega
2013
Robert Prag
2008
Anne Marie Williams
2012
Carolyn Bolger
AB 2012
Samuel Bloom
2012
Joe Tomino
AB 2011
Victoria Garcia
2016
Aleks Ksiazkiewicz
MA 2008
Alexander Fix
AB '09
Matt McCracken
2013
Marvin Espinozaa
2014
Alice Xue
AB 2013
Faith Meixell
2012
Aviva Rosman
AB 2010
Gerald Pillsbury
PhD '93
Bing Wang
AB 2013
Rachel Sullivan
AB '13
John Xia
2014
Chelsea Woods
2011
Vicki Pung
2013
Abigail Kraft
2009
Catrina Doxsee
2013
Elisabeth Sanders
2013
Molly Munson
13
Anand Sarwate
Affiliate, 2011-2013
Carolyn Wald
2011
nicolle neulist
AB 2004
Eve L. Ewing
AB 2008
Elizabeth Himmel
2009
Alice Mark
3009
Laura Gluckman
AB '08, MAT '10
Julia Sizek
2013
Sophia Kortchmar
2013
Marc Amante
AB 2010
Jesse Raber
2005
Mike Mei
2012
Lorca Sloan
2013
Carrie Williams-George
2010
Hallie Trauger
AB 2010
Emily Heist Moss
AB 2010
Alison Roberts
2014
Jacob Friedman
2011
Mabel Sanqui
2002
Mabel Sanqui
2002
Connie Ma
AB'2010
Zekeriya Eroglu
1999
Robert Grider
2010
Maria Fereira
2013
Joan Wolkerstorfer
AB 2006
Craig Johnson
2011
Madalyn Zimbric
AB 2011
Ian Morrow
2011
Chase Mechanick
2012
nicholas bailey
2012
Elizabeth Gray
2012, 2013
Chana Messinger
2013
Sol Lee
2011
Alison Eckhardt
2006
Josh Zenker
2007
Anna Akers-Pecht
AB 2012
Heather Johnson
AB '98
Cheyenne Chun
2011
Gautham Varadarajan
2013
I was involved in the Working Group on Sexual Assault Policy from 2008-2010. Why does the University continue to neglect students' voices and safety?
-- Caroline Wooten
2012
Dan Wade
2009
Audrey Habermann
AB 2009
Gabriel Jacobs
2013
Alison Kahler
2010
Sara Nasser
2012
Aaron
2013
Alyssa Mathias
2009
Savithry Namboodiripad
AB '10, AM '10
David Masad
2009
Daniel Benjamin
AB 2009
Sze Han Ong
2011
Andrew Yale
MA 2007
Avi Garelick
2010
Maxwell Tang
2010
Emily Gilman
2009
JR Martin
AB 2008
Brittany Agostino
AB 2013
Anna Rae Goethe
2010
Yasmeen Mekawy
Grad
Jaleesa Akuoko
2012
Benjamin Rossi
2010
Alice Magelssen
2009
Katherine Jasa
2010
Alexander Hoare
2014
Luis Brennan
2010
Aaron Weiss
Lab School 2008
Jonathan Katz
2014
Ni Qian
2010
Adrienne Hunt
2016
Nikhil Raghuram
9
Yadav Gowda
2014
I personally know students at several universities who were let down by their schools following sexual assault. Let's make sure that our university stops being one of them.
-- Caroline Gully Brown
2015
Marina Peterson
1998
Douglas Graebner
2014
I was an Orientation Leader my second year and am now the ASC Wisconsin regional chair. I helped teach incoming students about consent and practices to protect themselves and others during orientation, and really appreciated that the University included a discussion on drinking and consent, I do think these discussions helped deter many assault cases. But it pains me to learn that the University does not respond as compassionately when these prevention methods fail. High school students read these reports, they investigate universities thoroughly - I would not want my interviewees to feel unsafe or unsupported at their dream school.
-- Chelsea Bingiel
2011
Avital Morris
2017
Natalie Wagner
2017
Louis Wasserman
2012
Dexter N. O'Connell
2013
Daniel Immerman
2008
Ramona Martinez
2011
We have enough problems with poor mental health on this campus without mistreating our students who suffer traumatic events.
-- Misha Grifka
2015
Kevin Cherry
2011 AM
Morgan Britt
2014
Richard J Prince
1969
Gabrielle Friedman
MAT 2015
Emily Dawson
2008, 2010
Diana Camosy
AB 2010
Avital Datskovsky
2013
Lena Phalen
2013
dmuratore
2016
Elena Bulgarella
2010
The University has a moral and a legal obligation to improve its treatment of survivors.
-- Michelle Kilbourn
2014
Jessee Fish
2016
Daniel Rothblatt
2015
Anaïs Ahmed
2016
Clancy Taylor
2016
Ben Sigrist
AB 2012
Hannah Friedman
2016
Matt Kellner
2015
I am absolutely appalled by recent news out of my alma mater. I'm embarressed when friends up affiliated with the university ask me about these cases and what such a prestigious institution is doing with such a backwards policy. I stand in solidarity with my classmates and fellow alumnae who are survivors of sexual assault.
-- Lauren Dean
2013
Blair Thornburgh
AB 2012
Trevor Morse
2009
Gregor Siegmund
2013
Mary Schoenbach
AB '14
Charles F. Wang
AB 2011
Listen up, U of C; your alumni want legal, effective assault policy more than we want Kant socks.
-- Laura Eberly
AB 2010, AM 2011
Katherine McIntyre
2011
Deanna Lesht
AM 2011
Lucy Little
2012
Alice Grossman
Lab 2006
Emily Pelka
2009
Brian Hoey
2014
Edo Choi
2014
Melissa Grossbarth
2016
Lynda Lopez
2014
Vida Kuang
2013
Tyler Darnell
2016
I know my IX. The University, it appears, does not.
http://knowyourix.org/title-ix/title-ix-the-basics/-- Yun-ke Chin-Lee
2016
leslie warmus
2011
Olivia Woollam
2013
Sarah Pickman
2008
Chelsea Jaffey
2015
Andrea Haidar
2015
Ryan Rubin
2006
Jena Barchas-Lichtenstein
2005
Nina Trumbo
2011
Sarah M. Collins
1999
Taylor Brogan
2014
Forcing an alleged victim of sexual violence to engage in face-to-face "mediation" with his or her rapist is inexcusable and underscores the University's lack of commitment to providing legal or emotional support to students harmed under University auspices. It's time for a change.
-- Sara Liss
2007
Yusef Al-Jarani
2015
Colin Low
2014
Stephen Wellman
1998
Sara Rubinstein
2016
The university's handling of these sexual assault cases up to this point has been absolutely disgraceful. They should be leaders in this issue.
-- Tristan Bock-Hughes
2017
Alexis Chaney
2012
Andrea Nishi
2013
Daniel von Brighoff
AB 1992
Stella Biderman
2016
Jennifer Thall
AB 2011
Himabindu Poroori
2015
Brian Sullivan
AB 1984
Benjamin Venator
1989
Juliet Eldred
2017
Bradan Litzinger
2011
George Rapidis
2015
Carolyn Hruban
2017
Luis Amaya
2013
Anum Qadir
2014
Kathleen Cole
2017
Genevieve Aoki
AB 2009
Our institution should always be head and shoulders above the norm on social issues, and should protect our students with the same conviction we preach in the classroom. It is time our institutions of higher education did more to open the dialogue on sexual assault, and protect its victims.
-- Jessica Chung
2013
Addie Barron
2017
Katelyn Muenck
2014
Isaac Wolkerstorfer (né Wasileski)
2005
Anna Bertiger
SB 2006
Aimee Drolet
1991, 1993
Sien Hasker
2017
Harry Milkman
1985
I am now very relieved that my daughter decided not to apply to the college, and I must say, I am not sure that I will encourage her to consider Chicago for graduate school. This is so disheartening. I felt that Chicago, of all places, would treat victims of sexual violence with respect. A close friend was a victim of attempted rake during my fourth year there. It was traumatic not just for her, but for all of her friends. I hope the school treats this letter as the wake up call it is.
-- Amy Lesemann
1985
Judith Silverstein
1985
Ramya Iyer
2010
Bryan Ho
2010
Maira Khwaja
2016
Andres Fonseca
2013
Rebecca Lindsey Uhl
2009
Emily Bao
2014
Craig Segall
2004
Melissa High
2014
Maranna Yoder
2015
Alice Peng
2013
Michael Harrison
2017
Veronica Portillo Heap
2015
Katherine Thibodeaux
2012
Alex Bender
2005
Robert Migliore
AB 1983
I am excited to see alumnae and alumni involvement in this issue and to connect with you! I share the concerns expressed in the letter but I have chosen a different path with my money. I have given restricted donations to provide supplemental (not budget relief) funding to address sexual violence on campus. For years, I refused to give money until I saw the University address the issue of non-stranger rape on campus, but attending my 30th reunion brought a change of heart. I decided to make a restricted gift. I am now also a member of the Phoenix society: I assigned the University as a beneficiary of my IRA with the funds designated for "student internships to study or improve the University's definitions, policies, reporting of, disciplining procedures, or programming related to non-stranger sexual assault. Review of other college programs and benchmarking against them is particularly desirable." If others are interested in exploring such restricted giving or (non-giving) options, I'd love to connect with you. We might just have an impact. Since the organizers have everyone's email addresses, might we form a Google group for discussing possible next steps? I'm happy to help.
I'd also like to invite interested University of Chicago people to join Campus Survivors of Sexual Assault, an online forum for alumnae, alumni, and former students who survived sexual violence while attending an institution of higher learning in the United States. We share stories, support, resources, and actions. Friends, family, and allies are also welcome.
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/campussurvivorsFinally, I invite you to visit the Facebook page, Culture of Consent, where I monitor news coverage of non-stranger rape on university campuses.
https://www.facebook.com/CultureOfConsent-- Michele Beaulieux
BA Political Science 1982
Elena Smith
2017
Faven Habte
2015
Sydelle Keisler
2017
Nathan Schine
2018
Rina Friedberg
2015
Mark Boykin
2015
Elizabeth Musselman Palmer
MDiv 1997 PhD 2014
Carmel Levy
2009
Katherine Mock
2012
Naomi Itzkoff
2015
Jonathan Pesetsky
2015
Maira Khwaja
2016
S. Renee Judd, Ph.D.
1989
Katryce Lassle
2014
Lester Ang
2013
Deborah Megdal
2008
Mark Bouchard
2017
Sobia Haleem
2014
Mallory Bender
2013
Alex Warburton
2011
Amanda Bennett
2014
Ione Barrows
2015
Maxine Berman
AB 2016
Alexandra Muma
AB 2010
Merry Herbst
2012
Jacqueline Trudeau
2012
Eliza Brown
2013
Kirsten Paige
2011
Mihajlo Gasic
2013
Emma Moore
2012
Nissa Mai
2015
James Michael Levinsohn
2012
Rabeya Merenkov
2009
Oluwadamilola Obaro
AB 2012
Anna Jones
2011
Claire Joyce
2011
Philip McGrath
2014
Talia Retter
2012
Padma Chirumamilla
AB 2009
Sarah Bingham Miller
AB 1992
Emma Cone-Roddy
AB '11, JD '15
Morgan Brock-Smith
2015
Eleanor Friedman
AB 2005
Patrick Moran
2013
Richard Ruiz
2010
Michael Lipkin
2011
Juan
2013
Richard Ruiz
2010
Elle Opitz
2012
Celia Yuen
2016
Harry Backlund
2011
Ellen Platts
2015
Madeleine Weisman
2012
Cordelia Duff
2014
Farzad Alvi
AB 1988
The treatment of sexual violence has clearly been an ongoing problem. Way back in 1981, there was a recognition that title IX was being ignored, and women were not being treated the same as men (the whole WOLF thing about locker rooms). The hope was that "fixes" in the 1990s actually DID fix. Clearly not. And it's not just a case of men versus women; it's a case of people versus people. I love U of C, through and through. But it's definitely time to clean up the dark underside!
-- Marsha Woerner
SB 1983
Elizabeth Leahey
2014
Hayley Lamberson
2012
Hui Min Chang
2013
Fiona Malone
2012
Bailey Steinworth
2013
Shenghe Ye
2012
The University's backwards policies are re-traumatizing the very people they are supposed to protect.
-- Marguerite Meyer
2015
Susan Murphy
1991
Sandra Cordoba
2012
Tim Donovan
2009
Alex Kostiw
2009
Molly Steele
2008
Ryan O'Malley
2014
Helen Ellsworth
2015
Alexandra Deis-Lauby
2012
Sara Raftery
2009
Aisha Ahmad
2014
Zach Taylor
2017
Sarah Staudt
BA 2010, JD 2013
Tamara Ghattas
2003
Connor Gilroy
2013
Daniel Dziubinski
2013
It's both sad and shocking to find out that the nightmarish stories I heard from friends about the inadequate responses of the University administration to sexual assault cases in the 90's still goes on. Their lack of support for victims led to the widespread opinion among students that the administration sought to "handle" such cases internally only so that they could sweep them under the rug and reduce crime statistics and bad publicity for a University concerned with attracting well-to-do suburban kids to "scary ol' Hyde Park". Well, Hyde Park, and the world at large, has come a long way since then. It's a disgrace the University's support for sexual assault victims hasn't also.
-- Keith Murphy
1997
Seth Samelson
2008
Steven Rice
2012
Lauren Stokes
AM 2011
Joanna Behrman
MA 2014
Tom Alexander
AB 2000
Arvin Shandiz
2006
Patrick Ip
2013
Luis Gutierrez
2000
Sumaya Bouadi
2016
Jon Lee
2013
Monica Apodaca
2000
Philip Ehrenberg
2014
Sithara Kodali
2011
Kara Christensen
2011
Dory Fox
AB '13
Vriti Jain
2011
Wilson Gu
2012
Lucy Hall
2010
Ashley Jackson
2011
As an Orientation Leader in my second and third years and a Student Director in my fourth year at UChicago, I always felt that the University wasn't aggressive enough about its sexual assault policies. While I agree that students should be made aware of resources and policies on sexual assault during orientation, I felt uncomfortable with the idea of an open discussion on rape and consent, especially one led by someone with questionable authority, such as another student. The OCR's need for investigation is proof that this method of preventing sexual assault doesn't work. Yes, UChicago prides itself on its student-lead discourse, but when it comes to consent, there is no discussion: NO MEANS NO.
-- Ariadne Sandbeck
2010
Jonathan Sellon
2010
Chloe McCabe
2011
Jorge Saldaña
2013
I am disheartened by the University's handling of these situations, yet I retain my hope that this liberal institution will swiftly resolve the mechanisms that allow for injustices like these to slip under the rug.
-- Jon Sussman
2017
Gale Stam
2006
Rachel Marro
2012
Snigdha Sah
2008
Megan Carlson
2010
Andrea Toro
2007
Caroline Weisser
AB 2009
Ayoung Lee
AB 2009
Andrea Freerksen
2012
Hale Thompson
1991
Samina Majid Waggoner MD
1990
Tal Kopan
2009
Kathryn Hostettler
AB 1991
Heather Lewis
2010
Kailin Liu
AB 2010
Dennell Reynolds
AB 2011
Lauren Fram
2010
Hanna Mandelbaum
2001
Diane Pyle
1982
Avery Leigh Thomas
2009
Emily Tancer Broach
AB 2008 JD 2011
Elizabeth Hart
2011
Alicia May
AB 2010
Aliya Bagewad
2012
Olivia Renensland
2010
Agnes Zarkadas
1982
Joanna Lampe
AB 2006
Padma Rajagopal
2009
John Laycock
2009
Lauren Makholm
2010
K. Nadine Kavanaugh
1999
Kenworthey Bilz
JD 1998
Elizabeth McCreless
2012
Emma Boast
AB 2009
Chenab Navalkha
2013
Dan Reis
2013
Rachel Swift
2006
Jamila Taylor
2014
Hannah Landes
2017
Nora Sandler
2014
Xandra
2016
Shirley Zhang
2017
Hayley Goldstein
2017
Lester Hu
PhD 2019
Stephanie Diaz
2017
David Clingingsmith
AM 1998
Jonathan Warczak
2012
James Magnuson
1993
Ben Ropp
1994
Ian Ramdeen
2015
Sam Scarrow
2013
Julianna Peebles
2014
Christina Sprayberry
2011
I was disappointed to read about the University's response to sexual assault survivors and am hopeful that they not only abide by current law and policy but instill additional measures to aid survivors and prevent sexual assault.
-- Leigh Knittle MA
2005
Mandi Medeiros
AM 2010
Ellie Mejia
2017
Joan Park
2014
Aden Kumler
AB 1996
I refuse to accept that my friends have been told to keep the proceedings of their hearings quiet, that they can't tell me the horrors you put them through: the blaming, the disrespect, the blatant disregard for their humanity. They are told that it was unclear if there was consent so their attackers remain on campus (fyi if consent's unclear there was no consent). They walk around in fear. And to tell them their rapists' privacy is more important than their voice is despicable. Survivors like me have asked politely too many times. Everyone's watching now, the University's dirty little not-so-secret is in the public eye, and I couldn't be more overjoyed.
-- Christina Pillsbury
AB '14 (c/o 2012)
Nicole Lipitz
AB 2011
Simona Mkrtschjan
2002
Kaitlin Thompson
AM 2014
Ted Kent
2013
Anamaria Hernandez
2014
Zoe Boundy-Singer
2016
Maggy Liu
2017
Sara Corderman
AB '13
Gregory Goodman
2012
I was so very disappointed to learn that UChicago would continue disrespect its students in such a way even after student feedback from 1990s. UChicago should be more concerned with treating its students well and less concerned with being a famous university.
-- Coya Castro
2006
Ellie McGarvey
2010
Michael Kastler
1990
Jackson Oakley
AB 2015
Mary Sharon Kastler
1990
Ella Farmer
AB 1995
Amanda Godley
1991
I am shocked and dismayed that, after more than 20 years, the University continues to fail its students and add to the profound violations they have suffered. The U of C has betrayed far too many people.
-- Leah (Koch) Kabira
AB '92
Maureen Loughnane
AB 1993
Inge-Marie Eigsti
1993
Danielle Rue
1992
Jessica Zhang
2012
Adrian Trust
2017
Ana Torres Villafana
AB 2012
Kaitlyn Lee
2014
Nicholas Welsh
2012
Nicole Lasky
MA 2007
Eric Rogers
AB'05 AM'07
Kari Berglund
AB 2011
Petar Yanakiev
2012
Sarah Follmer
2005
Kymberly Harrington
2012
Stephanie Zelaya
2013
Ashley Mitchell
AB 2012
Aaron Stigberg
1995
Sakina Kazmi
2012
Saul Hymes
AB '02
Elisa Shoenberger
2006
Zainab Imam
MPP 2015
Emily Peters
2003
John Tangren
AB 2000
Monica Mercado
AM 2006
Tyler Kissinger
2016
Emma Marquez
2010
Susie Turkson
2012
Wendy Easton
1984 MFA
Susie Moya
2011
Sandra Storey
AB '89
Jack Jin Gary Lee
AB 2007
Victor Bayona
1999
Maheema Haque
2017
Christopher Snyder
1994
Claudia
AB '13
U of C, as ever: LESS THEORY. MORE JUSTICE.
-- Leah E. Olm
2007
Sara Rezvi
2006
Kathryn Campbell-Kibler
1998
Erin Kelsey
2012
Mollie McQuillan
2000
Brook Dooley
AB 1996
Marisa Gora
1995
Zulma Terrones
AB '12
Kira Bennett Hamilton
AB 2008
Kamilah Foreman
2001
Lola Thompson
2007
Susan Paul
A.M. 1998
Tim Goodell
1985
Haley Markbreiter
2012
Virginia Hill
1990
Sofia Flores
2015
Pete Brooks
2014
Tova Reiter
2015
Tanvi Mago
2015
Kate Christensen
2017
Serena May
2012
Maia Rigas
1990
Ligia M. Castro-Monge
AM 1988
Jenna Harper
2008
Sarah Tsai
A.M. 2008
Christina Williams
2010
Laura Fillenwarth
AM 2008
Elisabeth Helmy
2007
Anita Dutta
2013
Max Shron
AB 2009
Jerry Pollock
1991
Wendy Schoen
MBA 1980
Genevieve Denoeux
2014
Karen Hopkins
1993 PhD
I am not surprised by this as I continue to watch UofC ignore so many social justice issues where they could leaders. Empire building does not leave much time to concern oneself with the health and well being of students or neighboring communities.
-- Lisa Marie Pickens
BA 1980; AM 1987
Heather Ferguson
1991
Vicki E. Jenkins
1982
Veronika Hanko
2012
David Collier
AB '12
Gwenyth Bailey Knorr
1984
This social sickness seems to be a national epidemic among our institutions of higher learning. If you doubt this assertion, I invite you to investigate any university and see if it can boast a 100% record of openly reporting sexual assaults involving its students, through the media, the same way sexual assaults occurring in the public population are officially handled. Why does being a university student seemingly provide the alleged perpetrator with some sort of "protective shield," where although the student is most likely legally an adult, the university administration takes the official stance that they are protecting the rights of "both parties" by remaining silent? As if they are dealing with an incident that has occurred between children?!? Until professional, consistent investigatory practices, overseen by officials outside the university environment, are in place to address these crimes, unfortunately more will continue to follow.
Morgan Anderson
2010
Dean Art should be fired and prosecuted. From reading of this most recent story that was published it was her recommendation that led to the improper and illegal mediation. I also know on several other occasions at the university where felonies were committed and Dean Art attempted to cover them up.
Melissa Curran-Moore
1989
In my first month on campus, I was shocked by the rape and assault of two freshmen who were walking across the Midway. I was even more shocked by the University's lack of response in helping these individuals. At least one of them ended up transferring to a different school. I am pleased to see the investigation because the University seems to practice a strategy of delaying action until affected students and/or students demanding action "go away" via transfer or graduation rather than addressing chronic problems. Obviously, the problems begin again with the next class and are not going to go away without the shining of a light by an outside agency that will require action and accountability.
Emily Wolf
2008
Grace Fisher
2012
I never reported my assault because I couldn't see the point of, essentially, retraumatizing myself. If the administration can give students FAITH that they'll be dealt with humanely, more people will come forward and get the help they need (and I so desperately needed)
Gene Kopp
2011
Kenneth Jones
2006
Morgan Warfield-Reich
2009
Mariana Villanueva Huerta
2015
Valerie Morrow
1981
Linden Higgins
1980
I am discouraged to read of the issues on the U of C campus regarding "acquaintance rape". A survivor myself, I can assure the powers that be that no one ever levels accusations of assault without there being grounds: dealing with authorities ("mediation" with the assailant? Whose idea was *that*) adds such trauma to the original assault that only the strongest can persist. But perhaps that is the goal: to discourage victims from bringing to light their experiences?
Colin Weaver
2013
Isra Shah
2012
Luis Brennan
2010
Emilee
2003
Patti Kameya
2006 PhD
<strong>Total Number of Signers: 623</strong>
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