Posted on 02/15/2014 11:33:42 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
"Why could we not expel a student based on an allegation?" That astonishing question was posed at a conference on how colleges respond to sexual assault issues by Amanda Childress, Sexual Assault Awareness Program coordinator at Dartmouth. According to Inside Higher Ed, Childress continued: "It seems to me that we value fair and equitable processes more than we value the safety of our students. And higher education is not a right. Safety is a right. Higher education is a privilege."
Give Childress credit for candor--even the campus spokespersons for increasing the number of guilty findings in campus tribunals usually aren't so bald in their disdain for basic principles of due process.
Childress' jarring remarks coincided with news that Dartmouth had promoted her, and given her additional power over the college's sexual assault policies. Last Friday, the college announced that Childress will head the newly-created Center for Community Action and Prevention, which Childress said would "be the focal point on campus for Dartmouth's sexual assault and violence prevention initiatives" and "drive the College's mobilization efforts around preventing sexual violence and increasing the safety and well-being of all members of our community." (All members, it seems, except students facing unsubstantiated allegations of sexual assault.) Incredibly, Dartmouth theater professor Paul Hackett suggested that despite Childress' appointment, the college isn't going far enough on the issue.
To reiterate: one of the nation's elite colleges thinks it's a good idea to enhance the power of a figure who wonders about the propriety of expelling possibly innocent students based solely on an allegation.
Childress' remarks doubtless will resurface if Dartmouth, like nearly a dozen colleges and universities, faces a lawsuit from a student railroaded out of school after experiencing his school's brazen procedures. The latest such lawsuit came against Swarthmore, already infamous for a Title IX accusers' complaint on absurd grounds that its procedures (which include a prohibition on accused students from even talking about the case with an attorney) is too unfair against the accusers.
The Swarthmore lawsuit, first reported by Philadelphia, shares similar characteristics to suits filed against Vassar, St. Joe's, and Xavier--but with one interesting twist. According to the filing, the accuser waited 19 months to file her charges (she never went to police or had a medical exam); the weakness of her case was such that even Swarthmore's biased disciplinary system didn't bring charges against the accused students. But two weeks after the Title IX complaints, Swarthmore reopened the case--and within less than a month, had completed its investigation, held a hearing, and completed the expulsion. The lawsuit alleges that Swarthmore failed to respect what passes for due process on the campus; the student's attorney claims that Swarthmore didn't give the student a right to respond in writing to the charges, among other things.
“The woman is guilty I tell you. She is guilty of conspiring to seduce me. Shes your student and you must pay me for damages for attempted seduction.”
I’ll bet Gloria Allred will take your case.
When I was in Nashua I took my niece up to Hanover to tour the campus. One of the distressing events was that in coming out of the Student Union, I was sexually groped by Ms. Childress, right in view of my niece. When I tried to complain I was told there was no one willing to record the complaint.
There! How about this accusation, Ms. Childress?
In todays America, who says it has to be a guy? After all, if we believe the media, same sex hookups are everywhere. Shouldn't their be equal injustice for all?
I remember Amanda. she did unspeakable things to me after drugging my beer. I’ve lived with the shame and emotional scars for decades.
/allegation
They need to run with this: Expel *all* students involved in such incidents.
That is, the accused rapist and their victim.
The justification used is one of “equality”, that women should be treated no differently than men. To do otherwise is “sexist”.
It uses similar logic to what they are proposing.
I am a witness to your horrible sexual defiling at the hands of that beast. (Even though I can’t prove I was there at the time, or that I was ever actually in New Hampshire.)
Excellent point. Businesses should red flag all such applicants, for the safety and well being of the work environment. They should also decline business relationships with such people. It's too dangerous.
PIV is always rape, ok?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/3108209/posts
Well, it looks like humankind “raped” itself into being, huh.
Daft!
Hey that’s the Moose approach.
Golly, might have something to do with putting sexually naive hormone-ravaged singles into high-density unsupervised unrestricted quarters practically promoting frequent sexual contact?
This does have a certain logic. When there is a fight at school, both children are punished, because the child who defends himself is engaging in as much violence as the one who started raining down the blows.
"Why could we not expel a student based on an allegation?" That astonishing question was posed at a conference on how colleges respond to sexual assault issues by Amanda Childress, Sexual Assault Awareness Program coordinator at Dartmouth.IOW, she should be summarily fired, and if the Dartmouth despots refuse to do that, [redacted by 'Civ]. Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
It’s not intended as a real policy, but to thwart the illogical action of expulsion based solely on unproven accusation. It is just as illogical to expel a victim as it is to expel someone solely because they have been accused of a crime.
Importantly, if someone is *arrested* for a crime, there should be suspension, because the assumption should be that the police have probable cause for the arrest, and as such, the accused should be regarded as of potential danger.
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