This week, just prior to the Columbia Journalism School’s review of Rolling Stone’s now-infamous University of Virginia “rape” story, the spring edition of UVA’s Virginia Magazine came out.
There is a large section devoted to the “rape” story, and the online version features a lengthy timeline on the evolution of measures devoted to addressing sexual violence, beginning with 1972’s Title IX law.
The timeline mentions the failure of Rolling Stone’s “journalism” in the whole UVA affair, yet at the very top of the page we see this:
An overview of how the University is responding to this issue
“THE ROLLING STONE ARTICLE PUT OUR UNIVERSITY IN THE SPOTLIGHT, and we are using this moment of national attention to provide strong leadership in the long-running effort to improve student safety on America’s college campuses,” Teresa Sullivan said in a Jan. 30 address to the University. “All colleges, the military and many workplaces face issues of sexual violence. But we have been put in a leadership position, and we will lead.”
Indeed. It also put a spotlight on the very real need for a thing called “due process” and a concept known as “innocent until proven guilty.”
Further, under the (Sexual Assault) “Facts” section, we read — again — a common, yet debunked, statistic:
Prevalence of Sexual Assault
The National Institute of Justice reports: “The often-quoted statistic that one in four American college women will be raped during her college years is not supported by the scientific evidence. Nonetheless, several studies indicate that a substantial proportion of female students—between 18 and 20 percent—experience rape or some other form of sexual assault during their college years.”
Maybe a bit of solace can be taken at the addition of the words “several studies.”
UVA President Teresa Sullivan reacted to the Columbia review by saying that “Long before Rolling Stone published its article, the University of Virginia was working to confront sexual violence. Our highest priority is to ensure the safety of our students so they can learn and achieve their personal potential in an environment of trust and security. We will continue to work tirelessly in pursuit of that goal.”
Maybe waiting quite a bit less than eleven months to report sexual assaults to law enforcement would go a long way in reinforcing that “highest priority.”
h/t to Gary Fouse.
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