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anonnynon

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  1. Hm, if this were true, I think I need to be in a different department! That is a good idea to go to the Title IX coordinator. I know that the counseling center has tried to create a support group for survivors, but it has failed to materialize each semester due to lack of participation. I doubt this is from lack of need - maybe lack of awareness or fear of running into classmates? Regardless, I agree that it might be a good place to ask for support. Unfortunately the university doesn't have a women's center, but the LGBTQ+ center might also be a good resource. Thanks for your input. I essentially did #1. What I'm more asking if/what are the other options? This wasn't a position I'd ever expected myself to be in - I'd sort of thought that when students are under investigation for violent crimes, they wouldn't be permitted on campus. Maybe it was because his formal indictment didn't come until the beginning of spring semester - but I've seen people charged with other violent crimes be banned from campus in the middle of a semester. Research has shown that false rape accusations are only about 2% of all allegations that are reported to the police. Frequently included in the category of "false" accusations are people who later drop their charges - which can happen for a variety of reasons, such as domestic abuse, mistreatment of evidence by legal authorities, hostile treatment of victim by legal authorities, settling out of court, etc. Overall, I'm a lot more concerned with protecting survivors than protecting falsely accused folks - mostly because survivors are a lot more common. I have 2-3 students a year come out to me about being a survivor. I'll also say that it is a huge deal that the people I'm talking about were actually indicted, and on counts of aggravated rape. Yes, innocent until proven guilty, but holy moly, if they were indicted on those charges, it means that there is some realllllly strong evidence. Albeit, they probably won't still be charged. That's mostly an issue with our legal system. I agree with you on the importance of the topic, and I don't think I will ever not include it. I do a lot of prep inside and outside of class leading up to the discussions on sexual violence, excuse any absences for those days, try to heavily moderate the discussions. I've done some extra trainings on how to discuss these issues. This is just....not something would be a part of the classroom. I've always thought about it in a very general sense - knowing that inevitably there are survivors in my classes, which means the reverse is also probably true. I think this semester was different because my student was indicted about a month into the semester on aggravated rape charges. I discussed this a little bit above. Maybe I am thinking my students are more aware of campus goings-on then they are, but given our discipline, they are generally the type of students to be following these things. Regardless, I don't think this is something that is going to go away - there was another student publicly accused during finals week. I definitely will be looking into the suggestions given as ways to further this conversation.
  2. This makes way more sense. My brain is mush at this time of year. CHE def did not translate to the Chronicle. Woops. I think I'd be very careful before taking any specific action. I don't even know that I'm looking for a specific action right now. The semester is over for us. It was just a very very very disorienting experience? And exhausting? With all the cases happening nationwide, I know that I'm not the only one in this position. I'm more looking for community rather than "Hey tell me what to do." Can you clarify your last point?
  3. I browsed through the chem forums and didn't see anything. I just used the search function to look for key words. Any recommendation for direction?
  4. I wrote this post a few days ago, and then sat on it, uncertain of whether or not I actually wanted to publish it. In the few days that I waited, another athlete was publicly accused of rape. For my university, this is the sixth one this year. This is not an issue that is going to go away anytime soon, and I'm forced to think this is an important conversation to have. -------------------------------- I’m struggling for words here, so I hope that all of this doesn’t sound too jumbled or unorganized. I think the title of the thread gives you a good idea of what I’m about to discuss. Background info: Two male students at my university were accused of rape of a female student and a female non-student back in the fall semester. The case has received a lot of press in our community because both men were athletes, and the university has cultivated a strong following for its athletic programs. The case is ongoing, but both men have been indicted on charges of rape. Both of their names and pictures have been released in the articles concerning the case. One of the men graduated at the end of the fall semester. The other remained enrolled (though removed from his team) and was in my class this spring semester. I’m in my third year in a sociology PhD program and have been a teaching associate since I entered the program. Because I teach sociology classes, it is common for us to cover topics relating to gender and sexual violence. Though the class I was teaching this spring related to food and society, I do have a section on gendered media and advertising regarding food, which includes themes of sexual violence. My class was relatively small, and we all get to know each other fairly well. I use small discussion groups on a regular basis, and students are assigned to a group the first week of class. So, there is a lot of interaction in my class between the students. I found out maybe a month in that he was in the class – when I read an article that used his picture. So I have been having a difficult time processing and trying to figure out if/how this might have impacted my classroom dynamics. This has been a high-profile case in our community for a few reasons: the male who had graduated was a star on his team, these accusations were not the only ones opened against male athletes in the fall, but (I think) the only ones where charges have not been dropped and the accused have been indicted. Now I don’t think that this is something I should have addressed in front of the classroom, but I find myself thinking about how the people in his group may have felt having to interact with him each time we did small group work? Knowing the stats on sexual assault, there were assuredly survivors in my class – did having him in the classroom impact their ability to learn? When giving the lecture on gendered advertising/sexual violence, do students take this information seriously with him sitting in the class? Do they feel protected? I have struggled all semester with wondering if I my students have felt alienated, unsupported, unprotected in my classroom because of this dynamic. I did discuss this briefly with my dept head and diss chair. Both were very supportive in making sure that I was okay to teach, but there wasn’t much discussion about impacts on my students. To be honest, this wasn’t something really surfaced for me until mid-semester, but it has been on my mind a lot. I’m not sure that I have any specific question. I guess I’m just wondering, with many other universities dealing with issues of sexual violence, have any of you been in similar situations? Heard of others? How or was it addressed at all?
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