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In This Issue...
Page 6
The women's soccer
team strives for a
winning season...
Page 16 and 17
Cyndy Briggs and Will
Pizio discuss different
aspects of rape and
sexual assault...
i
I SL&CF
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1 VJORSEJ
Page 10
Reflecting on the sexual
assault protest...
SAFE from Rape?
Mary Layton Atkinson
Daisy Partington
Staff Writers
For nearly seven years,
Guilford College's sexual miscon
duct protocol has remained an
unchanged, unofficial document.
With rumors about a sexual mis
conduct case that
went before the ju
dicial board earlier
this month sweep
ing across campus,
the protocol has
now found itself
under careful scru
tiny by students
and faculty alike.
"Last year, af
ter listening to stu
dent, staff, and fac
ulty concerns, the
faculty requested
that the College
create a position
addressing gender
issues in Campus
Life," said President
Kent Chabotar, in a
recent letter to the
Junior Kat Allen joins in the protest against
Guilford's rape policy
James Tatum
For more info, on the protest, see page 10
community.
In response,
the college created the position of
Director for Gender Issues and
Retention, filled by Cyndi Briggs.
Briggs, in turn, handpicked mem
bers of the recently formed Sexual
Assault Response Team (SART),
comprised of faculty from the de
partments of campus life, women's
studies, counseling services, and
student health. The group formed
to revise the protocol.
Despite these recent efforts,
the protocol remains a topic of
discussion and concern among
students.
"It doesn't seem like [the ad
ministration has] the ability to
bring about justice," said Caitlin
Whitney-Gallagher, co-coordina
tor of the Feminists Reaching
Equality for Everyone (FREE). "I'd
like to believe that if I was ever
raped, I wouldn't go to the judi
cial board ... I would file a po
lice report."
Jodi Gill, Assistant Dean for
Campus Life, believes that part
of the problem stems from fun
damental misunderstandings
about the document itself and the
procedures it outlines, specifically
the judicial board process.
"One of the biggest miscon
ceptions students have is that the
avenue for individual recourse is
the judicial board," Gill said.
"That avenue is the civil or crimi
nal courts. The judicial board is
there to determine the status of
the accused as a student."
Sophomore
John Pickard dis
agrees with Gill's
assessment. "We
[students] al
ready know that.
The problem is,
it's very difficult to
trust the adminis
tration right now."
The ability to
trust the adminis
tration is not the
only concern
raised by students
in the last few
weeks.
The Sexual As
sault Task Force
and Education
(SAFE), a student
organization dedi
cated to support
and education on
the topic of sexual assault and
misconduct, recently devoted one
of its meetings to discuss student
concerns with the current sexual
October 25, 2002
Volume 89, Issue 6
misconduct protocol. The meeting,
held Oct. 10, drew a larger crowd
than previous SAFE meetings held
this year, according to SAFE Presi
dent John Boyd.
Concerns voiced at the SAFE
meeting expressed the need for
the protocol to more clearly serve
the students.
"The protocol is written as
though it is [the Administration's]
protocol," said John Boyd, presi
dent of SAFE. "But it's not. It's ours,
the students', and it needs to be
user-friendly.."
Specifically, SAFE feels that the
rights of the assaulted student,
rather than only the responsibili
ties of Guilford's administration,
should be clearly outlined.
Interpreting the protocol is
also difficult because sections of it
are documented in several loca
tions, including the Student Hand
book and the Campus Safety
Manual (available online through
Guilford's home page).
For example, while students
at the SAFE meeting said they
felt that the handbook discour
ages the victim from talking to
friends for confidentiality rea
sons, the Campus Safety Manual
actually encourages students to
"find a friend. Friends can be
continued on page 2 ...