VOLUME Ulll NUMBER 4 NEWSPAPER OF THE STUDENTS OF MEREaTH COLLEOe
Knight to speak on Chaucer
SEPTEMBER 24, 19B4
Dr. lone Knight, Distinguished Faculty Lecturer. September 24, 8:00 P.M..J.O.A.
by Jenny Claire Beavers
The office of lone Knight will never be
mistaken as belonging to anyone other
than an English professor. Innumerable
booKs, lined up tightly on three book
shelves, tad^e up almost an entire wall of
Dr, Knight’s neat, but busy, office.
Or. Knight is neither cramped like her
bookshelves, nor is she too busy with her
work to sit and share writh a friend or a
stranger. Instead of sitting behind her
desk to talk, she chooses to sit directly a*
cross from the visitor, placing nothing be
tween herself and the person’s Interest.
Dr. Knight, a Meredith alumnus, first
came to Meredith College as a girl of six
teen from Madison, Virginia, thinking that
no other college existed. “There wasn't a
choice then - my mother had always said
Meredith,” she commented without re
morse.
After her initial four years. Dr. Knight
studied at the University of Pennsylvania
and received her PhD at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Additional
supplementary work and research were
completed at the British Museum, Oxford
University, and the University of London,
Dr. Knight feels that English presents
a special challenge in that one never ar
rives; there Is always more to learn and to
do. In the 28 years that she has taught at
Meredith. Knight continues to pursue that
challenge, while reaping the rewards of
teaching others. She values the frlend-
shl ps of her students and fel low teachers a
greet deal; and delights in the stimulation
of her own learning.
Dr. Knight not only teaches English,
but she also serves as chedrman of
the Libray Committee, tn her spare time,
by JAMES HYATT
[Ed. Note - The lollowfng repre
sent three cases of attempted or actual ac
quaintance rape. Some det^ls have been
ra^en from common elements of other
counseled rape cases at the Counseling
Center and Student Infirmary at North Car
olina State University. The names of vic
tims and attackers are fictitious.]
Karen, a twenty-year-old student, had
been out with Don twice before. On first
Impression, he seemed quite nice, but
shy. As a blind date, he was a pleasant
surprise.
After going to a popular near-by
restaurant for dinner ^d a few drinks, they
went back to Karen's dorm room to watch
television.
About forty minutes later, Don got up
to change channels. He walked back and
stood In front of Karen.
Don suddenly pushed her back on the
bed. When she tried to get up to protest,
he slapped her In the face, hard.
Don jumped on top of Karen and
pinned her arms down. He started kissing
her and tried to rip her shirt off.
Karen began screaming and tried to
get to Don’s eyes with her fingernails.
Some of her sultemates happened to t» in
and knocked on the door.
Don, startled by the knocking and
Karen’s furious cursing and fighting, fled.
Karen never saw Don again. Karen was
lucky.
Jane, a nineteen-year-old student,
had met Paul in one of her classes, hie
seemed outgoing and friendly.
Paul called her one afternoon to
borrow some notes from the last lecture.
she enjoys hobbles such as growing flow
ers and traveling. Without a doubt, how
ever, reading 19th century literature Is her
true love. Although she speaks of Charles
Qckens, Jane Austen, and George Elliot,
she qulddy proclaims Browning and
Chaucer as her two “delghts."
Dr. Knight has found In Chaucer the
object of her lecture to be given at 8: OO In
the evening of September 24 in Jones Aud
itorium. Chaucer, the “Poet of the Dawn,”
presents a happy outlook on life, says
Knight. “One goes from reading Chaucer
feeling uplifted. We are able to look at life
with new eyes, seeing that the sun does
shine in spite of the atomic bomb. We see
the good side to life.”
To Dr. Knight, Meredith College is the
good side to life. When asked why she re
turned to Meredith to teach, she replied, “I
like what we do. I like the education and
the teaching of young women. I also like
the combination of education and Christ
ian values." She finds Joy in seeing young
women grow in skills and maturity, as they
seek an education upon which they can
build a profession.
Humanities, particularly English,
have become increasingly important as a
basis for other majors, such as science
and math, in order that one may channel
her expertise in a more efficient manner.
Just as musicians must learn about
notes before concentrating on an^hing
else, an English grammar and composition
course proves invalua^)le to any student
regardless of her field of study, in English,
just as in music, Dr. Knight comments,
"One must ojltivate gift and talent to be
more powerful.” Asaprofessor, Dr. Knight
helps young women develop their gifts to
yi^d promise and possibility.
Jane was not busy, so she gave him
directions to her apfulment.
Paul arrived shortly afterwards. After
some polite small talk, Jane went back to
her biadroom to get the notes. Paul
follow^ tw.
He closed the door behind him. He
physically overpowered Jane, then raped
her In her own bedroom. Paul left im
mediately aftenwanjs.
Jane was In shock as she sat on the
bed. In a detached way, she wondered if
Paul would keep going to the class; and
what her reaction would be If he did.
Debbie, an>' eighteen-year-old
student, was invited to a party at John's
fraternity. She had met John through some
of her older hometown friends; and
therefore trusted him.
Det>ble got quite dnjnk at the party.
Although none of her other friends were
there, John was always around. Some time
after midnight, he Invited Debbie up to his
njom.
Once In the room, John started taking
off her clothes. Saying “no” was all Debbie
was physically capable of doing. After
John had raped her, Debbie noticed other
males in the room.
Debbie was raped repeatedly that
night. After somehow getting home, she
refused to tell her roommates what had
happened.
Later that week, Debbie saw one of
the men who had raped her. She went back
to her apartment and locked the door. She
was crying and trembling In fear.
Th^ women have experienced, in
differing degrees, a form of sexual assault
known as acquaintance (or “date”) rape.
"Acquaintance” runs the range of
people you casually know or recognize, to
people you spend a great deal of time with.
With most acquaintances, a basic
level of trust has been reached. Rape
shatters this trust. According to Molly
Glander, of N.C. State's Counseling
Center, this aspect makes acquaintance
rape more devastating than “strangei'’
rape. -
“If a person has been raped by a
stranger, ttie victim can see it as a chance
occunence. With dating, the whole
purpose Is to see if you like the other
person, and tnjst develops,” said Glander,
chalnnan of the on-campus Rape
Prevention Committee.
"When rape undermines this trust, it
can cause the victim to experience terrible
self-dpubts, and compulsively search for
reasons why (the victim) was attacked,”
Glander said‘‘Many times,"GImder added,
there are no real reasons for theattack."
Jan Rogers of the Rape Crisis Center
(RCC) of Raleigh, agrees with Glander on
the seriousness of acquaintance rape.
Last year the RCC counseled one
hundred and eighty rape related cases. As
many as one hundred and twenty cases
were directly related to acquaintance rape.
That Is two-thirds of all cases handled.
“Since counseling and advocacy are
(the Center's) main concern, not all the
cases occurred last year. One wonwi was
counseled about an acquaintance rape that
happened twenty-four years ago. The
emotional dantage can last that long,"
Rogers said.
Acquaintance rape is a “hidden"
i^lme, Isecause most victims are reluctant
to come fonwanj and prosecute their st
ackers, Rogers said.
“The reasons can diffw. In most
cases, it is fear of retaliation," Rogers
said. She also said other common reasons
were fear of the media releasing the vie-
Im’s name, or because the rapist was once
a friend.
Police statistics bear out this finding.
In 1983, there were 47 rape cases reported
to the Raleigh pol Ice. 1982 had 61 reported
cases; 1981 had 55 reported rape cases.
Detective Lynda Jackson, head of the
Sexual Assault division of the RPD, said
ttie “vast majority" of these reported rape
cases Involv^ strangers.
This is an interesting paradox.
Stranger rapes, which are the most
common type of rape, are the most
comn^oniy reported to the police.
Even whm an acquaintance rape is
reported to the police, the victim rrey have
a hard time convincing a jury it was, In-
eed, rape.
“The American public seems willing
to say It is t)etter to get raped by a stranger
than by an acquaintance," Jackson said.
"If you go Into court, and have had con-
ensual sex before; or if you pick up
someone at a bar, a jury Is likely to believe
the charges stem from vengeance.
Convictions are really h^ to get,"
Jackson said.
Glander, Rogers, and Jackson all
agreed the American public steeds to be
educated about acquaintance rape.
College c^puses, Glander s^d,
especially need educational programs,
since th^ have large concentrations of
young females.
One recent survey estimates that,
nationwide, as msny as sixty percent of all
female students v^ll experience some type
of sexual harassment from an acqu^n-
ance during their college careers.
The accuracy of this report cainot be
determined by figures obtained from
Public Safety. Sgt. Laura Reynolds said
last year, five cases of rape were reported
(Continued on Page 3)
Acquaintance Rape