According to a story in today’s Boston Globe by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) at Boston University, “officials at the University of Massachusetts Amherst this week acknowledged that they allowed a student who confessed to raping a friend on campus last fall, a felony, to remain enrolled and avoid significant discipline.”
According to the story, this is not uncommon in Massachusetts. It states:
Newly obtained Justice Department data show that reports of sexual assaults on college campuses rarely lead to serious sanctions. Ten New England universities and colleges provided the data as part of a campus grant program overseen by the Justice Department’s Office of Violence Against Women.
For continued coverage of this story, click here.
UPDATE: FRIDAY — UMass officials respond to the Boston Globe report.
UPDATE: THURSDAY, 3 P.M. — The Collegian has scheduled a sit-down interview with interim vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life Jean Kim for later this afternoon. Check back with DailyCollegian.com this evening for a recap of that interview and more on this story.
UPDATE: THURSDAY, 2:15 P.M. — University officials have thus far not responded to The Collegian’s requests for comment today, but are expected to respond later this afternoon. Assistant dean of students, Shawn McGuirk said questions regarding the matter will not be handled by the Dean of Students office and referred questions to interim vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life Jean Kim. The Collegian was told that Kim, as well as a campus spokesman handling press inquiries on the matter, were busy in meetings when each were contacted earlier this afternoon, but that both Kim and spokesman Edward Blaguszewski will field questions later today.
Continued coverage of this story will be available later today on DailyCollegian.com and in tomorrow’s paper.
Walter Festoon • Mar 1, 2010 at 1:06 pm
I think he was convicted like the Duke Lacross players were. Snap out of it people.
Commander Shepard • Feb 25, 2010 at 8:44 pm
In my five years at UMass that might very well be the angriest Ed comment I have ever read. Have there been any detected spikes in gamma-ray emissions around campus? God help us all!
Michael Foley-Röhm • Feb 25, 2010 at 8:13 pm
UMass Amherst – come for the academics, stay for the raping-with-impunity policies!
I think I’ve hit on a nice new slogan for the University!
Feel free to use it, UMass, I won’t charge for it.
ageis • Feb 25, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Was he convicted? That’s all that matters. I don’t care about a confession or accusation. Was the guy convicted in a court on rape charges or not? C’mon, more information.
Ed Cutting • Feb 25, 2010 at 12:59 pm
My blood is boiling. We need to fire just about everyone in the Dean of Students’ Office and all of ResLife to boot. What kind of IDIOTS are running this campus?
And as to “Creative Fiction” Kidwell – well, Lisa, where the f*** were you in this?!?!? We all know that you can obtain creative 209A orders, and the criteria for one was met here, either under 209A or bail restrictions.
And Laura, none of your people had anything to say about this? Of course not, they likely were all too busy in the Hatfield/McCoy battle between the LBGT coalition and the coalition of color. (Laura do you have any idea of the number of people of both teams have quietly complained to me about how they would prefer to just do their jobs…)
And then we have ACT – the Aggressivly Controlling Troublemakers group. If there ever was a student for which the group was intended, this is the man. And while we will never know what proceedings occured in the secrecy of that Star Chamber, the simple fact is that the procedure did not work here.
Question: is the perp an athlete? Is he black? Is he the son of a State Rep? I really want to know that because I have trouble believing that UMass is truly this incompetent….
Regardless, you have an awful lot to answer for, JoAnne Thomas Vanin. You spent the entire fall f***ing up my life – I have lost a full academic year because of you – and what exactly did I do? I don’t even have a parking ticket – and I have a letter from Michael Brennan attesting to that fact. And yet you ignore a RAPIST which – which, if I am not mistaken IS A FELON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me see: threatening to file an ethics complaint with the ACPA versus rape. Is there not just a slight tad of difference between the two “offenses” – one being Constitutionally protected speech (and part of the institutional membership contract that UMass signed with the ACPA), the other A DAMN FELONY AND VIOLENT ASSAULT AND THREAT TO STUDENTS.
JoAnne, you have an awful lot to answer for – and the nice thing about Massachusetts not having a press shield law is that I can subpeona the Globe folk who wrote this story.
JoAnne, I want an answer. Why did you harass me and ignore this rapist? Oh, I already know the answer, Ed Cutting is a “troublemaker”, Ed Cutting demands that UMass comply with state law and not dump toxic materials all over the place and sorta pretend to comply with contractural promises it made to students. That is a far greater threat because it means that administrators actually have to do their jobs and stop acting like petty tyrants.
And if he is actually innocent, then you don’t give a judicial sanction and tarnish his reputation. (I know, UM doesn’t care about trashing student reputations, but still….) You simply do not let someone plead guilty to something that he did not do, that is unethical and destroys the legitimacy of the entire process.
By contrast, a rapist is insignificant because we all know that UMass does not care about the students.
Welcome to UMass. Can’t wonder why only 3$ of the living alumni belong to the alumni association….
Nick T • Feb 25, 2010 at 10:03 am
Gee, thanks BU.