warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Swarthmore's Overzealous Sexual Misconduct Investigations

Ashley Yang |
September 2, 2013 | 8:16 p.m. PDT

Columnist

Swarthmore's approach to reporting sexual misconduct will only harm victims. (Wikimedia Commons)
Swarthmore's approach to reporting sexual misconduct will only harm victims. (Wikimedia Commons)
Elite colleges and universities across the country have successively become the targets of class action Title IX and Clery Act complaints for their alleged failure to adequately address incidents of rape and sexual assault, as well as protect students from gender-based violence and harassment. Understandably, some schools have renewed their efforts in order to more aggressively address these issues. But in removing junior Mia Ferguson from her post as resident advisor for failing to name a victim of alleged rape, Swarthmore College proves that it is possible to take this commitment too far.

Swarthmore claims that as an RA, Ferguson was an employee of the college and therefore has a responsibility under Title IX and campus policies as a para-professional to report information about sexual assault to her superiors, especially since she brought up the incident during a training session. However, Ferguson contends that this information was confided in her by an anonymous victim before she assumed the post, and that she was even told by an administrator that she would not be obligated to disclose any prior knowledge.

Such controversy has arisen over this situation because legal representatives from both victim rights organizations and Swarthmore jointly state that the law is silent on the issue of retroactive reporting. However, if parties involved would shift their focus away from pedantic legal precedent and toward a more common sense and student-centered perspective, they would understand this situation to be the collateral damage of Swarthmore’s overeager effort to appear responsive to a burgeoning popular outcry for greater accountability in addressing sexual misconduct.

It is unjust to claim that Mia Ferguson, upon receiving the resident advisor post, should suddenly be required to disclose knowledge of an incident communicated to her before she ever knew that she would be in a position where she would have that obligation; such an attitude is akin to an ex post facto requirement. Ferguson most likely brought up her awareness of a rape incident on campus during her RA training to enhance the discussion, since counseling residents on various personal issues, which may include gender-based violence, comprises a signifiant portion of an RA’s duties. But admitting knowledge of a broad, anonymous scenario does not, and cannot, obligate Ferguson to ignore the wishes of the victim and fully disclose the incident to the college. Only the victim has the right to take action against crimes he/she may have suffered - action by anyone else is at best intrusive and at worst hearsay and an invasion of privacy. 

Furthermore, Swarthmore’s apparent position that resident advisors’ primary duty is to their employer and not their residents reveals a lack of empathy and basic respect for its students’ right to privacy. Requiring Ferguson to report remarks made in confidence at any time without the speaker’s consent undermines the efficacy of her post: the RA is intended to be a resident’s primary resource for discussing concerns in their personal lives. Trust and confidentiality is implicitly part of this relationship; residents would no longer seek counsel from their RAs, especially on serious issues like sexual assault and victimization on which they would most need guidance, if they did not feel safe from unwanted inquiry and possible exposure.

It would be reasonable to expect that an RA report a confession by the perpetrator, during which time the RA’s legal and moral duty to the safety of the student body greatly outweighs any right of the perpetrator to privacy. But to a victim, the RA is an advocate and a support system. Swarthmore evidently ignores the needs of that role and purports to enhance its image at the expense of students who have already suffered a terrible injustice by turning advocates into whistleblowers.

Although it is commendable that Swarthmore is attempting to aggressively combat sex and gender-based violence, it fails to consider that its current strategy infringes upon the right of the victim to seek counsel and address the situation in a manner that she,  and she alone, sees fit. Sometimes victims might report the crime, and sometimes they may just want to heal privately. Not only did Swarthmore’s policies compromise Mia Ferguson’s position as a confidante to victims who might be desperately in need of one, its high-handed notions of justice actually resemble coercion by law enforcement in the true legal system. Victims, especially of sexual violence, cannot regain control over their own lives if the process that claims to bring them justice will violate them all over again.

 

Reach Columnist Ashley Yang here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness