On November 19, Rolling Stone published "A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA." The article chronicles the shocking story of Jackie, a University of Virginia (UVA) student who was allegedly gang raped by seven Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brothers during her first few weeks on campus.
Author Sabrina Rubin Erdely’s account is comprehensive and deliberate. Using quotes and narrative, Erdely extensively describes the events surrounding Jackie’s assault. The Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity house is singled out for perpetuating a culture of assault and apathy.
The scope of the Rolling Stone article, however, transcends Jackie’s individual story. Erdely examines federal investigations and student testimony to delve deeper into sexual assault on college campuses. She describes rape as a systemic problem at UVA, in which both students and administrators are complicit. The story immediately elicited strong responses from officials and students, both in Charlottesville and nationwide.
Days after the initial Rolling Stone article was published, the Washington Post launched an inquiry into the facts presented by Erdely. On December 5, the Post published an article questioning the veracity of key aspects of Jackie’s story. Soon after, Will Dana, the managing editor of Rolling Stone, issued a partial retraction of "A Rape on Campus."
“In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced,” he wrote.
The public reaction to this second wave of information was both swift and concerning. To be frank, we are deeply unsettled by much of the dialogue surrounding this unfolding story.
"A Rape on Campus" was marketed as a testimony-driven, numerical account. Jackie’s story, however, was a narrative. It was a reflection, from a survivor’s memory, of an event that happened three years prior. Erdely attempts to paint an accurate picture of occurrences that took place long ago, through the eyes of a woman who has been diagnosed with PTSD and depression. We do not say these things to discredit Jackie. Rather, we want to explain how we understand the unfolding discrepancies.
Jackie chose not to pursue her case in the criminal justice system. Midway through the Rolling Stone article, Jackie attempted to pull out. Erdely told her it was too late. Later, when speaking with the Washington Post, Jackie would comment that she felt “out of control” of her own story. As advocates, we want to affirm her experience. We want to say that the minute details of an event that happened so long ago are unimportant. We want everyone to focus on the bigger picture.
The shocking and sensational allegations of the Rolling Stone article made that impossible. Administrators, desperately seeking to do the right thing, were quick to condemn an entire fraternity.
Possibly even more damning was the swift conviction of the court of public opinion. Reputations were damaged. Cinder blocks were thrown through the windows of the Phi Kappa Psi house, a home for many students. We can only imagine how terrifying that must have been.
The implications of this irresponsible journalism have been very real for very many. UVA lost. The brothers of Phi Kappa Psi lost. Jackie lost. And we are petrified that everyone has lost. Next time a survivor seeks to come forward, how will he or she be received?
We worry that sensationalism has trumped the overarching message of this story—that sexual assault is a very real problem on college campuses.
Here are some statistics from RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network: 60 percent of rapes go unreported. Of the assaults brought to the police, 4 percent lead to a felony conviction. Among those convicted, only 3 out of 100 rapists will ever spend a day in jail.
For many survivors, empirical analysis is a powerful deterrent to coming forward. Their healing processes may be greatly impeded by the harrowing task of testifying in court. Imagine describing the worst night of your life to a room full of total strangers. Then imagine being told you are lying. Imagine being asked why you were drunk, or what you were wearing, or why you went home with your assailant in the first place.
We present these statistics and ask these questions to refute a tired refrain—"Why didn’t he/she go to the police?” This accusation, repeated far too many times in the coverage of Jackie’s case, demonstrates a misunderstanding of a survivor’s needs.
In the wake of the Rolling Stone article, various interest groups have emerged. We fear that the vernacular differences between legal authorities, school officials, sexual assault prevention advocates and regular students build barriers to productive dialogue. We fear that the media’s response to factual discrepancies has misdirected the focus of a crucial conversation.
******
As members of Safe Space and students at Bowdoin, we wear two critical hats on campus. We want to break down the barrier between these roles. Through our advocacy training from Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine (SASSMM), we learned how to support survivors of sexual assault. We learned how to listen and how to be empathetic, without claiming we understand what a survivor is going through. We learned to validate the words confided in us. We learned how to provide a space in which a survivor feels safe.
Importantly, though, we learned the language of advocacy. We learned to call survivors "survivors" instead of "victims," a label used by legal authorities. We learned the delicacies in labeling. If a survivor describes an experience as sexually violent, but not rape, we refer to the experience as sexually violent.
Though we are grateful for our SASSMM training, we also view these issues through the lens of Bowdoin students. We understand that sexual assault is hard to talk about. More than anything, though, we don’t want this conversation to be exclusive to trained advocates.
Since Erdely’s article and Rolling Stone’s partial retraction, numerous discrepancies in Jackie’s account have surfaced. As advocates, we validate and honor Jackie for coming forward. As Bowdoin students, we find it difficult to ignore all that’s come to light in the past few weeks.
Arguing over these discrepancies, however, confuses the larger issue. Williams, Amherst, Vanderbilt, Penn. State, Harvard, Notre Dame, Columbia—students at a growing list of schools are coming forward and sharing stories about their experiences with sexual assault. UVA is now one of 86 schools under federal investigation for denying students their equal right to education by inadequately handling sexual violence complaints.
As both Safe Space advocates and members of the Bowdoin community, we find our greatest concern is that this story is a regression. We are petrified Jackie’s story and media experience will cast doubt on future survivors who choose to come forward. Let us be unequivocally clear: as both advocates and students, we stand with survivors.
Both Shannon Dominguez and Rachel Gladstone are members of the Class of 2015.