Princeton’s newspaper, The Daily Princetonian, published a piece on a male Columbia student suing the University for unjust trial and punishment during a sexual assault investigation in Spring 2013.
The student, referred to as John Doe in the suit, criticizes the University, saying that he was unfairly treated in a sexual assault case carried out by Columbia in which he received a year and a half suspension. John Doe further argues that the sexual intercourse between himself and the plaintiff female student in the University investigation was consensual, adding that it was the female student’s idea to engage in sexual intercourse.
The student’s suit against the University comes after a long semester of sexual assault awareness. Student groups have demanded that the administration improve its sexual assault policies, especially in dealing fairly and promptly with student’s sexual assault complaints. John Doe blames this recent protest by saying that he, the assailant, was wronged in the process rather than the plaintiff, as recent public accounts support portrays to be the problem in most sexual assault cases. The suit also claims John Doe’s rushed judicial process was a result of pressure of political movements on campus.
To view the entire suit from the student, see The Daily Princetonian’s copy uploaded online.
Inferior to Roaree via Wikimedia Commons
157 Comments
@Anyone know if there is a way to see updates on the case when it gets to court?
@anonymous John Doe’s identity can be found in 2 minutes using white pages’s reverse address lookup using John Doe’s address provided in the suit, then finding the last name of his parents, then using the last name to look him up in the columbia athletics directory for the rowing team for the past few seasons. what is the purpose of using “John Doe” if his identity can be revealed that quickly…
@f*ck 'em John Doe… a WASP name if I’ve ever heard one. Probably cisgender too.
@"There is no middle ground"? Seriously? Wrongful outcomes are not exclusive to improper dismissals. Both are symptomatic of a mock judicial process that is a sham for all parties involved. I fear that this “no middle ground” debate obscures the problem that is most immediately redressable: Columbia’s system for dealing with allegations of sexual assault is woefully inadequate for both victims and the accused.
I am a 2013 graduate of Columbia University and a female who considers herself to be a feminist. As a teenager I was a victim of improper sexual “joke”; at Columbia I was the victim of a false accusation.
When I was fourteen years old, I was the victim of an improper “joke” by two of my male peers. As I waited for a ride home from school, they approached me and said that they wanted to rape me, taping me up with masking tape. Unsure of their intentions, I chose to treat the situation as if they really were kidding, although to this day I am not really sure. Shaking them off, I told them that the tape was messing up my hair; that’s all I remember, though I know I wasn’t raped.
Since one of the boys’ father was a respected teacher at our school, I never reported the situation. I didn’t want to be “that girl” that ruined the boy’s life or the teacher’s career. As it turns out, that boy was a serial offender who went on to victimize, to varying degrees, a number of girls in our school.
To this day I am thankful that the encounter did not cross the line into what I would consider to be “assault,” but I feel sick to my stomach to think that I might have stopped him from committing further offenses by reporting my own experience.
Fast forward to my last year at Columbia, I am sitting in an OJA hearing (for a non sexual matter) for an offense of which I was falsely accused. My senior year, I was found “responsible” for conduct in which I did not personally engage, but rather witnessed and made no attempt to prevent.
In my own experience, the decision-makers refused to consider statements from third-party witnesses and operated by a standard of “presumed guilt”. Further, because my alleged offense did not fit into one of the predetermined categories of disciplinary violations, I was “charged” with an unrelated category of offenses. Though I appealed my sanctions, I was deterred from appealing by threats that they would be increased–and the response indicated what was essentially a sham consideration.
I am equally disturbed by the reports of wrongful outcomes for both the falsely accused and the unfairly dismissed. In each account I see the same problem: systematic failure of due process, which results in drastic consequences for both victims and the falsely accused. There IS a “middle ground” and that is it.
To all victims who are brave enough to report your assault, I applaud you and I stand by you in spirit. And to victims of false accusation–I stand by you as well.
@Anonymous I’ve never seen trolling like BC ’15. A master at work.
@lol http://www.theonion.com/articles/date-rapist-tossing-his-mortarboard-into-air-3-row,36088/
@Anonymous http://www.theonion.com/articles/date-rapist-tossing-his-mortarboard-into-air-3-row,36088/?utm_source=Tumblr&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=Default:1:Default
@Armstead Abdul, these girls are claiming that the men they had sexual relations with did not gain consent. That means that they told the men they did not want to engage in sexual relations but the men had sexual relations anyway.
But with these girls its a little more complex because often times they said yes, but also said no at some point during the encounter and may have resisted physically but probably did not. Other times the only sign that they did not consent was silence or crying.
Either way if you are confused its because we all are. But just the same play it safe and make sure you get a clear and resounding affirmative consent that was voluntarily offered before having sex with any girls while you are here. Anything short of that is like refusing to wear a condom at a queer bath house in 80s.
@Anonymous NRT = National Retard Team
@Why did God Create lesbians?
@Answer So feminists wouldn’t breed
@Abdul from Qatar I am a foreign exchange student and in my country these things are not spoken of or at least I don’t think they are as it seems many of the concepts are not translatable. Are the girls complaining that the men did not marry them or did not buy them gifts? What is the complaint if someone could explain it simply and perhaps with specific details of what is occurring instead of through vague concepts that I don’t understand
@question is rape legal if the girl does not speak english?… like NO means NO .. but what if you dont know what no means????
@Anonymous its legal
@Real proud woman of color I AM a real proud woman of color and I believe dat womyn need some of dat respect if yall no wut i’m sayin. I worked hard… I went to yall colleges and what do i get for dat?? huh. Ya’ll men need to take the chill pill cauze when you roll wit real gurlz like me i’ll show you whats up. I like my men wit sum MUSCLE cuz when you got that V-taper all the girls wanna rape ya. So go get a thick ass back and you’ll have em hoes in da sack!
@Realest Proud womyn of color Yo I read what dat other bitch above me said and I AM OFFENDED. first of all Obamacare is way better than rape, and it is the best invention since math and the pithagorean theorehm. But you all go noooooooooooo sistah so screw you
@Blunts in Butler Any1 wanna smoke a bowl with Prezbo b4 commencement?
@Barnard a school I would never send my daughters to
@Anonymous can we fuck them anyway
@What do you say to a woman with no arms and no legs?
@Answer Nice tatas
@What do you say to a Feminist with no arms and no legs?
@Answer Nice Tatas – bitch.
@Forever Alone Fleshlight User This is why I avoid women and only jerk off to dating simulations. The fleshlight made pussy obsolete. I really won’t understand why one would risk emotional and legal damage and open up to another human being. I rather play minecraft then go on a date.
I really fear a false accusation. I look weird and the way I look would cause the Deans who run the judicial process to prejudge me. In a way, I’m glad I’m forever alone, keeps me safe from bullshit like this.
@Anonymous This proves that women lie and can just say anything. With just the woman’s word, the male is generally severely punished. The reality of the situation is in stark contrast to what the activists lead you to believe. They are just louder.
@Answer Sumo wrestlers shave their legs
@What's the difference Between a feminist and a sumo wrestler?
@Answer Sumo wrestlers shave their legs
@Anonamoose I am so confused by this comment thread.
@only when you’re on bottom.
@only woops meant to be a response to “hey do you like anal”
@notevenamouse So what happens if I feel conflicted about reporting a rape? I could swear it was an accident. And even if it is “rape,” I wouldn’t want to ruin the life of a a peer when I didn’t feel raped, when I talked it out and there was an apology.
Is all this necessary? Am I just a product of the okayness of rape culture for believing that?
@Anonymous track button does wonders. half this thread is bc 15 responding to herself
@Anonymous your moms asshole does wonders
@reading the legal brief “John Doe worked diligently in high school, succeeded in advanced placement courses, earned seven (7) AP credits toward college and graduated with a
3.95 GPA.”
LOL so did everyone else who’s here. This is an Ivy League School with a <10% acceptance rate.
@reading the legal brief “Ms. Kao [the RA] informed John Doe that she wanted to discuss the Evening of May 12 with John Doe and was advised that John Doe and Jane Doe engaged in consensual sexual intercourse on May 12, 2013. Ms. Kao informed him that Jane Doe had approached her to discuss the Evening of May 12 in confidence, but that she was required by state law to report it to Columbia University.”
RAs are mandatory Title IX reporters, which means they must report all instances of sexual violence. If she had been informed that the sexual act was “consensual”, then she would not have needed to report this to Columbia University.
@reading the legal brief Also, I’m like 90% sure that the RA was legally out of line in approaching John Doe about this before reporting this to Title IX coordinator–if a student approaches an RA in confidence, the RA should and must only tell those who they are legally obligated to tell.
@reading the legal brief The report keeps mentioning all of these “witnesses” who would have provided so much insight to the alleged assault, but fails to mention that none were actually there when the alleged assault actually happened.
@reading the legal brief “Based on the foregoing, Defendant Columbia imposed sanctions on John Doe that were disproportionate to the severity of the charges levied against him.”
I mean, regardless of whether or not they were founded, the charges levied against him *were* rape. If, by disproportionate, you mean “should have been expelled instead”, then, yeah, the sanctions were disproportionate.
@Columbia school of checking privilege It’s a <10% acceptance rate for rich white men… Check your privilege! Look at affirmative action and how that changes acceptance rates!
@Kat HOLD UP. Are you tone policing a woman of color? BC ’15 is a proud woman of color and she does not need to be told how to speak by some white girl with a rapist brother. Your brother raped me don’t you understand that, because ever sister feels the rape of her fellow sister.
@Rapes are bad Mkayy
@The Daily Princetonian? What a stupid name for a newspaper
@yas favorite this bwog
@BC '15 what is wrong with you! its attitudes like that that makes us women agree there is no need for a trial…they should all be thrown in jail to protect the survivors. false accusations are a myth
@SEAS '15 It’s attitudes like that that make us sane, rational human beings think that you are seriously off the deep end. Your hysterics, however rational and justified you think they are, deeply disturb and offend all of us who believe in due process, the presumption of innocence, and a fair and unbiased judiciary as the hallmarks of the civilized society.
It’s people like you who would throw all brown people in jail on Sept 12.
It’s people like you who would throw all African Americans in jail after the Central Park jogger incident.
@Columbia school of checking privilege There’s no reason to throw brown people in jail on September 12th… Muslims on the other hand…
@BC '15 If men payed any attention to the REAL rape statistics there would not be rape. 78% of women will be raped at some points in their lives… its a FACT. That is 4 out of 5 women… this is SCARY!
@WHAT! Don’t you think at least some of the 78% were asking for it?
@BC '17 That’s utterly crap. There are more male rapes than female rapes in the US (prison rape is a thing. unless you define that as illegitimate rape. how ironic).
@WHAT! Let me guess BC 15, you are an eastern european woman. Solidly built studying women’s studies but probably going to try get work in finance instead. I bet you wind up at some place like JPMorgan instead of academia. I bet by the time you graduate you’ll set up an OKCupid account and constantly troll for dick. I know your type.
@BC '15 I do work in finance but thats none of your business… just because I work in finance does not mean I deserve to be raped.
@WHAT! I bet you even tried anal back in the day with your high school boyfriend. I bet you tried to tell him he raped you even though you told him he could do it just because it hurt more than you expected.
@BC '15 I did and it hurt so much I refused to talk to the guy for months. It took him like 2 whole seconds to pull it out … do you understand that is NOT consensual!
@The feminist uproar is actually going to help Mr. Doe win the lawsuit! The heart of the Complaint is that the sex was consensual, as evidenced by the lack of contemporaneous complaint and a delay of 5 months in complaining:
2. John Doe and Jane Doe were friends within the same social circle at Columbia University. It was at Jane Doe’s suggestion that they engaged in one night of consensual sexual activity during finals week in the Spring of 2013 (“Evening of May 12″) inside Jane Doe’s suite bathroom. It was Jane Doe who let Plaintiff John Doe in the bathroom in order to obtain a condom from her dormitory room, then returning to the suite bathroom to undress herself in front of John Doe. After the evening ended, Jane Doe and John Doe left each other’s company on good terms.
3. Several weeks into the Fall 2013 semester and nearly five (5) months after the one night of sexual activity, Jane Doe decided to report the Evening of
May 12 as “non-consensual” sexual activity. No contemporaneous report was ever made nor was any police report was ever filed by Jane Doe in connection with her sexual activity with Plaintiff John Doe; no visit to a medical care facility was ever made by Jane Doe in connection with such sexual activity either; and indeed, no allegation of improper sexual behavior was made by Jane Doe for nearly five (5) months after the one night of sexual activity with John Doe. Notwithstanding the foregoing, and further notwithstanding a paucity of direct evidence, including an unforgiveable lack of administrative continuity and simple, practical good sense during the investigatory process, Defendant Columbia found John Doe guilty of sexual misconduct in having non-consensual sex with Jane Doe and has issued Plaintiff John Doe an order of suspension from Columbia University until Fall 2015.
The Complaint goes on to detail the lack of due process or appropriate investigation, and the allegedly one-sided nature of the proceeding. The Complaint alleges that campus political pressure based on allegations of a lack of prosecution contributed to the rush to judgment:
6. In fact, it is common knowledge that, at the time of John Doe’s disciplinary hearing and sanction, Columbia University was undergoing negative public scrutiny and backlash by student political organizations for Columbia University’s lack of vigilance against male students (especially male student athletes) accused of sexual assault, and the perceived failure of Columbia University to mete out appropriately high sanctions.
The Complaint provides great detail on the night in question and the disciplinary process. The amount of damages sought are not specified, which is not unusual.
Andrew T. Miltenberg, attorney for plaintiff “John Doe,” told me that the case was not related to the publicly reported alleged sexual assaults that are in the news, and provided this statement:
As you are aware, Columbia University is undergoing negative public scrutiny and backlash by student political organizations due to Columbia University’s alleged lack of vigilance against male students (especially male student athletes) accused of sexual assault, and the perceived failure of Columbia University to mete out appropriately high sanctions.
It was set against this stage that Columbia University sought to make an “example” out of my client as a “student athlete” accused of sexual assault and meted out a disproportionately severe sanction of a two-year suspension from the school, notwithstanding the lack of any evidence that the sexual activity between my client and another student was non-consensual.
Particularly of note is the fact that even the complainant believed the sanction to be too severe and personally appealed the decision. Columbia University refused to change its ruling. We allege that Columbia’s guidelines and regulations, in fact, the entirety of the process by which sexual assault allegations are investigated and resolved at Columbia, is deeply flawed and disproportionately affects the male student population. Our client found himself at the mercy of a system in which there is, essentially, a presumed guilt; a system sorely lacking in the procedural safeguards and due process to adequately prepare for what amounts to a trial, which will have an indelible impact on his future.
We are quite adamant that college disciplinary panels are absolutely not the place to adjudicate sexual assault matters; until such time as that is changed, it is frighteningly clear that the “preponderance of evidence” is an abomination, especially within the context of Columbia’s uneven, flawed process, which lacks the investigatory expertise, quasi-judicial experience and knowledge to be sitting in judgment on matters that have such severe ramifications for both the alleged victim and alleged assailant.
Columbia responded to a request for comment by stating: “We do not comment on litigation.”
@Can we agree Jilleian Sessions-Stackhouse needs to be evaluated in the way she goes about her job. Like interviews without being recorded. Really?
@seriously Affirmative action hires shouldn’t be placed in positions of such importance.
@Because Axe is murder She can’t even say the word “ask” properly. LMFAO
@i found out who John Doe is and i’m pretty fucking proud of myself
@Samesies Who is John Galt?
@metaphorically fangirling OMG Atlas Shrugged reference = we are soul mates
@BC '17 no such thing as soul mates. only rape mates. Feel free to sign my petition on change.org to change the word “love” to “rape,” since a man’s heart loves by raping.
@i don't understand why both John Doe and Jane Doe remain anonymous and all these other students’ named in the complaint are completely non anonymous
@Anonymous If you read the actual complaint, you receive the following information about John Doe: he is from Jacksonville, Florida, in the class of 2016, and is a Columbia rower. Do what you wish with that information.
Jane, on the other hand, is harder to identify.
@Anonymous It’s amazing what can be found on the internet… even that his parents’ house has a market value of $2 million
@your father your mom has a market value of $2 tho
@Anonymous not even close. I just fact checked you and his home has an estimated worth of $210K.
@pathetic boys cry wolf girls cry rape
@Anonymous #Kony2012
@AHHH SHOTS FIRED AT ANNA BAHR
@Anonymous not really though…they’re just using her reporting as evidence of columbia’s incompetence
@Anonymous like, she documented columbia’s incompetence w/r/t complainants and this guy is saying they handled his case with equal incompetence
@Puck frinceton Can we just agree.
@Anonymous No. They were smart and brave enough to pick this story up. It was only after Princeton’s courageous decision that Bwog published the article, in spite of its agenda to crucify the innocent before proven guilty (as evidenced by the recent “resignation” of a certain male staff member).
@why is the daily princetonian so involved in this?
@THis guy Probably realized the spec was too shoddy to present his story properly…
@FINALLY I hope this young man’s courage inspires others to do the same. His lawyer summarizes the issue pretty damn well when he says:
“I think there’s been an overcorrection to what clearly has been a problem,” the plaintiff’s lawyer, Andrew Miltenberg of Nesenoff & Miltenberg, LLP, said in an interview. “I don’t think that we’re taking a position that’s that different from the various women’s groups that are complaining about the process,” he added, explaining that sexual assault cases have been mishandled on both sides.
@reality this isn’t even the only case of misjudgment and false accusations…..
@"he received a year and a half suspension" So a rapist was punished with a mere temporary suspension before being released back among the unwary student body, or an innocent man was defamed and his education interfered with.
Either way, this situation is fucked.
@Inappropriate Pun Man So the guy is arguing this is consensual, but the girl is insisting now that she did not consent to having sex with him. Regardless of what actually happened, they both agree that sex took place.
Either way, that girl was fucked.
@gt5f Damn these female students accusing males of rape when they didnt. it s horrible that the university is so harsh while punishing accusations of rape even if there is not enough evidence. #moreRedTape
@Jane Doe's friend Omfg this is just ridiculous. The extent to which lawyers twist things amazes me.
@Anonymous fact: according to ny state laws… anal sex is NOT considered rape… look it up. …. now lets get crazy!
@Anonymous Lol, track button. Go enjoy your summer or something.
@Analysis It seems to me that two new narratives are emerging:
(1) Because rape (in whatever form) is so horrifying and so terrible, and because the chances of false reporting are so low given the inherent barriers against people reporting — therefore, we should continue to hold a lower standard of proof. A small number of innocent peoples’ lives ruined is an acceptable price to pay as long as the the broader interests of justice and society are served given the heinousness of rape.
(2) Because rape (in whatever form) is so horrifying and so terrible, the only way to deal with it is an extremist combination of a kangaroo court a la the biased Columbia adjudication process and vigilante mob justice a la No Red Tape. If you disagree with this in any way, you are a rape apologist and no better than a rapist yourself.
We’ve seen this before. The response in years past is perfectly apropos for the situation now: “Senator, may we not drop this? We know he belonged to the Lawyers Guild. Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
@John Doe #2 In response to #1, I’m a Columbia student who has been falsely accused. My name isn’t public anywhere, so I have no reason to lie. To remove any doubt that I am innocent, I’m not lying to myself in any way because there was 0 sexual contact with the girl I was accused of. It’s not that I just think “she wanted it” or anything horrible like that. I honestly was falsely accused of sexual assault. One thing that scares me a bit about the discussion about rape on this campus is that it seems a lot of people disregard the impact of false accusations because they either don’t occur or are simply the cost of fighting rape. That scares me because being falsely accused is horrible. I’ve had friends turn against me and not believe my story, my ex-girlfriend who I still love broke up with me, I’m constantly haunted by what I could’ve done to deserve it, and I still have some doubts about whether my parents believe me. It’s the one secret I’ll never tell anyone, because I’ve had people I thought I could trust with anything leave me for it before, and I don’t have enough faith in other people to trust anyone with that again.
There’s no question that rape is horrible. Perhaps the most horrible thing you can do to another human being, no matter what form it takes. I’m not writing to doubt that it’s something that we need to change on campus and deal with in a better way. It’s just that in discourse about rape on Columbia’s campus and otherwhere, I’ve noticed that a lot of people jump right to concluding guilt or disregarding the possibility of false accusations. I saw a panel give advice to male students to doubt your friends and “try to understand what happened and why they were accused” if your friend tells you that he was falsely accused. That kind of discourse is really painful to me, because I know there are other people out there like me, where being falsely accused of sexual assault or rape is destroying their life just as it took over mine.
I know nothing about this case, who they are, what happened, anything, and I don’t claim to. One thing that makes rape so difficult to deal with is that it frequently turns into a question of whose word to trust. The only reason I’m writing is to encourage people to think about people on each side. If anything, don’t completely ignore the possibility that the accused might be telling the truth.
@Analysis You may very well be telling the truth. No Red Tape believes that even if you are, your life and your future is a small price to pay and an acceptable sacrifice as collateral damage to advance their agenda. Truly despicable people.
@Sarah No Red Tape is the only reason why my friends and I go out at night…. all of my friends have been assaulted at least 3 or 4 times during their years at Columbia..,.. how dare you say that
@SEAS '15 Dear Sarah,
I am so happy for you that you and your friends can go out alone at night to 1020, use your fake IDs, and purchase alcohol while violating several Federal and state laws in the process.
A group of wrongfully slandered people will not be able to pass a job interview, apply to graduate school, or have a clean background check run on them for the rest of their lives.
Of course, they’re just “collateral damage” because in your twisted little mind, sacrificing them is an acceptable compromise to advancing your agenda.
Have a nice life, Sarah. You’re doing your namesakes Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, Sarah Cloyce, Sarah Bishop, Sarah Morey, Sarah Dustin, Sarah Buckley, Sarah Proctor, Sarah Bassett, Sarah Pease, Sarah Rice, Sarah Wildes, Sarah Cole, and Sarah Wardwell proud indeed.
@How the fuck did you and all of your friends get assaulted 3-4 times? That’s fucking insane… I don’t wanna put the blame on you, but really?
@Anonymous Can confirm. Am one of her assaulters. I accidentally shook her hand when we first met. Didn’t realize the university considered that non consensual touching until it was too late.
@NRT member No Red Tape does not believe ANYTHING like that. Stop telling everybody lies about what you think we stand for.
We stand for peace and justice for EVERYONE, and are opposed to “sacrificing” anybody for any reason.
@Anonymous I feel for you, my friend. It is a shame that you had to suffer like you did. Absolutely despicable and pathetic that she got away with a false accusation. Men have become so disenfranchised on this campus that they’re rendered voiceless merely by the utterance of the word “rape.” Your story proves that gender discrimination is real. I hope we can all take steps toward ending it.
@Sarah There is no such thing as a “false accusation”. The guy is ALWAYS responsible for what happens… it does not matter if the girl is drunk RAPE IS RAPE
@Anonymous The guy is always responsible. Sounds fair.
@SEAS '15 “The guy is ALWAYS responsible for what happens… ”
Excuse me, Sarah, but may I please refer you to:
“No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.”
“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
@Sarah Do us all a favor when you get home and drink a gallon of bleach.
@lol track button does wonders.
go back to your dungeon, troll.
@John Doe #2 Hi Sarah, me again. Sometimes, like my case, they didn’t even have sex. Nor did they kiss. Or hug. Or do anything. Sometimes false accusations happen, and in that case, it is probably not the guys fault. But thanks for letting me know that I made a good decision in continuing to hide who I am so I don’t have to deal with people like you outside of this thread.
@WHY THE FUCK ARE SARAH AND JOHN DOE #2 THE SAME PERSON. Tracking is so useful.
@WHY THE FUCK *I am the same person as the above. And I sincerely apologize to John. Tracking is less useful when you don’t totally understand how to use it. They are NOT the same person.
@Sarah you are so retarded…. we are NOT the same person
@Sarah maybe if you stopped raping women like all he other men of this thread you’d understand that your ignorance and privilage make you like so stupid
@Before you reply Do yourself a favor and track this comment. This person has been trolling the entire comment section.
@Anonymous hes also been trolling your mom in bed
@This is gonna be good.. *starts munching popcorn*
@BC '15 Its people like you who prove that the only good men are gay men… i have lots of gay friends and around them i feel SAFE! all straight men are creeps! and no i’m not a lesbian
@Anonymous If you read the suit, and do some googling, it’s easy to find out who John Doe is. Just sayin’.
@Kat I can tell you what his name is. ANY WHITE CIS-GENDERED HETEROSEXUAL MAN. Y’all need to consider the damage your whiteness does anywhere it goes. ANd don’t give me that “boo-hoo” I’m an ally, I just want to help women and POC. Well I got news for you BACK THE FVCK OFF, we don’t need your help, we just need you to stop raping us. Is that so much to ask for? And no, you DO NOT get a round of applause for doing what is the bare minimum expected of a decent human being.
@Anonymous your stupidity is raping my brain.
@Rachel BC '14 I have rape fantasies all the time. the problem with rape is that the people that are raped are not allways the ones who want to be raped… i do think rape is kind of hot though
@this. oh HEEELLLLLL no.
@BC '15 Dislike it all you want… I’m a feminist and this story only proves that ALL men are rapists
@a male well yeah, making sweeping generalizations about it is gonna help
#onyourside
@BC '15 you don’t understand how rape affects all women… we are all survivors because we all know someone who is a survivor. sometimes im afraid to go out on the street around campus
@Will.I.Am Urabitch!
@let me rephrase that you don’t understand how false accusations affects all men… we are all victims because we all know someone who is a victim (of false accusations). sometimes im afraid to go out on the street around campus
@Batman how…. how does it do that?
@BC '15 you are so ignorant.. take a women’s studies course and you’ll understand. we deserve some fucking respect
@BC '15 but you probably don’t care about what i say because i’m a woman so in your mind i don’t have rights
@Joker hit the nail on the head right there didn’t you HAAAAAHAHHAHEEEEHHOOOOHHAHAHHAHAHA ha ha ho he ha….
@Anonymous I don’t care what you say because you’re abrasive and whiny. It has nothing to do with your penis envy.
@Anon BC ’15 is a troll, can we stop responding to their comments?
@Anonymous she’s not a troll. just a bit overzealous. what’s worse though is that you try to silence such a courageous girl. You don’t get to decide who is a rapist and who is not a rapist. Maybe she’s been so traumatized that she sees all men as rapists. I for one don’t think that’s so far from the truth. Yesterday, this guy had the fucking nerve to say I had a nice dress in public. As if, I had the expectation to dress up for him and his approval. In my mind, that’s a form of rape, albeit a bit more subtle. Sometimes, I feel like men should have had to earn their suffrage rather than women. To be honest, I’m not sure if men should have suffrage at all.
@Anonymous and before you haters attack my comment for the suffrage bit, just think about it. I mean there’s a reason why women don’t need to sign up for the draft to vote. we don’t need to prove ourselves as society owes us, and not the other way around. men, however, need to give to society because they take so much from it – that’s why they need to give up their lives to the draft in order to have a say in govt via voting. i’m just reading the subtext
@Anonymous your moms a troll… i did her anyway tho
@BC 17 She’s misguided. I think she truly believes what she’s saying. And that’s exactly the problem. In overcorrecting, we’ve spawned a generation of crazed social justice warriors who resort to groupthink rather than rational thought and jump to conclusions rather than examining nuance and context. The fact that someone decided to plaster names all over a bathroom wall as if this were a middle school shows just how repugnant the situation has become. At Columbia, we have created such a hostile climate for men that their guilt is presumed over their innocence. We treat men on this campus like villains.
These men may be strangers to you now, but I urge you not to throw men under the bus wholesale. Because it will come back to bite you. My own brother was falsely accused two years ago. He still has yet to land a job, but he graduated from here summa cum laude. For now, he’s a barista at Starbucks. I feel embarrassed to know that simply by attending Barnard as your classmate, I have become complicit with people like you.
@Sandra (NRT Board Member) As a NRT Board Member I would like to make a factual clarification. The beliefs espoused by BC ’15 and a few others in the comments do NOT represent what we stand for. Just so you don’t mistake this dungeon troll for us I have prepared a handy list below of things we DO stand for:
1) Rape is the single greatest threat to learning. When you are in an environment that is riddled with rapists you are depriving a significant body of the students from the education they are entitled to.
2) Rape is preventable. Men are able to make a decision NOT to rape. It is wholly within their abilities to take time and reflect upon their decisions.
3) Rape must be punished. If rape is not punished you don’t get any deterrence. As ordinary legal channels are time-intensive and do not convey the immediate message of disapproval universities nationwide need to swiftly punish rapists. This way men will see the negative consequences of their decisions.
4) Rape must be prevented. If you have sensitivity training then men can be made to understand where they err in their decision making processes. We have already made ten cost-effective proposals to administration involving gender reversal situational awareness programming (the only method that has proven effective). Each one has been rejected without any explanation. If men are made to understand what the experience of rape is like then they tend not to reinforce cycles of victimization.
5) There is no middle ground on rape. Either you wear the red tape or you support rape.
Thank you for your time and please behave responsibly and do what you can for all the survivors on campus they need your support. They need it a lot more than some who resort to hiring expensive lawyers and slandering the institution whose only mistake was offering admission to a rapist.
@Another NRT Board Member What Sandra said is true. We’d also like to thank everyone’s support for our cause. Because of your help, we have gotten President Bollinger’s approval for a mandatory sensitivity training for all men who wish to graduate.
Each man will be paired up with a female counterpart to understand her struggles on a day to day. The woman will have the man’s contact information, and the man should not contact her in any way after the training has been completed.
During the course of the training, the will be subjected to unsolicited ‘compliments’ (“you look handsome today”, “I would love to tap that”, “I bet you are great at sex”), she will feign making sexual advances on him, and he will resist. We will provide each pair with a script to facilitate the interaction. Both subjects will be put in potentially compromising situations such as simulating the interaction of a woman buying a man a drink to explore how rape culture affects us all.
The simulation is meant to enable cis-men to feel what it is like to be placed into a situation where they are subjected to unwanted sexual contact. After each situation, the men are supposed to write a one paragraph description about how they could prevented raping her in such a situation. Gay and trans individuals and people of color need not partake. For those affected, the cost of the training will be added as a separate line item on your tuition bill.
There will be more information available in the coming days as more details are ironed out. Just giving you a preview of what’s to come as a thank you for supporting our cause. Congratulations to all of our allies!
@uh “5) There is no middle ground on rape. Either you wear the red tape or you support rape.”
george bush much?
i don’t like the idea of wearing anything over my graduation gown. guess i’ll have to support rape then.
too bad, i was against it before, i just didnt want sticky residue on my cap.
#GORAPE!!
@@Another NRT Member “Gay and trans individuals and people of color need not partake.”
Why, though? Sexual violence is a pretty big problem within the queer community, just as much so if not more as it is among straight people. And men of color are just as capable of rape as white men. This kind of policy makes an assumption fails to recognize that different types of privilege and lack thereof provide different types of perspective on specific problems.
@Seriously, I'm actually in NRT This entire comment section is obviously like 90% trolling, so I’ll just make a brief clarification: NRT doesn’t have a board. So basically everyone commenting here is not in NRT and has never been to a meeting, otherwise they would know that we don’t have a board or any kind of leadership hierarchy. Also their views are pretty extreme, and certainly don’t represent the kinds of cultural or policy changes we are fighting for.
@@seriously actual NRT member So are you for rape? Nothing the board members of NRT espoused is extreme unless you are a rape apologist. If you are among the lower echelons of NRT membership I suppose your ignorance is forgivable but I want to make sure that people don’t actually mistake your heresy for some statement that anything Sandra said is contrary to the message of NRT. Seriously, go to your NRT mentor and have her clarify things for you because I’m worried that the patriarchy has deluded you sister. Thank Goddess for the internet where we can clarify things and help a young sister of NRT have her misunderstanding clarified.
@@seriously I'm an "actual" NRT member Sister you must not have been at the NRT meeting long enough to have been assigned a mentor or “Big Sister” as they are called. This is terribly distressing as you have been misled by the forces of the patriarchy into believing dogma. Worse still you misrepresent NRT. We stand for EVERYTHING that Sandra our beloved Board Member has articulated. Read the Five Truths again and try to internalize the message for it is important that you understand the True Path.
@Not a Feminist And this is why you go to Barnard.
#byefelicia
@Brian G Crawford I knew a woman who claimed that most, perhaps all, of her sexual encounters were actually rapes. She eventually ended up shooting her boyfriend, an OB/GYN, in the chest with a Smith and Wesson .38 Special and was charged with aggravated assault and attempted murder. However, being a woman, and being utterly crazy, she wasn’t sentenced to a single day in prison. The moral of the story? Stay away from these crazy women. “All men are rapists” is your cue to leave. Do not engage them in “discourse” or “dialogue.” Just GTFO!
@Anonymous TRACK THIS CRAZY’s COMMENTS ppl. love, columbia ’13er, and a real feminist who believes in equality and justice
@Be a strong woman but not a feminist Get a fucking life! All men are rapists? You’re giving impression that Columbia is a place where smart men, after spending years of working hard and achieving so much in order to be accepted, come to rape women…. just because they’re men and can’t help it? This is totally crazy. You either don’t have brothers or have never dated. Rape is a serious crime, and serious violence that need to be dealt with by the police/court but SO ARE FALSE ACCUSATIONS. Don’t forget that false accusations are a FORM OF ABUSE, and damage people’s lives. If you don’t care to find out if these guys are in fact innocent, and if you believe anything just because it comes from the mouth of a woman, then you should be ashamed of yourself. Get the facts right, and do us women a favor – study, learn, be smart about your choices, and stay out of things you don’t really understand.
@Reneal (GSA Member) I heard that this boy or maybe it was another put his thing between her buttcheeks. I will have you know that as a gay man that sort of thing is becoming way too mainstream among y’all. I mean I thought that this school was liberal and against appropriation and stuffs like that. Well every time you put it in a girl’s butt you are depriving gay men of their culture. If that is what you want to do then there is a place to do it and it is not in a woman. Now I don’t do that inside a man because that is not my disposition, makin my dick all dirty like, but gay men tend to keep it cleaner than women who don’t know how to keep their stuff clean (I mean they put cotton in they holes to contain their sick juices in there). So holla at your boy no need stuffin those ungrateful dirty girls is all I’m trying to say.
@BC '15 I think my professor put it best when she told me after class “You can feel a rape, it happens inside you, its not something the law can tell you happened or didn’t happen, there isn’t any DNA evidence to prove it, you just know it inside of you that what happened had violated you.”
That’s how it felt for me when I was raped. At the time I didn’t even know what that feeling was. But by the second time it happened to me I knew what that feeling was. That’s why I was so glad that my professor was able to explain that what I was feeling was rape.
I don’t think men mean to be rapists, they just all are rapists. We need to help them so that they can learn that what they are doing is WRONG! I think that there should be a program at the beginning of the school year where men are taken and they are made to feel like they make us feel. If they knew this feeling they wouldn’t rape again.
@Trans-Warrior What people are failing to account for is the disproportionate violence that is unleashed upon trans-gendered women at Columbia. Far be it for me to out someone but as a MTF Transgendered woman of color I can tell you that there are many women who have gone through the bloodshed to gain their womanhood here. The men of Columbia disproportionately inflict sexual violence upon us to deal with their confused sexual identities. I just wish we could start a dialogue that didn’t immediately get down to what is between your legs. No, we could talk this out and get to why you are so concerned with what is between my legs, why you are so interested. Don’t rape me when we could have a drink, light on up, and then maybe talk about why you are interested. Maybe I would be interested too if you came at it that way. But instead you want to try victimize my orifice. That’s not going to fly anymore because we’re united against it. So have fun in the comments if you want but we won’t let you rape us anymore.
@Kat Okay, now the problem here is that none of you have been made to feel like a victim before. If you have privilege you live in a world where you constantly rape people whether that be economically, socially, or physically. Rape is so normal for you that you don’t even see what’s wrong with it anymore and that’s why 90% of rape is done by White Cis-gendered Heterosexual men. If you just checked your privilege you would finally realize what rape consists of.
@Affirmative Athletes hell no is right! This dude only get a 95% score on the SAT. That’s shit. I got a 99.99 percentile score and got rejected by three ivies. Fuck the system.
@Anonymous Let me tell you a story:
A white heteronormative cisgendered CEO professor and Baptist preacher was teaching a class on Karl Rove, known Christian. “Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Jesus Christ and accept that you too can become straight through daily prayer, self-flagellation, and eating Chik-Fil-A every day!” At this moment, a brave, trans-Asian, self-diagnosed pansexual demiromantic vegan multisouled person who had been free of all animal products and only bought products at the local transgender co-op boldly stood up, holding a glass filled with some white liquid. “Hey, Professor, what is this?” The arrogant professor smirked like a rapist and smugly replied “It’s clearly milk, you crazy homo. What the fuck does milk have to do with political science?” “Wrong. It’s an all natural vegan soy almond kombucha latte. No animals or transpeople were harmed or raped in the making of this product.” The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of the Wall Street Journal. He stormed out of the room, clearly planning some kind of rape. The professor realized that he had been playing into the hands of the kyriarchy of CEOs, investment bankers, the Religious Right, and psychiatrists. He then killed himself. The proper term for this is “trans-dead”. The students checked their privilege, all diagnosed themselves with autism and gender identity disorder and joined the Gay-Straight Alliance. An obese trans-eagle furry otherkin waddled into the room and tried to perch upon the American Flag, bending the flagpole in the process. All parties involved gave up meat, Christianity, and the right to bear arms.
@fds Like this if u cry every time
@BC '17 Honestly speaking, all sex is just consensual rape