Students protest on Virginia Wesleyan campus

Oct. 16--NORFOLK -- Facebook profiles for some Virginia Wesleyan College students feature the black-on-white silhouette of a young woman.

Red lettering stands across the picture: "I Stand With Jane Doe."

It's one symbol of concern among students and faculty about a lawsuit's claims that a young woman was raped on the campus on the third day of her freshman year in 2012 by a student athlete on the lacrosse team.

The lawsuit, filed this month in Norfolk Circuit Court, claims that after permanently dismissing the woman's assailant, college officials later allowed him to voluntarily withdraw as that "may assist him in seeking further studies." The lawsuit alleges that Wesleyan has a history of sexual assault incidents.

On Thursday, students, faculty and members of the school's administration met in Wesleyan's library. Students said the school's administration provided few answers, but the meeting gave them a chance to speak their minds.

A small group of students gathered outside the library afterward and rallied in support of Jane Doe.

The Pilot does not usually name people who may be victims of sexual assault.

Glenn Rose, a junior at the school, said he came to protest a culture, on Wesleyan's campus and elsewhere, that too often blames the victim and fails to hold assailants accountable.

"To me this is about telling people, maybe a future victim, that people on this campus are on their side," he said. "We are showing that everyone here is not a part of that culture."

The small, close-knit campus of about 1,500 students has talked of little else since the lawsuit was filed, said Thomas Mills, editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Marlin Chronicle.

"I think students in general are just frustrated with how the process has gone so far. We just want a little more clarity on the situation," Mills said.

Mills said he and other students wonder why they didn't hear of the incident until it was in the court system and on the news.

Michelle Issadore is a consultant affiliated with The National Center for Higher Education Risk Management in Malvern, Pa. She works with schools to prevent and address sexual violence issues.

The school couldn't announce the alleged assault because of laws that protect the privacy of students, she said.

Still, she said, it is not best practice to hold a hearing on a sexual assault case, find a student responsible, then allow him to withdraw, as stated in Jane Doe's lawsuit and in Wesleyan's letter to her.

"That seems like a very odd set of circumstances," Issadore said.

Since the lawsuit was filed, the school has made two short statements to students.

"We have carefully reviewed the facts of this unfortunate incident and the allegations in Jane Doe's complaint. While we sympathize with Jane Doe, the College denies any allegation of improper conduct and will vigorously defend this lawsuit," reads the statement released by David E. Buckingham, vice president for student affairs and dean of enrollment services, and obtained by The Pilot. "Given the ongoing legal proceedings, the College cannot comment further at this time."

Jonathan Halperin, the lawyer who filed Jane Doe's complaint, said the college has not accepted responsibility.

"The more we investigate the college, the more it appears the administration coddled athletes who committed serious crimes," Halperin said. "We continue to encourage others who have been mistreated to speak out."

Students want to know the administration is addressing the lawsuit as well as the culture on campus that led to the alleged assault, said Aoife Branco, managing editor of The Marlin Chronicle.

"There's a feeling that this is being swept under the rug," she said. "I personally feel very safe on campus. I think a lot of people feel very safe on campus, even at parties or wherever. But isn't that the way it is until something happens?"

Faculty members helped arrange the meeting, known as a Community Council, because they thought it was important that everyone on campus have an open discourse on the issue.

"It was an opportunity for a productive dialogue about the issues surrounding the case," said Leona Baker, director of communications for VWC, by email. "Members of the College community were able to articulate their thoughts, questions and concerns in a supportive space and they did so freely and thoughtfully."

School officials declined requests for an interview.

The school has offered information sessions about sexual assault and sexual harassment. In August, the school started offering students the LiveSafe mobile phone app, which allows students to report anonymously on suspicious activity. The app can also allow students to track each other's movements.

"We've all been trying to figure it out together and allow everyone to have their voices heard," said Sue Larkin, an associate English professor at the school.

"This is a problem in our society."

Alexandra Pouder is a friend of the woman who filed the lawsuit.

The woman first talked to her friends about the assault, Pouder said, then went to police.

Women on campus often walk each other home, whether they have been drinking or not, she said. Other students said women share warnings with each other about groups of men, or more specifically certain men on campus.

Most of the time, it seems like a safe campus, Pouder said.

But school administrators' efforts to address sexual assault on campus have been reactive, she said, with a focus on what a student should do after a rape, rather than on prevention.

"They should address these issues with the groups that have repeatedly had a problem, or even with the whole campus," Pouder said. "It just seemed that when this came out the majority of the school, including professors, were extremely upset."

Jane Doe is no longer in school at Wesleyan or anywhere else. She lives in another state, away from her parents and almost everyone she has ever known. She has sought treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.

"I just kind of needed to start over fresh," she said in a phone interview. "It kind of just took away everything I had. That's the easiest way to put it, I basically just lost everything. I'm trying to get it back slowly but surely, but there's not a whole lot of resources for this kind of stuff that are super effective. ... I didn't want to go back to Virginia anymore. I couldn't go back to the same school."

Gary Harki, 757-446-2370, [email protected]

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