Dear Daily Orange Editor:

We are writing to express our concern about the article The Daily Orange published on Sept. 28 regarding the lawsuit brought by a student who was expelled for nonconsensual sex.

The word choice the author utilized in the paragraph that begins with “those concerns were validated when Betsy Devos…”  frames the article in a place of “siding” with the respondent and has a subtext that accused students do not get a fair opportunity.

Likewise, the quote from legal counsel stating that the victim community should be supporting John Doe is incredibly inflammatory.  We realize the attorney made the statement and The D.O. is merely quoting him, but if you report a quote like that you might want to give a victim or victim advocate a chance to respond. The D.O. appears to have done little investigating, and if you had, it would have made sense to share information regarding the actual Title IX process on campus.

Let us be clear that we feel strongly that the process on campus for responding to sexual assault allegations needs to be fair for the accused student. We believe both the Title IX and New York State Enough is Enough processes ensure that fairness.

Please remember a few essential points:

• There is a huge difference between having sex while intoxicated and regretting it versus someone choosing to take advantage of your vulnerable state or incapacitation to violate you.
• If the system was as biased as the lawsuit alleges, then there would be a lot more expulsions happening on campus. We hear far more often about victims who were disappointed that their case did not result in the finding or justice that they hoped.
• Affirmative consent, the New York state standard for consensual sex on campus, requires that a person willingly consents to each specific act. Texting to meet up at a party does not mean consent to have sex. Making out at the party does not mean consent to have sex.

We believe the university’s response to this lawsuit helps to provide some very important information regarding how every step in the required process was followed in this case. We hope everyone reads it.

https://www.scribd.com/document/360072057/SU-Response

Syracuse University — thank you for your efforts to build a system that supports survivors while ensuring a fair process for accused students.

Survivors — we believe you, and we will continue to support you.

Sincerely,

Tiffany Brec, Campus Project Coordinator

Jolie Moran, Advocacy Program Coordinator

Randi Bregman, Executive Director

Vera House, Inc.

Published on October 2, 2017 at 7:06 pm