Recent concerns regarding Louisana State University's willingness — or lack thereof — to provide information regarding sexual harassment cases creates concerns for students who live and attend classes on campus.
In Louisiana, it’s not about what you know but who you know. This mentality seeps into the manner in which certain issues are handled at LSU and often leads to many unfair situations. It seems, as a student, that a lot of people on my campus discuss the continuing concern of sexual harassment that occurs throughout the student body. A common theme that plagues our overseers is their lack of response and it's become a fear that these incidents are just being ignored. It still remains that you could ask anyone on this campus if they know someone who has been sexually harassed and they will most likely provide affirmation to the fact.
The sheer volume of these complaints makes you wonder why nothing ever comes up in the news regarding this constant claim of insidious crimes. Recently the Louisiana State Auditor requested that the school provide information surrounding sexual harassment on campus. The school failed to reply despite the continuous search for information by their office.
On April 20, 2018, spokesman, Ernie Ballard, for LSU wrote in response to their delay in information, "This data is readily available, and it was an unfortunate oversight that it was not sent for the report. There was no malice or intent to not send but was a simple oversight."
Ernie Ballard has a history of not saying much or anything useful in regards to sexual harassment cases. In 2015 a young woman filed a complaint and felt as if her claims were not taken seriously due to her gender. Another young woman was attacked at a fraternity party on campus, however, not much information was offered after that and Ballard refused to comment beyond the police report.
What is shocking is the amount of information that is available surrounding the firing of a female teacher for the claim of use of vulgar language and sexual themes in her class. Not to say the teacher was not rightly released from her position, however, it’s alarming that LSU has so much to say about a female committing these crimes but nothing to say about the same things done by her male counterparts. Many girls have claimed that members of fraternities and LSU male-dominated sports teams have committed unwanted sexual advances against them, but things never seem to go beyond their complaints.
As a female student on this campus, I found it extremely concerning that my university did not immediately reply to the Auditors request but also doesn't seem to treat this as a real concern.
Additionally, an anonymous student stated, “I had an experience with LSU improperly dealing with my case freshman year when I had only one drink at a bar and it was drugged. I ended up in the hospital and had no alcohol in my system but a large dose of liquid Klonopin.” This drug is designed to sedate its victim and cause memory loss as well as impaired judgment. The young woman along with a witness reported the incident to LSU along with the hospital record and “LSU just totally disregarded the real events.” They placed her on “disciplinary probation for a semester” and required her to “complete an ethics and decision-making course and [they] acted like it was just a drinking offense that [she] was responsible for.”
LSU did not offer her support or any resources to deal with the events that occurred that evening and went as far as to blame her for the acts commuted against her.
Thanks, LSU, I and the rest of your student population feel safe.
