Dear “Unnamed University,”
When I came to you with a personal matter back in February I was promised that you were going to do everything in you power to make sure that the matter was taken care of appropriately. You may not remember what I am talking about, but I am sure you do.
I came to you with an incident of sexual assault.
I came to you after going to the police and countless other resources. You assured me that the perpetrator was going to be held accounted for, that he wasn’t going to get away with it, and then my friend and I would be able to feel safe again on campus.
The funny thing is, I actually believed you for quite some time…. that is until he was released from police custody and our names were released to him. Sure, him being released was what it was, but when he was brought to student affairs, you did nothing. He got a “oh don’t worry it’s not your fault.” He was left to roam on campus, like nothing ever happened, like the fact that he raped my friend, and assaulted me was a lie.
Now, we tried very hard to not let this get to us. We walked on campus, we tried to forget that it ever happened, but that’s pretty hard when the perpetrator strikes again. One incident just wasn’t enough, but even two, and then three incidents weren’t enough for you to take disciplinary action against him. I came to you after he cornered me on campus, shortly after the first incident, and you once again promised me that something would be done. You promised me that the victim was always your first priority.
You LIED to me, AGAIN!
I walk the same campus my attacker does.
I walk through a campus that I once loved and felt nothing but safe on, but now I walk a little more on edge, a little more aware of everything around me. So I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for doing everything in your power…not for me, of course. But, thank you for doing everything in your power to protect your precious reputation. Thank you for favoring the perpetrator, and the wrong-doer over the victim, once again. Thank you for putting your school before your students, because if this got out, would the new students still look at you highly? No, they probably wouldn’t, but at least you could say you cared about your students and put them first. Then, you could truly say that your students were more than just a number…but I guess that just doesn’t matter to you. So thank you for making me love the campus a lot less than I did.
Sincerely,
A Fighter, but not a Victim!
