When They Won't Listen, We Will
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Student Life

When They Won't Listen, We Will

The world is a scary place, the Internet just exposes it.

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When They Won't Listen, We Will
Cait McClare

Millennials hear it all the time. You know, the whole "social media and the Internet aren't doing anything for this world" claim.

In some instances, I do agree with the negative takes on the digital world. But, I have always been an advocate for the good.

Cecilia Carreras' story of the University of Richmond furthered my advocacy.

Carreras told the story of her personal Brock Turner and the unfortunate way administration at the university handled it. She was re-victimized by administration as they questioned her drinking habits, her promiscuity and the incident itself. While she was unsettled, unhappy and unsafe, her rapist went to practice and remained on the roster. While she felt alone in the whole situation, he had the entire athletic department on his side, and seemingly the administration as well.

The problem with their system at Richmond "justifies reported rapes and judges the survivor’s credibility on a harsher scale than the accused’s."

Soon after, the University of Richmond published a statement regarding her viral Huffington Post article. Instead of apologizing, which is the very least they could have done, they basically accused Carreras of lying.

So, reactively and justifiably, she published this:

In her follow-up article, she attached email exchanges, multiple no contact orders, text messages and quotes from recordings in the investigation.

In other words, she exposed the corruption.

By telling her story on a public platform, she is creating change and awareness.

Discussion of rape allegations and the mistreatment of victims on college campuses started to explode not-so-coincidentally around the development of websites like Odyssey, Elite Daily, Huffington Post and Thought Catalog emerged. These websites allow students to publish their unsolicited opinions, thoughts and stories without biases or filters. They give their writers a voice that can be heard around the world.

Unfortunately, the cover-up of campus assaults is not a new epidemic. The difference is the amount of eyes and ears on the story, on the facts. Before the digital age, local police and college officials listened and were able to determine whether the case should be further investigated. And, if they deemed action unnecessary, they were basically given the power to tell the victim he or she is wrong.

These stories will turn your stomach and lose a bit of your innocence. The innocence that our older generations lived their entire lives in, unless otherwise published in the local newspaper or broadcasted on TV. As all journalism students know, these platforms have rules and guidelines: there are certain words that cannot be used, there should not be bias, etc. So, in many instances, a victim's story would be ruled as obscene by these public outlets.

However, now, if officials do not wish to listen, a victim can find thousands of others who will. Carreras' viral articles created a lively conversation in local, campus, national and online communities. As long as the victim is willing retell his or her story, some justice could be served. And, additionally, students residing on other campuses will begin to question their own administrative processes to hopefully put an end to these corrupt systems.

I know it gets old, seeing the negative everywhere we look. It seems as if the world is worse than ever, and here's the reason why -- we have the means to expose the negative.

Residents within the older generations act as if our Internet browsers are going to eat us alive. The Internet seems evil. And, sometimes it is because it exposes the scary occurrences in the "real world."

It strips us of our innocence one story at a time, but I think the last thing the world needs is to ignore our problems. The world needs this exposure, no matter what the story is.

Everything gets worse before it gets better.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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