Though the Rolling Stone was forced to apologize to its readers for its gross inaccuracies in its story about gang rape at the University of Virginia (UVA), student leaders have published a document that recommends “Women and Gender Studies (WGS)” as a required course and secret rape trials as means to counter the “sexual assault storm” on the campus.
As Dave Huber reported at The College Fix Sunday, “Taking Action on Sexual Assault – A Student Perspective” is a new document, prepared by UVA student leaders, that contains recommendations for the university’s Board of Visitors (BOV), administration, and students. Among those for the BOV are required WGS and “Closed Criminal Trials.”
“One hurdle to pursuing criminal resolution may be the painstaking public nature of trials,” say the student leaders. “Introducing privacy could make that path more attractive. The BOV can: advocate publicly to Richmond.”
The College Fix responds:
Fortunately, University of Virginia student body, this is the United States, not Stalin’s USSR or Mao’s China. And, American campuses already have a rather sordid history when it comes to holding private proceedings.
If the members of the Board of Visitors have even a smidgen of legal integrity, they will nix this awful idea faster than Rolling Stone had to backtrack on its UVA “gang rape” story.
Regarding a WGS requirement, UVA student leaders also say, “There is much to learn about our culture’s impact on and interaction with women. Assuring that each student engages with these ideas is an enabler of cultural change.”
“The BOV can: budget increased support for the program, direct schools to create requirement,” they recommend.
Other recommendations for the BOV include the creation of a “Gender Violence Institute” to apply research done on “gender violence,” funding long-term counseling for students, and “trauma training for police.”
Student leaders recommend that the administration launch a third-party safety app, identify repeat offenders, fund an all-night women’s center, and support faculty training to instruct in “how to sensitively interact with survivors.”
Students themselves say they plan to launch a Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition and propose modifications to fraternity agreements.
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