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UVA Rape Story Collapses; Duke Lacrosse Redux
Topic Started: Dec 5 2014, 01:45 PM (60,467 Views)
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http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/uva-alum-effort-to-provide-attorney-to-sex-assault-victims/article_53cc556c-8d50-11e4-a93a-c3dfaa981828.html

UVa alum effort to provide attorney to sex assault victims is making progress

Posted: Friday, December 26, 2014 5:41 pm

By Dani Kass


The University of Virginia alumni effort to raise money to provide an attorney to sexual assault survivors at UVa hasn’t had a donation in two weeks, but it’s raised more than half its goal and its creator is actively planning the drive’s next steps.

The UVrApe Alumni Victims Defense Fund, which has been renamed the Sexual Assault Advocacy Fund, has raised $31,280 since November through the website CrowdRise.com. Its creator, Lisa Richey, said 359 people have donated.

Richey launched the fund in the wake of a landmark Rolling Stone story centered on an alleged 2012 gang rape at UVa that drew national outcry and prompted calls for reform. That account has since been discredited, but work to improve the university’s handling of sexual violence and an independent investigation of the school’s practices are underway.

Richey has been working with Palma Pustilnik, an attorney at the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, to create a plan for 2015. While they don’t have a formal agreement yet, they have been talking about how they can work together to provide pro bono help to students.

One idea has been for the fund to hire an administrative aide for Pustilnik, who would be trained to help sexual assault survivors, Pustilnik said. Survivors could directly call that person, who would do intake interviews and provide legal information, she said. But because they wouldn’t be an attorney, they couldn’t provide legal advice.

The aide also would help with administrative requirements such as paperwork, so Pustilnik could focus on helping survivors. Funding cuts at Legal Aid have led to a decreased staff and more administrative work for Pustilnik, she said.

“We can get them some more man-hours. That way they can free up time to work on this,” Richey said.

Richey said she likes the idea of using an attorney who already has connections within the city and legal communities, including the commonwealth’s attorney’s office and judges, to help encourage survivors to come forward through the legal system.

“The more survivors I talk to, the more I see we as a community at large have to earn the trust of survivors before we’re willing to take this on through the criminal court,” Richey said.

Richey also said she hopes the attorney will work with students who choose to go through the Sexual Misconduct Board at UVa instead of — or in addition to — the criminal system.

“Having one attorney sitting there with survivors will see systematic flaws” she said. “So it’s not just UVa changing when they get a Title IX complaint.”

For example, the attorney may be able to see that the board regularly asks questions they’re not supposed to, Richey said.

“You get to watchdog the process and see what the problems are in individual cases versus systemic problems,” she said.

Richey said she’s concerned some students don’t want to use Legal Aid because they think they won’t qualify due to their parents’ income.

“Legal Aid looks at funding differently — they just look at how much you have,” she said. “Even if you have a trust fund — that’s tied up. Students could go to Legal Aid now, but we want to make sure they have the resources to help everyone.”

Pustilnik said if the student has, for example, a large savings account of their own or a huge stock portfolio in their name, it could disqualify them, but, “If you are living on your own and are an adult, your parents’ means are immaterial.”

Pustilnik represents Jackie, the now third-year student at the heart of the Rolling Stone story whose report of a graphic gang rape at the hands of seven men at a fraternity house fell apart in the weeks after the 9,000-word feature was published. Pustilnik has repeatedly declined interview requests since issuing a statement Dec. 10 asking the news media to leave her beleaguered client alone.

In the last few weeks, Richey also has met with Becky Weybright, executive director of the Sexual Assault Resource Agency, though no formal agreements have been made between them.

“I definitely think we will stay in touch with them and I think they have some interesting ideas that they’re working on and some things that I think could be useful to survivors,” Weybright said. “I think for some students it may be helpful for them to have a resource to help them outside of the university.”

Richey says she hopes to have a set plan in 2015, which would allow them to reach out to larger donors.

“When I put the [$50,000] goal out there, I was thinking I’d get [$20,000 to $25,000] and be able to search for matching funds in order to do what I really want to do,” she said. “I think [$50,000] is a little shy. We probably need [$70,000].”

For now, she said she’s working with a six-person steering committee of UVa alumni and students to create a plan.

Pustilnik said sexual assault on campus is a “complicated problem” that needs a “multilayered solution,” and this partnership could be part of that solution.

“It’s not going to fix everything, but I think the more information students have about what their options are, the better served we all are,” she said.

Dani Kass is the courts reporter for The Daily Progress. Contact her at (434) 978-7263, dkass@dailyprogress.com or @daniikass on Twitter.
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http://media.cav.s3.amazonaws.com/10072_studentssexualassaultsolutionso.pdf

Taking Action on Sexual Assault
A Student Perspective

Students sit at the center of the sexual assault storm. It is a problem among us, and a problem we must fix at personal and cultural levels. In the last weeks, we have come together with that in mind to prepare the following - a student’s point of view on how the many dedicated stakeholders can come together.

(Includes Star Chamber proceedings)
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http://www.fredericksburg.com/opinion/columns/for-u-va-bad-reporting-undermines-truth/article_bea6ac05-6ce1-587b-ab11-a88c8a8bcd17.html

For U.Va., bad reporting undermines truth

KAREN OWEN | Posted: Sunday, December 28, 2014 12:00 am
For U.Va., bad reporting undermines truth

Rolling Stone’s story of a gang rape at U.Va.’s Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house led to protests. It now seems parts of the story are not true.

The story in Rolling Stone magazine about rape at the University of Virginia has cast a pall over the holiday season for many Virginians, as well it should.

After the initial horror that a woman was gang-raped at a fraternity house on campus set in, it soon became clear that, as with so much of life in the U.S. today, “the facts” became anything but.

What began as a story of rape, which is much more commonplace on U.S. college campuses than we may wish to believe, soon became a story of media excess. This is equally disturbing.

But let’s begin with rape. We’ve long heard stories of nubile young co-eds, dressed provocatively—as they tend to do at that age—hoping for access to the boys, the parties, the bands and the alcohol offered by fraternities. Unfortunately, though, sexual assault can happen anywhere. A woman may just as easily find herself at a gathering at one of the rental houses near campus where she knows few, if any, of the attendees but thinks that these are young people like herself. What can go wrong?

She is handed an alcoholic beverage that has been laced with a so-called “rape drug.” Soon she becomes nauseated or disoriented, and finds herself the following morning in a state of undress, having been sexually violated.

So it’s not just at the fraternities where such behavior goes on—at U.Va. and at universities nationwide.

It happens with chilling regularity at the service academies. It happens in the military. (For a truly awful account of just a few instances, check out the Nov. 30 New York Times Magazine: “In the Company of Men.”) And this has been going on for years. And years.

Many of us recognize that sexual assault is too common, but, unfortunately, rape cases are extremely difficult to prosecute. Even when the victim has gone immediately to the hospital or to a clinic, and when the evidence seems incontrovertible, many cases do not come to trial. When they do, they often are reduced to “he said, she said.” Women are victimized yet again, reputations are harmed and—in the case of the military especially—careers are ruined.

People often tend not to believe the woman’s story. I have acquaintances who never, ever seem to believe the man was in the wrong. They shake their heads because, in several high-profile cases, the man or men were falsely accused. In the case of the Duke men’s lacrosse-team incident, none of the players were guilty of the rape of a Durham stripper, and an overzealous prosecutor persisted with the case in order to make a name for himself.

It may turn out that “Jackie” at U.Va. overstated what happened to her—perhaps making it all up, although this is rare. It could be that the rape occurred, but the trauma has blurred her memory of the events, including which fraternity was involved. It could be that she engaged in casual sex or sex gone bad with one person, and then had regrets. There are many possibilities.

But the men, whom she did not identify to Rolling Stone, are all innocent until proved guilty. The reputation of any man who can be identified has been sullied, as has the university’s.

Someone, or something, should pay the price for that.

It could very well be that Rolling Stone has committed an unpardonable sin. In seeking sensationalism rather than printing an all-too-getable true story to illustrate that rape on campus is prevalent, it has done irreparable harm to the Fourth Estate—essential to democracy and already under attack for showing political favoritism.

After all, the admission by writer Sabrina Rubin Erdely of Rolling Stone that she wanted to make her case by hand-selecting what she saw as an elite, and Southern, university is the very worst sort of advocacy journalism. RS, in backing off from the original story, has pretty much admitted that it had prejudged what it felt must be true.

Real journalists don’t do that.

But in an eagerness to tell an uncomfortable story on a topic many parents and students hoped would not be true at their alma mater, RS may have exaggerated for effect, thereby ruining a news story that is already bad enough.

The men’s reputations, the women’s reputations, the university’s reputation and now the reputation of an industry already teetering on the abyss, all have been besmirched. How do they get them back?

And here’s the kicker: Rape at the university level is a serious problem. An opportunity to tell this story accurately, which could have led to solutions nationwide, has been squandered.

In the past, when a Big Story has come under attack for accuracy, editors could always say: “If we’re wrong, feel free to sue us.” Most of the time, that doesn’t happen.

This time, though, I’m thinking that the print media may have suffered a calamitous blow.

The nation’s readers want accuracy. They may complain when they perceive bias—oftentimes not really there—but I continue to believe that Americans can handle the truth when presented with it. But if they see such alarming evidence that truth has been tampered with, they may feel that they should stop reading. They may turn their attention even more than they have already to entirely unreliable news sources that happen to fit their political leanings.

As this plays out, we’ll learn more. I don’t want the Rolling Stone story to be true—rape in and of itself is terrible, but gang rape is too horrific to contemplate.

But I don’t want the media to play soft and loose with “the facts,” either. This practice could lead to consequences equally horrific. When trust is lost, it is hard to regain.

Karen Owen is former Viewpoints editor of The Free Lance–Star.
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comelately

Where have we found so much human refuse to fill the MSM with? Aha, we are manufacturing them in our high schools and colleges! But where did we find so many teachers and professors that are willing (dying, in fact!) to convert all these innocent students into such trash? I guess they have been churned out by our colleges... Perhaps Boko Haram have a point, after all! :biggrin:
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http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/20627/

UVA student leaders want secret trials for rape cases

by Dave Huber - Assistant Editor on December 28, 2014

“Taking Action On Sexual Assault — A Student Perspective” is the title of a two-page document containing various recommendations to help combat the “sexual assault storm” at the University of Virginia.

“It is a problem among us, and a problem we must fix at personal and cultural levels,” the introduction says.

Indeed, the document has three sets of recommendations — nine for UVA’s Board of Visitors, and seven each for administration and students.

One of these (for the BOV) is something you might have come to expect: a requirement to take Women and Gender Studies courses.

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.

Other ideas include the creation of a Gender Violence Institute, an All-Night Women’s Center, and mandatory faculty training “on their responsibilities and how to sensitively interact with survivors.”

But what is most … frightening is the call for closed criminal trials in rape cases:

One hurdle to pursuing criminal resolution may be the painstaking public nature of trials. Introducing privacy could make that path more attractive. The BOV can: advocate publicly to Richmond.

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.

Read the full document.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Chamber

Influence on the U.S. Constitution

The historical abuses of the Star Chamber are considered a primary motivating force behind the protections against compelled self-incrimination embodied in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[13] The meaning of "compelled testimony" under the Fifth Amendment – i.e., the conditions under which a defendant is allowed to "plead the Fifth" to avoid self-incrimination – is thus often interpreted via reference to the inquisitorial methods of the Star Chamber.[14]

As the U.S. Supreme Court described it, "the Star Chamber has, for centuries, symbolized disregard of basic individual rights. The Star Chamber not merely allowed, but required, defendants to have counsel. The defendant's answer to an indictment was not accepted unless it was signed by counsel. When counsel refused to sign the answer, for whatever reason, the defendant was considered to have confessed." Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 821–22 (1975).

Due to the secrecy of its sessions and decisions, as well as its perceived consistent approval of government excesses, The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is sometimes described[15] as a 21st-century version of the Star Chamber.
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It is sad just how stupid this generation of college students are when it comes to common sense. Of course look at their professors and their ignorance & false data of history spoon fed them.
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Assistant to The Devil Himself
http://twitchy.com/2014/12/28/out-of-touch-todays-doonesbury-treats-the-uva-rape-story-as-fact/
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‘Out of touch’? Today’s Doonesbury treats the UVA rape story as fact


A commenter mentions the Duke case...
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http://www.dailyprogress.com/opinion/opinion-letter-gauge-the-right-response-for-uva/article_1e2f586e-8e1d-11e4-b816-07329abb30e4.html

Opinion/Letter: Gauge the right response for UVa

Posted: Sunday, December 28, 2014 1:15 am

This semester has been a difficult one for our University of Virginia family. While still reeling from the Hannah Graham tragedy and the suicide death of one of her classmates, we were blindsided by the horrifying story from Rolling Stone.

While many details of the story have since been discredited, it nonetheless set in motion a series of events that must now be resolved.

I would like to urge caution and reason in addressing the issues before us. Sexual assault is a heinous crime that should be treated as such. But we mustn't judge and convict without first seeking the truth. There can be victims on both sides of this situation if we are not careful.

As exemplified by the reaction to this article, we are often too quick to judge and react without all available facts.

The Greek system has been unjustly vilified by our community, the media and the nation. Those of us involved with the Greek system, or who know sorority or fraternity members, understand that they are not as they have been portrayed by the media and others. We know that fraternities and sororities, just like other organizations and the student body in general, are largely filled with bright, ambitious, honorable young men and women, many of whom are the leaders within our university community and will continue to be leaders in our society in the future.

UVa is an exemplary institution, as nearly all of us who know it will attest. No place, however, is perfect, and we should — we must — seek improvement where room for it exists. Our remedies should be measured and precise, not overdone.

Academic opportunity, cultural diversity, athletics, fine arts and recreation are a few of the factors that have made UVa one of the most highly regarded schools in our nation. The Greek system is also one of the many attributes that make our school so great.

Let's not overreach in our solutions and, in doing so, unjustly punish the many good fraternity and sorority members for the sake of doing something "substantial.” Instead, we must work to improve our university without doing harm to that which is good. I am confident that we can succeed in this endeavor if we proceed with caution and careful deliberation.

David Snow

Winchester
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http://www.richmond.com/opinion/their-opinion/guest-columnists/article_70de7143-4d30-5302-be7b-1319bfa1e3d5.html


It’s Time for a U.Va. Apology

By Robert F. Turner & Thomas E. Turner | Posted: Sunday, December 28, 2014 10:30 pm

One of us has taught at the University of Virginia for more than 25 years; the other, his son, is a third-year (junior) U.Va. student. We both love the university dearly, and when we heard that a member of our community of trust had been savagely gang-raped by other members (associated with a fraternity), we were shocked and angered.

Our first response was to seek to learn the facts. We independently read the Rolling Stone article (“A Rape on Campus,” Nov. 19), which we both concluded was filled with details that, to say the least, were implausible. U.Va. does not admit idiots, and only a fraternity filled with idiots would establish an initiation ritual requiring pledges to gang-rape fellow students. The crime of rape quite properly can be punished by imprisonment for life in Virginia.

Would anyone be so stupid as to assume that no fraternity brother or pledge had a functioning conscience (or a sister or girlfriend), that no victim of such abuse would complain or mention it to others who might report it, and thus authorities could never learn of their crimes?

Would several fellow students respond to learning of this brutal assault by seven men upon their bruised and bloodied friend by cautioning that, if it were reported to authorities, they might “never be allowed into any frat party again” — presumably to be subjected to similar abuse? The story just didn’t pass the “straight-face test,” and we were confident that — whatever might have actually happened on Sept. 28, 2012 — an investigation would show the story was so filled with errors as to lack credibility absent corroboration.

Lest we be misunderstood, it was not our conclusion that “Jackie” was not horribly abused sexually on the date in question. We had no way of knowing the truth. Our only conclusion was that the Rolling Stone story by itself was likely highly flawed.

Three days later, however, U.Va. President Teresa Sullivan sent an email to the university community declaring “We can demand that incidents like those described in Rolling Stone never happen” and announced she was immediately “suspending all fraternal organizations and associated social activities until January. ...” We were, once again, shocked.

Did U.Va. learn nothing from the 2006 Duke lacrosse team scandal, where — reportedly under strong pressure from prejudiced faculty members anxious to make an example of “privileged” athletes — on the sole basis of an allegation of rape, the lacrosse coach was fired and the team’s schedule for the rest of the season canceled? When the accuser admitted she fabricated the allegation, Duke reportedly paid close to $100 million dollars for legal and PR expenses and to settle various lawsuits.

More fundamentally, what message did Sullivan send about basic fairness and the due process of law? Neither of us has any connection with the Greek system, and we understand that they are not popular with some faculty members and administrators. But it is precisely when the alleged crime is so heinous, and the accused unpopular with those in authority, that we must guard against emotion-driven efforts to bypass fundamental due process. Books like “The Ox Bow Incident” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” are so highly acclaimed because they remind us of that important principle.

Neither of us has ever spoken personally with Sullivan, but we have observed her — and, until this incident, we were tremendously impressed with her talents, leadership and obvious devotion to our university. We share her view that even one act of sexual abuse is too many, and we understand that her decision to punish all fraternities was made under pressure from outraged faculty and other community members. But that’s no excuse.

For Rolling Stone to publish such horrendous allegations without even attempting to contact the accused or other students libeled in the article is outrageous.

To deter future journalistic misconduct, we hope the victims of their libels (including the university) will speak with their lawyers about seeking justice from Rolling Stone and its author.

This tragic matter obviously should not affect the university’s desire to prevent sexual abuse. But, hopefully, it will remind us that even disfavored organizations and individuals are entitled to fundamental due process of law.

Whatever the victims of this injustice decide, we believe the university owes those wrongfully punished a public apology.
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Dec 29 2014, 04:45 AM
http://www.richmond.com/opinion/their-opinion/guest-columnists/article_70de7143-4d30-5302-be7b-1319bfa1e3d5.html


It’s Time for a U.Va. Apology

By Robert F. Turner & Thomas E. Turner | Posted: Sunday, December 28, 2014 10:30 pm

One of us has taught at the University of Virginia for more than 25 years; the other, his son, is a third-year (junior) U.Va. student. We both love the university dearly, and when we heard that a member of our community of trust had been savagely gang-raped by other members (associated with a fraternity), we were shocked and angered.

Our first response was to seek to learn the facts. We independently read the Rolling Stone article (“A Rape on Campus,” Nov. 19), which we both concluded was filled with details that, to say the least, were implausible. U.Va. does not admit idiots, and only a fraternity filled with idiots would establish an initiation ritual requiring pledges to gang-rape fellow students. The crime of rape quite properly can be punished by imprisonment for life in Virginia.

Would anyone be so stupid as to assume that no fraternity brother or pledge had a functioning conscience (or a sister or girlfriend), that no victim of such abuse would complain or mention it to others who might report it, and thus authorities could never learn of their crimes?

Would several fellow students respond to learning of this brutal assault by seven men upon their bruised and bloodied friend by cautioning that, if it were reported to authorities, they might “never be allowed into any frat party again” — presumably to be subjected to similar abuse? The story just didn’t pass the “straight-face test,” and we were confident that — whatever might have actually happened on Sept. 28, 2012 — an investigation would show the story was so filled with errors as to lack credibility absent corroboration.

Lest we be misunderstood, it was not our conclusion that “Jackie” was not horribly abused sexually on the date in question. We had no way of knowing the truth. Our only conclusion was that the Rolling Stone story by itself was likely highly flawed.

Three days later, however, U.Va. President Teresa Sullivan sent an email to the university community declaring “We can demand that incidents like those described in Rolling Stone never happen” and announced she was immediately “suspending all fraternal organizations and associated social activities until January. ...” We were, once again, shocked.

Did U.Va. learn nothing from the 2006 Duke lacrosse team scandal, where — reportedly under strong pressure from prejudiced faculty members anxious to make an example of “privileged” athletes — on the sole basis of an allegation of rape, the lacrosse coach was fired and the team’s schedule for the rest of the season canceled? When the accuser admitted she fabricated the allegation, Duke reportedly paid close to $100 million dollars for legal and PR expenses and to settle various lawsuits.

More fundamentally, what message did Sullivan send about basic fairness and the due process of law? Neither of us has any connection with the Greek system, and we understand that they are not popular with some faculty members and administrators. But it is precisely when the alleged crime is so heinous, and the accused unpopular with those in authority, that we must guard against emotion-driven efforts to bypass fundamental due process. Books like “The Ox Bow Incident” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” are so highly acclaimed because they remind us of that important principle.

Neither of us has ever spoken personally with Sullivan, but we have observed her — and, until this incident, we were tremendously impressed with her talents, leadership and obvious devotion to our university. We share her view that even one act of sexual abuse is too many, and we understand that her decision to punish all fraternities was made under pressure from outraged faculty and other community members. But that’s no excuse.

For Rolling Stone to publish such horrendous allegations without even attempting to contact the accused or other students libeled in the article is outrageous.

To deter future journalistic misconduct, we hope the victims of their libels (including the university) will speak with their lawyers about seeking justice from Rolling Stone and its author.

This tragic matter obviously should not affect the university’s desire to prevent sexual abuse. But, hopefully, it will remind us that even disfavored organizations and individuals are entitled to fundamental due process of law.

Whatever the victims of this injustice decide, we believe the university owes those wrongfully punished a public apology.
I hate to disappoint the Turners, but crusading fanatics seldom repent. Cotton Mather didn't think he was doing wrong during the Salem Witch Trials, either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Mather
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Quasimodo

Quote:
 
For Rolling Stone to publish such horrendous allegations without even attempting to contact the accused or other students libeled in the article is outrageous.


How about a university president and his "what they did was bad enough"?


Quote:
 
To deter future journalistic misconduct, we hope the victims of their libels (including the university) will speak with their lawyers about seeking justice from Rolling Stone and its author.


Good luck with a suit against a powerful entity like UVa...(says the voice of cynicism...)



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Baldo
Dec 28 2014, 04:22 PM
It is sad just how stupid this generation of college students are when it comes to common sense. Of course look at their professors and their ignorance & false data of history spoon fed them.
:bd:
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http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/2014/12/29/uva-alum-raises-money-for-sexual-assault-advocacy/

A UVa Alum Raised $31K+ to Hire an Attorney For Sexual Assault Survivors
Molly Greenberg - Senior Writer, Higher Ed Beat
12/29/14 @8:35am in Education


A University of Virginia alum ashamed, disgusted and enraged by the brutal gang rape at a fraternity house detailed in a Rolling Stone article has decided to take action.

Lisa Richey, a 2003 graduate, has raised $31,325 for a fund she started after the magazine published its article on the alleged culture of hidden sexual violence.

A total of 360 donations have been made to the Sexual Assault Advocacy Fund (formerly known as the UVrApe Alumni Victims Defense Fund) since the CrowdRise campaign was launched in November, placing Richey at 63 percent of her $50,000 goal.

As for where the money will go, Richey says this fundraiser is "a way to set up a legal defense fund so that victims of on campus sexual assault can consult with an attorney and understand what options they have." She plans to find an experienced attorney in Charlottesville willing to be a real resource for survivors separate from the aid offered by the university.

The Daily Progress reports that Richey has already been working with Palma Pustilnik, an attorney at the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, to develop a plan for 2015. They've been talking about how they can provide pro bono help to students.

One idea they've tossed around includes hiring an administrative aide for Pustilnik, who would be specifically trained to work with sexual assault survivors. Survivors would be able to call the person hired, who would then do intake interviews and offer legal information.

Pustilnik is already representing Jackie, the third-year student whose account of being raped by seven men at a UVa fraternity house in 2012 has made headlines worldwide. Pustilnik says sexual assault on school grounds is a "complicated problem" that requires a “multilayered solution,” one that includes initiatives like the one spearheaded by Richey.

“It’s not going to fix everything, but I think the more information students have about what their options are, the better served we all are,” said Pustilnik to The Daily Progress.
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http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2014/12/29/uva-student-leaders-recommend-required-women-and-gender-studies-and-closed-rape-trials-to-combat-sexual-assault-storm/

UVA Student Leaders Recommend Required ‘Women and Gender Studies’ and Closed Rape Trials To Combat ‘Sexual Assault Storm’

Salem Witch Trials

by Dr. Susan Berry29 Dec 20140

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.”

@Chris_1791 @ChuckCJohnson @CollegeFix Shows the results of failure to educate UVA students on Constitution/Civics.

— FederalistNY (@jkmny51) December 28, 2014

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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