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UVA Rape Story Collapses; Duke Lacrosse Redux
Topic Started: Dec 5 2014, 01:45 PM (60,465 Views)
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Who is Lena Dunham and why does everyone know her name?
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/12/30/rolling-stone-had-some-support-for-bottle-throwing-incident-in-u-va-story/

Rolling Stone had some support for bottle-throwing incident in U-Va. story
By Erik Wemple December 30 at 12:01 PM

Rolling Stone magazine is in trouble for over-relying on a single source. Its Nov. 19 story, “A Rape on Campus,” starts with an alleged September 2012 gang rape of a then-freshman named Jackie at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Virginia. The magazine’s editors have said they refrained from contacting the accused in that incident out of deference to Jackie’s wishes.

Subsequent reporting by the Washington Post Metro section has called into question whether the incident ever occurred.

“A Rape on Campus,” written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, also claimed that Jackie learned of two additional gang rapes at the Phi Kappa Psi house. The story doesn’t independently corroborate those incidents.

Horror spills from every twist and turn in the story, however. One passage addresses Jackie’s involvement with One Less, a student-organized group that supports survivors of sexual assault and holds presentations and seminars. Such activism, writes Erdely, resulted in “payback” for Jackie and for Emily Renda, a sexual assault survivor. Erdely writes, “This past spring, in separate incidents, both Emily Renda and Jackie were harassed outside bars on the Corner by men who recognized them from presentations and called them [slurs]. One flung a bottle at Jackie that broke on the side of her face, leaving a blood-red bruise around her eye.” That bruise was still visible at a May 2014 meeting between Jackie and a university dean, reports Rolling Stone.

For the bottle incident, Rolling Stone relied on more than just the word of Jackie. According to Rolling Stone spokeswoman Melissa Bruno, Jackie showed photos of her bruised face to Erdely, and the magazine also contacted the Charlottesville police department for corroboration — a route that proved only somewhat helpful: “Charlottesville PD confirmed that the police report had been filed, but they would not release the actual report to us,” Bruno tells the Erik Wemple Blog via e-mail.

When asked to explain the situation, Charlottesville police department spokesman Lt. Stephen Upman responded, “There was a request from Rolling Stone and they were provided with the criminal incident information as required since it was a FOIA request. The report information was withheld because it is an investigative file and therefore exempt from FOIA.” So, just what details would have been provided to Rolling Stone as part of the “criminal incident information”? In a typical case, responds Upman, the magazine would have received the “report number, date, time and general location of incident along with the offense category.” In some cases, he indicates, other details, such as the name of the victim and the injury, “can be released.”

When the Erik Wemple Blog requested records related to the bottle-throwing incident in the story, we received this response from Upman: “We are not releasing or providing any additional information related to the Rolling Stone article or our on-going investigation until such time that we have concluded all aspects of the investigation. When we have finished our investigation we will provide everyone with a media release that should provide answers in regards to the main points of this investigation.”

Absent more information from the police, it’s tough to judge the magazine’s actions on the bottle-throwing incident, with the exception of one consideration: Rolling Stone didn’t inform readers of the steps it had taken to corroborate the allegations. And that’s a problem that plagues the entire piece.

The university didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Erik Wemple writes the Erik Wemple blog, where he reports and opines on media organizations of all sorts.
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http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/prof-wants-apology-to-wrongfully-punished/article/2557996

U.Va. professor, son want apology to those 'wrongfully punished'

By Ashe Schow | December 30, 2014 | 1:47 pm

University of Virginia professor Robert F. Turner and his son, Thomas E. Turner, a junior at the university, are calling for U.Va. officials to apologize to the fraternities and students “wrongfully punished” by the administration after the Rolling Stone magazine published a since-discredited story about a fraternity gang-rape at the school.

The Turners, who say they have no connection with Greek life, wrote an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch asking the university — specifically naming U.Va. President Teresa Sullivan — to publicly apologize for its decision to ban fraternity events without any investigation.

“[W]hat message did Sullivan send about basic fairness and the due process of law?” the Turners asked. “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.”

The Turners wrote that they understood why Sullivan made the decision to ban Greek life for several months due to “pressure from outraged faculty and other community members,” but also said that was “no excuse.”

Denying due process because of emotionally driven outrage is not the way to get justice, rather, it’s an impediment to justice. But this is how universities now find themselves between a rock and a hard place when it comes to combating campus sexual assault.

The Rolling Stone article that sparked widespread outrage over the school’s alleged indifference to a brutal gang rape. In Sullivan’s first statement following its publication, she only said she had requested local police to investigate the allegation and noted actions the university had been taking to combat sexual assault. Three days later, following public outcry, Sullivan announced she was suspending fraternity social activities until Jan. 9.

Because Sullivan didn’t do enough (in the eyes of the outraged) immediately following Rolling Stone’s accusation, the university received a barrage of angry statements.

Sullivan allowed the anger over an uncorroborated (and now effectively challenged) accusation to persuade her to ignore basic elements of due process and condemn all fraternities on campus — even those not mentioned in the Rolling Stone article.

But now, Sullivan is getting heat for her decision to suspend the fraternities before an investigation had even begun. In addition to the Turners, national Greek organizations also called on Sullivan to lift the U.Va. suspension. The groups also asked university administrators to “publicly explain and release all records for the basis of its decision to suspend our organizations, and outline what steps it will take to restore the reputation of our groups and students at U.Va.”

Sullivan's office did not respond to a Washington Examiner inquiry prior to press time.

Update: Charles McGregor McCance, Senior Director of Media Relations at U.Va., would not say if the university would offer an apology for its response toward campus fraternities following the Rolling Stone article. In an email to the Examiner, McCance referred to the ban on fraternity activity as a "pause," and claimed that it was "not a punishment of any kind," noting that it only applied to social activities and nothing else.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/12/31/does-the-university-of-virginia-owe-its-fraternities-an-apology/

The Volokh Conspiracy

Does the University of Virginia owe its fraternities an apology?
By Jonathan H. Adler December 31 at 10:55 AM


After Rolling Stone published an explosive article alleging a brutal gang-rape at a University of Virginia fraternity, university president Theresa Sullivan suspended all fraternity activities on campus. Then the Rolling Stone article collapsed. Neither the magazine nor the story’s author ever engaged in meaningful fact-checking and key aspects of the victim’s story disintegrated. Whatever actually happened to the victim — and she may well have been the victim of a horrendous crime — she was not the victim of the gang rape at a fraternity Rolling Stone described; the events that prompted Sullivan’s ban on fraternity activities did not occur. U-Va. imposed collective punishment on all fraternities for a crime that may not have even occurred.

U-Va. professor Robert Turner and his son, a U-Va. student, are calling for Sullivan to issue an apology to the school’s fraternities for the university’s actions. In a Richmond Times-Dispatch op-ed, they write:

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

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. . . .

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.

Ashe Schow has more here, including a response from U-Va.

In their op-ed, the Turners cite “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Ox-Bow Incident” for providing timeless lessons about the folly of rushing to judgment. Yet given the state of the debate, it’s not clear Atticus Finch is still considered a hero.

Jonathan H. Adler teaches courses in constitutional, administrative, and environmental law at the Case Western University School of Law, where he is the inaugural Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Business Law and Regulation.
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Quasimodo

Quote:
 
“[W]hat message did Sullivan send about basic fairness and the due process of law?” the Turners asked. “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.”

The Turners wrote that they understood why Sullivan made the decision to ban Greek life for several months due to “pressure from outraged faculty and other community members,” but also said that was “no excuse.”

Denying due process because of emotionally driven outrage is not the way to get justice, rather, it’s an impediment to justice.




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LTC8K6
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Who would be surprised to learn that the bottle throwing incident was fabricated? The bruise either false, or self inflicted?

How come Erdely can check on that story, but not on the rape story?
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Quasimodo


Quote:
 
Update: Charles McGregor McCance, Senior Director of Media Relations at U.Va., would not say if the university would offer an apology for its response toward campus fraternities following the Rolling Stone article. In an email to the Examiner, McCance referred to the ban on fraternity activity as a "pause," and claimed that it was "not a punishment of any kind," noting that it only applied to social activities and nothing else.


Neither was cancelling the lax season... (sarc/off)





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MikeZPU

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Dec 31 2014, 12:55 PM
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/prof-wants-apology-to-wrongfully-punished/article/2557996

U.Va. professor, son want apology to those 'wrongfully punished'

By Ashe Schow | December 30, 2014 | 1:47 pm

University of Virginia professor Robert F. Turner and his son, Thomas E. Turner, a junior at the university, are calling for U.Va. officials to apologize to the fraternities and students “wrongfully punished” by the administration after the Rolling Stone magazine published a since-discredited story about a fraternity gang-rape at the school.

The Turners, who say they have no connection with Greek life, wrote an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch asking the university — specifically naming U.Va. President Teresa Sullivan — to publicly apologize for its decision to ban fraternity events without any investigation.

“[W]hat message did Sullivan send about basic fairness and the due process of law?” the Turners asked. “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.”

The Turners wrote that they understood why Sullivan made the decision to ban Greek life for several months due to “pressure from outraged faculty and other community members,” but also said that was “no excuse.”

Denying due process because of emotionally driven outrage is not the way to get justice, rather, it’s an impediment to justice. But this is how universities now find themselves between a rock and a hard place when it comes to combating campus sexual assault.

The Rolling Stone article that sparked widespread outrage over the school’s alleged indifference to a brutal gang rape. In Sullivan’s first statement following its publication, she only said she had requested local police to investigate the allegation and noted actions the university had been taking to combat sexual assault. Three days later, following public outcry, Sullivan announced she was suspending fraternity social activities until Jan. 9.

Because Sullivan didn’t do enough (in the eyes of the outraged) immediately following Rolling Stone’s accusation, the university received a barrage of angry statements.

Sullivan allowed the anger over an uncorroborated (and now effectively challenged) accusation to persuade her to ignore basic elements of due process and condemn all fraternities on campus — even those not mentioned in the Rolling Stone article.

But now, Sullivan is getting heat for her decision to suspend the fraternities before an investigation had even begun. In addition to the Turners, national Greek organizations also called on Sullivan to lift the U.Va. suspension. The groups also asked university administrators to “publicly explain and release all records for the basis of its decision to suspend our organizations, and outline what steps it will take to restore the reputation of our groups and students at U.Va.”

Sullivan's office did not respond to a Washington Examiner inquiry prior to press time.

Update: Charles McGregor McCance, Senior Director of Media Relations at U.Va., would not say if the university would offer an apology for its response toward campus fraternities following the Rolling Stone article. In an email to the Examiner, McCance referred to the ban on fraternity activity as a "pause," and claimed that it was "not a punishment of any kind," noting that it only applied to social activities and nothing else.
The Turners' op-ed is excellent but I would have made 2 additional points:

1. Also demand that those who vandalized the accused fraternity be held accountable.

2. Jackie's story was so highly implausible that it's startling that so many "Professors"
with PhDs mindlessly bought Jackie's story without any critical thought,
especially from a source like Rolling Stone.
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MikeZPU
Dec 31 2014, 03:14 PM
2. Jackie's story was so highly implausible that it's startling that so many "Professors"
with PhDs mindlessly bought Jackie's story without any critical thought,
especially from a source like Rolling Stone.[/big]
No, unfortunately it isn't startling.
:sarc2:
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Quasimodo

Quote:
 
http://www.nas.org/articles/campus_tolerance_for_violence


Campus Tolerance for Violence
Dec 31, 2014 |
Peter Wood

[NOT "our" Peter Wood...]

(snip)

Since the 1960s, American higher education has played host to a small segment of faculty members and students who advocate for violent resistance to the rule of law.

(snip)

Violence against Property

Instead it appears that the established authorities on the nation’s campuses help to sustain the conditions under which advocates of violence promote their views. We should distinguish, of course, between advocacy per se—the use of words, ideas, and images—and actual acts of violence. The latter are rare enough that they stand out. At the University of Virginia, five men and three women incited by the Rolling Stone article about an alleged gang rape, and by the university’s apparent endorsement of the article’s claims, vandalized the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house. No one was injured, but the attack, which included throwing bricks through the windows, was sufficiently violent that residents could have been. The perpetrators are known to many in the community. One even granted an interview. There were witnesses. It wouldn’t take Philip Marlowe to track them down. But so far the University of Virginia has not filed charges or, apparently, taken any action at all to identify the perpetrators.

Let’s get this into perspective. Teresa Sullivan, the president of the University of Virginia, felt compelled by the publication of an unsubstantiated article in Rolling Stone to suspend all fraternities until January 9. When it emerged that the magazine story was false and that, in all likelihood, no rape had taken place, President Sullivan left the collective punishment for a fictitious crime in place. But faced with the real crime of serious vandalism against a fraternity that had been falsely accused, and having the opportunity at hand to charge the culprits, President Sullivan decided to take no action.

(snip)

We pay a large price as a society for the politicization of our colleges and universities. One part of that price is that far too many institutions have lost sight of basic principles. Academic freedom permits many things but it is not a legitimate pretext for advocating violent lawlessness. Colleges and universities exist within a civil order. They have an obligation to foster the basic conditions of a free society.

These days, colleges seem eager to impose on themselves onerous sets of rules meant to govern in fine detail how people can talk with one another, how sexual interactions should proceed, what kind of container can be used to drink water, and how often a toilet may be flushed. No function of life in the community is too small to be regulated and no personal freedom is so important that it can be exempt from collective control. Yet these campuses that are in the midst of embracing total social control over their members are also places where people extol racial violence and other forms of extreme lawlessness to be imposed on the rest of society. It is one of the great ironies of contemporary academe that the same phrase is employed to justify the regime of petty tyranny on campus and murderous anarchy off-campus. Both are pursued in the name of “social justice.”

Indulging in murderous fantasies à la Frantz Fanon and Bill Ayers may seem harmless when the killing was long ago or far away, but when we have mobs in the street with professors mingling among them or grad students inciting them, we need to pause. Higher education needs to own its share of responsibility for fostering both the bitter divisions we are witnessing and the resort to violence that has become part of that division.

This article originally appeared at Minding the Campus on December 28, 2014.


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MikeZPU

I would like to email Sullivan, but I am having difficulty getting her email address.

I am guessing it is either teresa.a.sullivan@uva.edu or teresa.sullivan@uva.edu ??

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MikeKell
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MikeZPU
Dec 31 2014, 03:29 PM
I would like to email Sullivan, but I am having difficulty getting her email address.

I am guessing it is either teresa.a.sullivan@uva.edu or teresa.sullivan@uva.edu ??

from website:

Office of the President
Phone:
434-924-3337
Fax:
434-924-3792
P.O. Box 400224
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4224

and from the university directory under sullivan, teresa a:

E-mail: tas6n@Virginia.EDU
Edited by MikeKell, Dec 31 2014, 03:45 PM.
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MikeZPU

MikeKell
Dec 31 2014, 03:41 PM
MikeZPU
Dec 31 2014, 03:29 PM
I would like to email Sullivan, but I am having difficulty getting her email address.

I am guessing it is either teresa.a.sullivan@uva.edu or teresa.sullivan@uva.edu ??

from website:

Office of the President
Phone:
434-924-3337
Fax:
434-924-3792
P.O. Box 400224
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4224

and from the university directory under sullivan, teresa a:

E-mail: tas6n@Virginia.EDU
Mike: Thanks! That was the key to unlocking her email address:

http://its.virginia.edu/search/people/?u=tas6n&n=Teresa+A.+Sullivan

tas6n@virginia.edu [view more ↓]
tas6n@eservices.virginia.edu (registered)
president.sullivan@Virginia.EDU (alias)
teresa.sullivan@Virginia.EDU (alias)
terry.sullivan@Virginia.EDU (alias)

Thanks again and Happy New Year!

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abb
Dec 31 2014, 03:17 PM
MikeZPU
Dec 31 2014, 03:14 PM
2. Jackie's story was so highly implausible that it's startling that so many "Professors"
with PhDs mindlessly bought Jackie's story without any critical thought,
especially from a source like Rolling Stone.[/big]
No, unfortunately it isn't startling.
:sarc2:
This is exactly what I was starting to do--tell Mike to use Sarcasm emoticon!
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MikeZPU

Payback
Dec 31 2014, 04:36 PM
abb
Dec 31 2014, 03:17 PM
MikeZPU
Dec 31 2014, 03:14 PM
2. Jackie's story was so highly implausible that it's startling that so many "Professors"
with PhDs mindlessly bought Jackie's story without any critical thought,
especially from a source like Rolling Stone.[/big]
No, unfortunately it isn't startling.
:sarc2:
This is exactly what I was starting to do--tell Mike to use Sarcasm emoticon!
You are exactly right -- my bad :)
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