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UVA Rape Story Collapses; Duke Lacrosse Redux
Topic Started: Dec 5 2014, 01:45 PM (60,454 Views)
LTC8K6
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Assistant to The Devil Himself
Put up a sign.

PER UVA, NO WOMEN ALLOWED BEYOND THIS POINT
_______(UNCONTROLLED MALES INSIDE)_________
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http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/UVa-President-Teresa-Sullivan-Will-Address-the-University--290322371.html

Attention everyone--momentous talk from Teresa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UVa President Teresa Sullivan Will Address the University
The Charlottesville Newsplex - ‎49 minutes ago‎



Topics are likely to include updates regarding plans pushed after the fallout from the controversial Rolling Stone article. Earlier this month, the university enacted a new agreement for all fraternities on grounds, which requires at least one sober ...
Edited by Payback, Jan 30 2015, 10:27 AM.
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Quasimodo

Payback
Jan 30 2015, 10:26 AM
http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/UVa-President-Teresa-Sullivan-Will-Address-the-University--290322371.html

Attention everyone--momentous talk from Teresa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UVa President Teresa Sullivan Will Address the University
The Charlottesville Newsplex - ‎49 minutes ago‎



Topics are likely to include updates regarding plans pushed after the fallout from the controversial Rolling Stone article. Earlier this month, the university enacted a new agreement for all fraternities on grounds, which requires at least one sober ...
I hope she offers her resignation...
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http://www.roanoke.com/news/education/higher_education/sullivan-says-uva-will-lead-the-way-in-dealing-with/article_916e476f-9f28-5c39-af90-27ef6c72cbbf.html

Sullivan says UVa will lead the way in dealing with sex assault

Posted: Friday, January 30, 2015 2:41 pm

By Derek Quizon The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Officials at the University of Virginia are hoping to move past the controversies of last semester, but they are still trying to find ways to reduce the risk of sexual assault on campus.

On Friday, UVa President Teresa Sullivan talked about the university’s plans this year, including new initiatives to combat sexual assault, plans to recruit a wave of new faculty members and the restoration of the Rotunda.

Sullivan reflected on the tumult that faced the university last fall but most of her speech focused on the upcoming year.

“At the beginning of this new year, it’s appropriate for us to look back that we have endured one of the most traumatic semesters in UVa’s history,” Sullivan told a crowd of about 50 at the Harrison Institute Auditorium.

“But let’s recognize that the demands of the present and the future — what Dr. Martin Luther King … called ‘the fierce urgency of now’ — require that we direct our energies toward today and tomorrow,” she said.

The university is still reeling from the controversy surrounding a Rolling Stone magazine article alleging a brutal gang rape at a UVa fraternity house. Although it has been discredited since, the article prompted university administrators to take a closer look at the issue of sexual assault on campus.

After the article was published, Sullivan assembled an Ad Hoc Group on Climate and Culture, made up of students, staff and faculty. The group is examining three different areas — prevention, response and culture — and will look for ways to reduce sexual assault risks.

“By sorting these issues into the categories of prevention, response and culture, we have created a systematic approach to a complicated set of problems,” she said.

That group is expected to have preliminary reports by March 16 and final reports by April 30.

The Batten School is also commissioning studies on safety policy on campus and the effects of campus safety on women’s performance in the classroom and the workplace.

The university is also participating in a national “climate survey” on college campuses, providing additional security in the surrounding area and has imposed stricter rules on fraternity social gatherings.

Several faculty members are proposing new classes on sexual and gender-based violence, Sullivan said, and two have proposed a new interdisciplinary research institute on the subject.

Sullivan said she wants the university to take a leadership role on the issue of sexual assault.

“All colleges, the military and many workplaces face similar issues of sexual violence,” she said. “But we have been put in a leadership position, and we will lead.”

But Sullivan also criticized the Rolling Stone story, which she said supported many negative misconceptions people have about college students, universities and fraternities.

“The story unfairly maligned UVa and many members of our community,” Sullivan said.

The university will probably not take legal action against the magazine, though, Sullivan said. UVa’s legal team has said there is no case there, she said.

“It’s my understanding that as a public institution, the university cannot be defamed,” she told reporters after the speech.

Sullivan reiterated the administration’s claims that the new rules for fraternity social events were drawn up by leadership at the Inter-Fraternity Council and Inter-Sorority Council. Those leaders were already working on changes to the Fraternal Order Agreement, she said, when the Rolling Stone article came out.

“Those who believe the administration dictated the FOA reforms are simply unwilling to acknowledge the reality and the effectiveness of student self-governance at UVa,” Sullivan said.

Rector George Martin was on hand for Sullivan’s speech. Martin said the board will offer its full support to the president’s efforts. He’s expecting the results of an independent review of UVa’s sexual assault policies to be available in late February or early March.

The board is planning to address the issue at its next meeting, in mid-March, he said.

“We’re committed to the fact that the university is going to be a leader,” Martin said. “[Sullivan] has our full support.”

Fundraising remains strong despite the controversy and tragedy of last semester. Total fundraising this fiscal year is up about 32 percent, to more than $134 million. The university recorded more than $60 million in gifts and pledge payments in December alone, an increase of 10 percent over last year.

Sullivan also talked about an ongoing project the administration had been focused on when the Rolling Stone controversy hit.

The university is in the early stages of implementing a five-year, $564 million strategic plan. One of the most important parts of the plan is faculty recruitment, as the university faces generational turnover — officials estimate nearly 300 faculty members will retire over the next five years.

The plan also includes extensive upgrades to technology infrastructure, a new advising system and new research institutes.

“This is a transitional moment in UVa’s history, and we must ensure that our faculty recruiting now continues to meet [Thomas] Jefferson’s original standard of attracting ‘nothing but the highest grade,’” Sullivan said.
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http://dailycaller.com/2015/01/31/uva-rape-activist-is-still-on-terry-mcauliffes-rape-task-force-nobody-expressed-concern-about-rolling-stone-debacle/


UVA Rape Activist Is STILL On Terry McAuliffe’s Rape Task Force…Nobody Expressed Concern About Rolling Stone Debacle
1:04 AM 01/31/2015
Patrick Howley

Patrick Howley is an investigative reporter for The Daily Caller.

The activist that introduced false University of Virginia rape accuser “Jackie” to the Rolling Stone reporter that wrote the disgraced “frathouse gang rape” article still serves on Democratic governor’s Terry McAuliffe’s official sexual assault task force.

The Daily Caller previously reported that UVA employee Emily Renda made a number of White House visits to serve on the president’s sexual assault task force with White House staffers, where she crafted official White House documents as recently as April.

After national sororities decided to prohibit UVA sorority girls from attending fraternity bid parties this weekend (for the girls’ own safety), TheDC reached out to Renda for her thoughts on this policy. Renda declined to comment, instead offering the names of some student activists who opposed the national sororities’ actions.

Renda told TheDC that nobody expressed any concern about her continued participation on McAuliffe’s sexual assault task force, which she was appointed to in September. Renda continued to participate on the task force even after introducing “Jackie” to disgraced Rolling Stone reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely.

“No, no one has to my knowledge,” Renda said.

Renda played a pivotal role in the discredited Rolling Stone story about an alleged gang rape at a UVA fraternity party, and her judgment and credibility in the aftermath of the article’s publication could be fairly scrutinized as Renda continues to participate on official government task forces.

“You figure into the article as a survivor, activist and mentor/support for Jackie,” Erdely told Renda in an email.

In fact, as TheDC’s Chuck Ross reported, Renda noticed inaccuracies in Erdely’s article but did not bring her concerns to public attention immediately after the article was published. Among other discrepancies, “Jackie” told Renda that she was gang-raped by five men, whereas Erdely reported that seven men raped her.

McAuliffe’s office did not return a request for comment.

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UVA President Admits Rolling Stone Gang Rape Article Is ‘Discredited’

Posted By Chuck Ross On 4:06 PM 01/30/2015 In | No Comments

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Nearly two months after it became clear that a Rolling Stone article about a gang rape at the University of Virginia was mostly fabricated, school president Teresa Sullivan finally admitted on Friday that the story is “discredited.”

Sullivan addressed the fallout from the article, which was written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely and published online on Nov. 19, in a “state of the university” on Friday.

“Before the Rolling Stone story was discredited, it seemed to resonate with some people simply because it confirmed their darkest suspicions about universities — that administrations are corrupt; that today’s students are reckless and irresponsible; that fraternities are hot-beds of deviant behavior. Working together, we have soundly refuted those suspicions through our actions over the past two months,” Sullivan said.

“The story unfairly maligned UVA and many members of our community,” Sullivan continued. “Perhaps the most emphatic refutation of the story’s thesis was the collective revulsion to its allegations expressed by students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni.”

This is the first time that Sullivan has directly criticized the article, which told the story of a student named Jackie who claimed that seven members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brutally gang-raped her at a party in 2012.

Weeks after the bombshell article first appeared, Jackie’s story began falling apart. Erdely’s reporting methods were also found severely lacking.

Rolling Stone, which waffled on whether to blame Jackie or Erdely, brought on Columbia Journalism Review to determine what went wrong.

Sullivan has been criticized for failing to express support for Phi Kappa Psi — which saw its fraternity house vandalized and its members moving to nearby hotels — and for Greek-life in general.

The university placed a temporary ban on all fraternity and sorority social activity following the release of the article. And even after the Charlottesville Police Department said that there was no basis to support Jackie’s claims against Phi Kappa Psi, Sullivan and the university required all fraternities to sign a contract full of new demands before they could resume social activities.

Two fraternities initially refused to sign the contract on the grounds that the initiative was based on a lie. Phi Kappa Psi was the first to sign the agreement.

In her speech, Sullivan appeared to try to distance herself from those sanctions.

“Our decision to pause Greek social activities extended the pause that the Inter-Fraternity Council had already initiated,” Sullivan said. “The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity voluntarily surrendered its Fraternal Organization Agreement, or FOA. And an unaffiliated fraternity and unaffiliated sorority voluntarily suspended their own social activities.”

“All of us believed that this pause in activity would allow us to work together to improve safety practices, and bring calm to a very uncertain moment at UVA.”

Sullivan did not apologize directly to Phi Kappa Psi or its members in her speech.

[h/t Washington Examiner]

Follow Chuck on Twitter

Article printed from The Daily Caller: http://dailycaller.com

URL to article: http://dailycaller.com/2015/01/30/uva-president-admits-rolling-stone-gang-rape-article-is-discredited/

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Quasimodo
Jan 30 2015, 09:16 AM
Quote:
 
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/01/thoughts-from-the-ammo-line-47.php


January 30, 2015

Ammo Grrrll returns to share A COUPLE OF THINGS I KNOW FOR SURE ABOUT SEX. Listen up:

(snip)

Two: In the endless, tedious discussions about “rape culture,” over and over I read testimony from coeds – adult women! – who willingly get into bed with guys and then are amazed when sex occurs. Is there some parallel universe where that is considered unusual?

The reason I ask is that I can say with dead certainty that I have never in my entire life gotten nekkid into bed with a male person without the expectation, nay the fervent hope, that sex could occur. But that’s just me.

Help me out here, young ladies, because I’m pretty Old School. How humiliating can it be if you get naked with a guy and yet you expect no response? (“Hey, nuthin’ to see here. Just your average naked woman from the dorm next door hoping to catch a few Zs while you watch ESPN. Carry on.”) Here we have a generation of women who have been putting condoms on cucumbers since kindergarten who apparently do not have even a passing acquaintance with actual male sexuality.

True, after many many decades of marriage, sometimes you both say, “Good Night, Dear” and go to sleep. But with an unclothed man and an unclothed woman in a nice warm bed, well, you can’t ever make book on nothing happening. (Insert childish “over/under” betting joke here.) Men might miss subtle hints. But your average healthy man, finding a naked woman in his bed of her own free will, takes that as a big fat clue that he might get lucky.

If you don’t want that, what in blue blazes are you doing there?

So, let’s say you accuse a man of “rape” and this is your tale of woe: “Well, we were pretty drunk. I got into bed with this naked guy that I had had sex with before. We did a bunch of drugs. We did some stuff that Bill Clinton said wasn’t sex anyway, but I was so wasted I think I passed out and I may or may not have missed the finale. This happened two years ago, and I was fine until Spike, my Feminist Studies professor, informed me I had been raped. Now I’m a hero fighting against sexual assault. I’ve met Joe Biden! Oh, also, I had sex with him (my ‘rapist,’ not Joe Biden) a few times after that. But he’s kinda mad at me now.”

You do not want me on that jury. You really don’t. Ladies, I find such narratives an embarrassment to my gender and an affront to actual rape victims, several of whom I have known. Oh, trust me, their stories are nothing at all like yours and involve ugly weapons, grave threats to their lives, and grievous bodily harm. Your whiney tales are not embarrassing just because you had crappy sex – we can discuss the soul-deadening misery of the loveless hookup culture at another time — but because you won’t take ownership of your part in it. And are now planning to utterly ruin a man’s life over, basically, nothing. Which makes you a liar and a coward. At least one of these causes célèbre originated after Mommy found the adult daughter’s diary and blew a gasket.

Of course in academia there are no actual trials or juries of peers. The right to representation, to face your accuser, even to know the charges against you, is so yesterday. Every day is Kafka Day on campus. These things used to be called “he said; she said” situations. Now, it’s just “she said; and said and said.” With a great big megaphone from the Grievance Industry and a Title Nine bludgeon from the Federal government. Two young adults go out for an evening of drinking and hookup sex. One goes on to fame and fortune as a brave battler against sexual “assault”. One has his life utterly destroyed. Who, then, was the predator we hear so much about, and who the prey?

If an adult woman consensually participates in sex and the worst thing that happens is that she manages to fall asleep at some point, the consequences pale in comparison with the life-altering disaster of being falsely accused of rape. You don’t have to register for life as a person who slept through sex. Granted, you might not want that on your Facebook profile. You also don’t have to wonder how you will ever get a job after being kicked out of college. Assuming you are lucky enough to avoid or survive prison.

I try to examine my soul about whether I would feel different about the disgusting “rape culture” falsehoods if I were the mother of daughters instead of sons. I don’t think so. Not only am I a woman myself, of course, but I’m pretty sure I would advise an adult daughter (among many things) not to go into biker bars in Daisy Dukes and tube tops; not to get too drunk to drive or to keep an eye on her drink at all times; and definitely not to get into bed with a naked man unless she expects to have sex. And quite soon.

Just wait until the first woman is accused by another woman of sexual assault. It’s only a matter of time if it hasn’t happened already. Then how will the unhinged “Women never lie” crowd know whom to exalt as a heroic victim and whom to crucify as a rapist?

Right on the money.
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Sullivan and Brodhead must never look in a mirror.
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Payback
Jan 31 2015, 12:48 PM
Sullivan and Brodhead must never look in a mirror.
People like that don't have a conscience, nor soul. It never crosses their mind there's a Right and Wrong. Never ever.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/30/how-sorority-culture-contributes-to-the-campus-rape-problem/

How sorority culture contributes to the campus rape problem
Don't blame the sisters. Blame the institutions.

By Alexandra Robbins January 30 at 3:22 PM

Alexandra Robbins is the author of “Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities,” which will be updated and re-released later this year.

Sexual violence, hazing, drugs, recruitment, racism, bullying: Many sisters told me that their sororities have swept these issues under the rug, writes Alexandra Robbins. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

The order for sorority sisters at the University of Virginia to stay home this weekend and avoid fraternity bid night parties was a boneheaded move by national sorority officers, to say the least. “This policy promotes a culture that reduces women to objects of sexual pleasure, only useful as subjects of the male gaze and desire,” wrote one U-Va. junior. The Washington Post’s Petula Dvorak suggested that the mandate effectively blamed sorority sisters for the high number of sexual assaults on college campuses.

No, the sisters are not to blame. But the national sororities’ decision to lock them in a tower rather than empower them to face the world reveals more about sororities’ flaws than fraternities’ dangers. In truth, historically white national sorority officers, with their tendencies to hush-hush controversial incidents and to center so much of sorority social life around fraternities, may themselves be partly, indirectly at fault.

This combination leads to a culture that can have ridiculously skewed values. In 2013, Florida International University suspended the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity after brothers posted on Facebook “creep shots” of naked sorority sisters and called them names. (The Facebook page also included posts about members’ drug dealing and hazing.) When a sister suggested that her sorority sisters – some of whom were featured in the creep shots – stop associating with the fraternity, the women defended the brothers. “In spite of how they treated our sisters and seeing the screenshots, just because they wanted to make sure they were still liked by the popular frat on campus, they defended the men and harassed me for speaking up. Our chapter president said in the chapter meeting, ‘Well, who hasn’t been called a slut before?’ as if this were okay,” the sister told me. “There are too many women like me that go through so much with Greek organizations and are coerced into silence.” (Indeed, many sisters and alumnae were willing to speak to a reporter only if they were not named, because they feared repercussions from their sorority simply for voicing their concerns.)

Sexual violence, hazing, drugs, recruitment, racism, bullying: Many sisters told me that their sororities have swept these issues under the rug, insisting that the public – and, in some cases, the university – shouldn’t know about them. Sorority leaders declare they can deal with their issues internally. But they’ve had decades to try, and the same issues recur year after year, as I learned when reporting my book “Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities.” They largely refuse to have the sort of conversations that would prevent similar episodes from happening again.

The National Institute for Justice has reported that sorority membership is one of the most common factors that increase sexual assault risk. Similarly, a 2014 study at the University of Oregon found that sorority sisters there are much more likely than non-Greek women to have been raped or victims of nonconsensual sexual contact. About 40 percent of sorority sisters surveyed reported they had been subjected to rape or attempted rape and 48 percent reported that they experienced nonconsensual sexual contact, at what the study author called “an alarmingly high rate,” according to the Register-Guard newspaper. The co-chair of the UO task force evaluating sexual violence policies concluded that “fraternities are dangerous places for women.” (The school nevertheless plans to expand Greek life substantially.)

Misguided, outdated sorority policies, perpetuated by national headquarters that are resistant to change, may be contributing to the increased risk. Sisters at various schools have told me they were pressured by their sorority to attend fraternity events, which have in the past included parties with advertised themes like “Housewives and Hired Help,” “Millionaires and Trophy Wives,” “Secs and Execs,” or “Tennis Pros and Country Club Hoes.” Some women said they faced sanctions or even fines if they refused to go to fraternity events. A former Georgia State University sorority sister – who said she was fined approximately $25 for each fraternity party she missed – said that her chapter emphasized that sisters speak with a quota of fraternity members at these events.

Too much of sorority life revolves around the girls’ status among the fraternities. On many campuses, Greek systems follow longtime traditions of sororities pairing with fraternities for Homecoming, Greek Week and other activities. The escorts are determined by votes; the votes are often swayed by the groups’ social rank. “I once heard a sorority woman say that she had to vote for a particular fraternity because if she voted for the lower-ranking fraternity, ‘a good frat will never ask us to Homecoming again,’” College of William and Mary sorority sister Gina Sawaya wrote in the student newspaper in October.

On the flip side, at some campuses, fraternities place bids on the sororities. “Of course the sororities want the best frat, which means the hottest guys. So they try to make themselves look good at their parties,” a recent University of Florida sorority alum told me. And some sororities expect their chapters to socialize with only certain fraternities, and even to dress a certain way when going out with the brothers. A 2013 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate said, “We were encouraged to socialize with fraternities that we had football block with. Showing preference to another fraternity over our block match was considered an insult.”

As a result, Greek life puts a dangerous emphasis on coupling with fraternity brothers and encourages arbitrary, antiquated double standards. A young Southern sorority alum lamented an incident in which someone took a photo of a sorority sister and a fraternity brother having sex in a fraternity bathroom. When the photo spread to other students, the sister was kicked out of her sorority, while the brother was applauded at dinner. One national sorority rulebook warns, “Any promiscuous behavior on the part of a member or new member will result in National Probation or termination of her pledge” without defining what “promiscuous behavior” means.

Where are sororities’ priorities? And how does the emphasis on fraternities shape a sorority chapter’s values? When a University of Alabama sorority chapter discussed admitting a black girl in 2013, some sisters opposed admitting her because they were afraid that fraternities would no longer want to party with them, as Marie Claire reported last year.

The same national sororities whose very culture is reliant on socializing with fraternities are now saying, on one campus, for one night, the sisters aren’t allowed to socialize with them. The solution isn’t to hide the girls away. (And it’s not, as The New York Times opined last week, to move the parties to sorority houses.) The solution is to change the nature of these all-women organizations so that they are about women – and so that they don’t repeatedly send girls into the arms of fraternity brothers in the first place.
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http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/uva-s-sullivan-reflects-on-tenure-rolling-stone-controversy-student/article_02a641f8-a9bf-11e4-b304-cbbab2d2f2f5.html

UVa's Sullivan reflects on tenure, Rolling Stone controversy, student privacy laws

By Derek Quizon | Posted: Saturday, January 31, 2015 10:04 pm

University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan sat down with The Daily Progress on Friday afternoon to talk about her interview with Rolling Stone writer Sabrina Rubin Erdely, the university’s response to Erdely’s article and her problems with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). She also took time to reflect on her tumultuous tenure as president.

Where are you going from here with the fraternities? Is your work with the Greek system done, or is there more to be done after these changes?

I have a couple of members of Greek organizations on my Ad Hoc committee. Much of my direction is going to be directed by that working group and my committee. The Office of the Dean of Students is also working with the other student organizations because I also asked them to look at our contracts with them and enhance them for safety.

Do you know when they’ll have suggestions?

The working groups have been constructed and will start meetings. Each of them will have at least one town hall, or some kind of open meeting, for people who want to provide input. They will also have emails for people who want to submit written input.

I’m asking for a written report by the end of the semester. I want them to work fast, but I also don’t want them to be overwhelmed because people are also teaching or attending classes.

You’ve dealt with several national crises during your time as president of UVa. Were expecting to face anything like that when you were elected?

I don’t think you can ever be certain of the challenges you’ll face. … This happens in the life of a president. If you’re not prepared for it, you’re either going to get prepared or give up.

Since your contract renewal is coming up, can you tell me what you think your biggest accomplishments are?

I’m very proud of some of the new academic programs we’ve brought online and the commitment we have made to improving academic advising, which is really critical for students when they leave here and they go to find jobs. Jobs are not the only reason you go to college but they’re a pretty important part of the outcome, especially for families.

In terms of more tangible accomplishments, I think the Rotunda restoration is very important. I am very glad we finished our capital campaign despite what the recession had done to it. I’m very proud of the new leadership we’ve recruited to the university.

Is there anything you think you could have done better?

All sorts of things I think. It’s impossible to look back at four-and-a-half years now and not see things you could have done better.

I think I’ve become a better communicator. And in some ways that ends up being the most consistent thing you have to do.

Is there anything you could have done better after the Rolling Stone article came out?

In retrospect, I might not have gone to Leiden [in the Netherlands].

The reason I went was this was an international gathering of research universities and I was picked to lead the American delegation. The Rolling Stone story came out 4 hours before my flight was supposed to leave; there was no time to recruit another president. And so I thought it was pretty important to have the American delegation represented by a president because we were there with Chinese and Australians and Japanese and all sorts of delegations. And I was actually gone — literally, from the time I left Carr’s Hill to the time I got back — I was gone 60 hours. So I was not off doing sightseeing.

But in retrospect, maybe I would not have gone. And dealt with the international consequences of [the article].

What was that time like? What were you doing to manage the crisis?

I was in pretty constant electronic communication with the people back here. And before I left I had called the rector, I had called the governor’s chief of staff, I had called [Charlottesville Police] Chief [Timothy J.] Longo. We’d had an important meeting … and gotten started on what our response would be.

We might not have accurately predicted how the story would blow up and gain incredible prominence in such a short period of time. But almost from the beginning, we were reading the story with a certain air of disbelief. It was quite surprising.

You can listen to my interview with Sabrina [Rubin Erdely] and see what Sabrina had talked to me about. And based on what we had talked about, I was plainly not prepared for what the story looked like. Nor do I think her characterization of my interview was fair.

Were you skeptical about the story when it came out?

There were some specific facts of it that seemed, to me, discordant. One of them was a description of a pledge — you can’t be a pledge in the fall. That seemed funny. There were things like that that just didn’t seem right.

But in coming to think about this, I’ve realized that I don’t really know what Jackie said. I know what the reporter said Jackie said. And I know what the reporter said I said and what I really said.

Initially, there was a huge shock effect. And I do believe something happened to Jackie. I do believe Jackie has suffered some kind of trauma.

On the other hand, I thought the discussion on the back end of the story, about how UVa handles it, was terribly unfair. I didn’t think it was close to accurate about what we do.

For example, the options that we give when someone reports an assault. It was treated as if those were given to befuddle or confuse somebody, whereas we’re required under federal law to provide those options, including the option of not doing anything.

It’s what’s called a victim-centered approach. Here you have this person — typically a woman, but not always — who’s already been violated and had autonomy taken from her. … So then it is important that she feels she has some agency in her life. That is why the Violence Against Women Act was framed the way it was.

I saw a criticism of staff members for following the law.

What do you think about proposals in the legislature that would require some staff members to report [sexual assault]?

The first concern I’ve expressed to legislators is that universities not be caught between federal and state law. I think it’s important they be coordinated.

The second issue is we have a big hospital with lots of doctors and nurses who are entitled to have confidential relationships with their patients. … I think the issue of professional, privileged relationships needs to be considered and the effects it has with respect to mandatory reporting.

But I understand what their objectives are. They want to improve the reporting system and so do we. So we’ve got the same goals there. But many of the victims’ advocates groups say to us that if you make it mandatory, you will decrease reporting.

Our objective is to find a way that mandatory reporting does not take any agency away from the victim. There may be ways to do that and we’re exploring what those might be.

Do you think mandatory reporting as an idea works? There are a lot of questions about whether that would drive down the reporting rate.

I know there are. And I’m not an expert. … I do think there’s pretty general agreement that sexual assault is one of the most underreported [offenses] under the law — in the criminal system as well as at universities.

I do want to say one more thing. Our sexual misconduct policy is a lot broader than sexual assault. Sometimes people think “sexual misconduct” is just a nice term for rape. And that’s not true. Things like sexual harassment, stalking, other things [that] are far from rape are still behaviors we don’t want to have here. … In our policy, we’re trying to approach all those and not just rape.

I’ve heard a lot of people say this — even some people within the university — that universities shouldn’t be in the business of adjudicating sexual assault. Do you think that’s true?

It doesn’t matter what I think. Federal law says we have to do it. As long as that is there, we’ve got to do our best to comply. The guidance we’ve received from the Department of Education says, not only must we conduct investigations and hold hearings, but the standard of evidence we are strongly encouraged to use is a preponderance of evidence.

So you don’t have any opinion on — ideally — what the university’s role should be in adjudication?

Well, there’s some adjudications we do already. Let’s say you’ve got two males, and they get into a fight here in [Madison] Bowl, and one hits the other and breaks his glasses. We’re going to treat that under the university judiciary system because students can’t go around hitting each other. You’ve got to have some kind of judicial apparatus at the institution. …

We do have a standard of conduct for students. If they don’t follow that standard of conduct, they can be referred to the university judiciary.

There are still questions from some board members of when you knew about the allegation, why it wasn’t reported to the police immediately and whether federal [student privacy] laws got in the way. I’m just wondering whether you can clear some of that up.

Not yet. There are several investigations under way. The [state] attorney general has engaged O’Melveny & Myers [a law firm] on behalf of the board. We have SACS [UVa’s accreditation agency] and we have the Charlottesville Police Department. I can’t interfere in any of those investigations and I don’t want to.

Can you talk generally about what you’re allowed and not allowed to do under federal student privacy laws [FERPA]?

There is certain information we can release unless a student specifically asks that it be kept private. That information is very basic. It’s called “directory information.” … Think of it like name, rank and serial number.

Then there’s other information from the student that we can release only with their consent.

Here’s an example: [Men’s basketball player] Malcolm Brogdon is a student in the Batten School [of Leadership and Public Policy]. I can tell you that because all our athletes have signed a consent for certain academic information to be made public. I couldn’t do that for a student that had not signed the same kind of waiver.

A lot of things that we know are private.

Does FERPA interfere with police investigations? Are you able to tell them everything?

The police can get information from us if the student signs a waiver or if they have a warrant.

Something like a class roster — would that be in the same [category] of things you can’t share?

You’d need the permission of every student in that class to release the class roster — or so I’m told. You’ve got to understand, this stuff is technical and complicated so I always go and ask a lawyer.

What kinds of changes would you like to see in [FERPA]?

I haven’t drafted any language, but I have talked with some members of Congress informally about the possibility of an exception that says the university may cooperate with law enforcement.

Right now, it is clear that in a health or safety emergency we can talk to law enforcement. The issue is: What constitutes an emergency? Typically, the emergency issue is used if you are worried about additional harm imminently.

Seems to me, something that said, “You can cooperate with law enforcement” would clarify matters.

Couldn’t a sexual assault by someone who could strike again be considered an emergency?

First of all, you need to know who the perpetrator is. Very often, when we’re dealing with a student involved in such a case, that’s something not revealed to us. But I think it’s an area that, certainly, we want to examine — when it is we want to issue a timely warning.

And, of course, we’re also required to do our own investigation, even if we have the police engaged.

How big a block is [FERPA], really? I’ve heard that no one has ever been penalized for violating it.

I think I forgot to mention — in the investigations of us — the Department of Education. Those would be the people who enforce FERPA.

So there’s some wariness in drawing their attention in any way?

Well, we’re already being investigated under Title IX. I’d just as soon [see that] we don’t fall afoul of their investigation.
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http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/as-turmoil-at-uva-fades-contract-talks-for-sullivan-set/article_bc4624ee-a9be-11e4-8e87-6f0fe5943c96.html


As turmoil at UVa fades, contract talks for Sullivan set to ramp up

By Derek Quizon | Posted: Saturday, January 31, 2015 10:02 pm
Sullivan speech

University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan speaks at the Harrison Institute on Friday.

Amid the echoes of fall's tumult, Teresa A. Sullivan is seeking more time at the top.

Contract talks for the first woman to lead the University of Virginia were expected to begin last month under an extension signed following the ultimately failed bid to oust Sullivan in 2012. A meeting to launch the discussions has not been scheduled.

“We are currently in the midst of the formal evaluation period,” Rector George Keith Martin said through a spokesman. “My goal is to conclude this process no later than June 30, 2015.”

Sullivan’s current deal expires July 31, 2016, and pays total annual compensation of $674,700, an increase of $9,500 since she took over as president in 2010.

Neither she nor Martin would discuss the specifics of negotiations, although it is generally known that Sullivan hopes to remain on the job past the expiration of her current contract. Board members did not return requests for comment for this story.

“My goal as president has been and will continue to be working to ensure that the University of Virginia remains one of the nation’s finest institutions of higher education,” Sullivan said in an email.

Her tenure has been unlike any other in the nearly 200-year history of the university founded by Thomas Jefferson. The latest media swarm came in November, when Rolling Stone’s now-tainted tale of a fraternity gang rape sent shockwaves rippling across Grounds.

“I’ve had the privilege of knowing six of the eight presidents of the university. And I’ve read a good deal about the first two,” said Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at UVa. “I don’t believe any president has had more crises and dilemmas piled on her desk in five short years than Terry Sullivan has.”

While the Rolling Stone story crumbled, scrutiny of Sullivan endured, especially over her decision to board a Nov. 19 flight to the Netherlands for an academic conference on the same day the exposé appeared. Some alumnae called for her firing in the immediate aftermath of the story’s publication, and questions lingered even after the magazine retreated from the story roughly two weeks later.

“I am concerned [that] the President went to the Netherlands the day …the story broke,” board member Edward Miller wrote in an email to a fellow member Dec. 19.

The board needed to ask uncomfortable, probing questions about the events leading up to the story’s publication and about the university’s response, Miller wrote.”I am concerned about the timeline and who knew what when,” he wrote. “If we don’t bring these things up we are not doing our duty.”

Sullivan conceded in an interview that the trip to the Netherlands might have been a mistake. She’d been chosen to lead the American delegation at a gathering of research universities and said she thought it was important that she be there.

“But in retrospect, maybe I would not have gone,” she said, “and [instead would have] dealt with the international consequences of [the Rolling Stone story].”

Before leaving, Sullivan said, she met with members of Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s staff and Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo.

“We might not have accurately predicted how the story would blow up and gain incredible prominence in such a short period of time,” Sullivan said.
UVa's Sullivan reflects on tenure, Rolling Stone controversy, student privacy laws

University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan sat down with The Daily Progress on Friday afternoon to talk about her interview with Rolling Stone writer Sabrina Rubin Erdely, the univers…

Before Rolling Stone, Sullivan was best known as the president who was fired without warning and then reinstated 16 days later by the university’s Board of Visitors, led at the time by former Rector Helen E. Dragas.

“She handled her dismissal with a grace that I’ll always remember, and the remarkable grassroots-generated rehiring made history,” Sabato said. “To the best of my knowledge, Terry has never been harsh or vengeful toward those who were unkind to her because she saw that it was in the institution’s interests to move on.”

Although no longer rector, Dragas remains a foil of Sullivan’s. Dragas has said she disagrees with the direction of the university, calling the school too slow to innovate in areas such as online learning and too quick to increase tuition. Dragas declined to comment for this story.

“I’m very proud of some of the new academic programs we’ve brought online and the commitment we have made to improving academic advising,” Sullivan said.

Unanimously selected by the board for the job five years ago in January 2010, Sullivan came to UVa as a veteran university administrator who’d never held the top job. She was the provost at the University of Michigan at the time of her hiring and previously had been an administrator at the University of Texas.

After a wave of support from faculty and students helped her survive the ouster, Sullivan in November 2012 quietly landed a one-year contract extension.

It’s not clear where precisely the board stands in the process of an annual evaluation of Sullivan expected prior to the start of contract talks. Board policy required the panel to complete an evaluation by its late fall meeting, which took place Nov. 13 and 14, several days before the Rolling Stone story broke.

Martin did not respond to questions about the matter. A lack of transparency in board processes was among the criticisms the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, UVa’s accrediting agency, levied following 2012 ouster.

July 31 is the deadline for an agreement on Sullivan’s contract under the terms of an amendment to her deal in the wake of the leadership crisis.

Sullivan and her husband, UVa law professor Douglas Laycock, reside in Carr’s Hill, a home owned and maintained by the university. She also receives a $15,000 yearly automobile allowance and membership to the Boar’s Head Inn valued at $2,655 annually.

Another contract amendment, authorized in March 2011, guaranteed that the university would make five annual payments of $117,100 to compensate her and her husband for losses incurred in the sale of their home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“It should be noted that such a practice is not unique to UVa, higher education or other industry sectors,” said university spokesman Anthony de Bruyn.

The last of those payments is scheduled to be made in April, he said.

Sullivan cites among her accomplishments the overhaul of the school advising system to pair students off with advisors based on career interests instead of academic program. Sullivan said these programs are critical to helping students find jobs after they graduate.

“Jobs are not the only reason you go to college but they’re a pretty important part of the outcome, especially for families,” she said.

Sullivan is overseeing the implementation of a five-year, $564 million strategic plan that would — among other things — replace 295 retiring faculty members with 425 new professors to account for enrollment growth. The plan also establishes new interdisciplinary research institutes and improves computer and wireless systems around Grounds.

The process was a massive undertaking and, at times, difficult. Several board members — Dragas among them — took exception to the fact that the plan included more than $115 million in unfunded costs.

Ultimately, Sullivan coaxed it through. The board approved the framework of the plan in November 2013, but considers funding incrementally each year.

Although she has critics among the faculty, many are reluctant to speak out publicly. Sabato is among her admirers, and thinks some criticism of her is off base.

“Presidents aren’t autonomous rulers,” he said, “Nor are they magicians who can wave a wand and solve longstanding issues overnight.”

Sullivan said she’s learned the most important part of her job is communication.

“I think I’ve become a better communicator,” she said. “And in some ways that ends up being the most consistent thing you have to do.”

She seems undaunted by what Sabato referred to as the “man-made” crises — from the ouster to Rolling Stone — that have dominated her run as president.

“I don’t think you can ever be certain of the challenges you’ll face,” she said. “This happens in the life of a president. If you’re not prepared for it, you’re either going to get prepared or give up.”
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Were you skeptical about the story when it came out?

There were some specific facts of it that seemed, to me, discordant. One of them was a description of a pledge — you can’t be a pledge in the fall. That seemed funny. There were things like that that just didn’t seem right.

[So why was she so quick to assume the story was accurate, and ban all frat activity?]

But in coming to think about this, I’ve realized that I don’t really know what Jackie said. I know what the reporter said Jackie said. And I know what the reporter said I said and what I really said.

Initially, there was a huge shock effect. And I do believe something happened to Jackie. I do believe Jackie has suffered some kind of trauma.

[That's the safe, PC thing to say; but she must be about the only one, other than self-hypnotized agendistas, who do believe that.]

On the other hand, I thought the discussion on the back end of the story, about how UVa handles it, was terribly unfair. I didn’t think it was close to accurate about what we do.

For example, the options that we give when someone reports an assault. It was treated as if those were given to befuddle or confuse somebody, whereas we’re required under federal law to provide those options, including the option of not doing anything.

It’s what’s called a victim-centered approach. Here you have this person — typically a woman, but not always — who’s already been violated and had autonomy taken from her. … So then it is important that she feels she has some agency in her life. That is why the Violence Against Women Act was framed the way it was.

[What is she's lying? How about it being important that some agency has the back of those who are being falsely accused?]

I saw a criticism of staff members for following the law.

[Right. Shift the blame elsewhere, we grown adults were helpless to do anything but go along for the ride once the false
accusations were made, and even though we were skeptical, mind you, we still banned all frat activity; and oh, by the way,
we won't be punishing anyone who threw rocks and broke windows...


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The board needed to ask uncomfortable, probing questions about the events leading up to the story’s publication and about the university’s response, Miller wrote.”I am concerned about the timeline and who knew what when,” he wrote. “If we don’t bring these things up we are not doing our duty.”


Did the Duke trustees ever say anything like this?

No, they just said that they backed Brodhead every step of the way, and that anyone critical of Brodhead
should be critical of the entire board.

Which is fine with me: fire them all.



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http://www.dailyprogress.com/opinion/opinion-editorial-sororities-order-stuck-in-the-past/article_4a7c2aea-aa11-11e4-a0c9-637e2defb4ca.html

Opinion/Editorial: Sororities' order stuck in the past

The Daily Progress | Posted: Sunday, February 1, 2015 4:45 am

Last night was the night when University of Virginia sorority sisters were told to stay indoors lest they be exposed to the raucous “rape culture” that supposedly exists at the University of Virginia.

Once again, we are whipsawing between extremes instead of thoughtfully, effectively solving — or preventing — problems.

The sororities’ national organizations issued the edict. Some Greek leaders say the local sororities were threatened with suspensions or other disciplinary actions if they disobeyed.

Saturday night also was Boys’ Bid Night, when potential members find out whether they were invited to join a fraternity — in other words, a major party night. It also saw the UVa-Duke basketball game, which attracted ESPN’s “College GameDay” television coverage.

All of that, layered on top of the already controversial claims about a “rape culture” at UVa, caused sororities’ national leadership to tell women to stay home — no going to frat parties and apparently, in some cases, no mingling with fraternity members at other venues, either.

The mandate was too much; it went too far.

Now, true, sexual assault on and around campus is a ghastly and all-too-frequent crime, both here and at other colleges and universities. Even if one removes from the mix the questionable story of “Jackie” of Rolling Stone fame, there still remain sufficient indications that UVa has a problem that needs to be cleaned up.

But the sororities’ national leadership clearly lacks a good strategy for addressing that need.

The stay-in order fails on several levels:

» It infantilizes women, treating them as if they are too weak and too unintelligent to take care of themselves. It also, in a reverse sort of way, treats them as sex objects by assuming that’s the only way others will view them and, therefore, they should hide themselves away.

This is a setback for women’s rights no matter how you look at it.

» The order also pre-judges men. It assumes that college men and fraternity brothers cannot be trusted not to commit crimes against women.

It thus automatically imputes the worst possible motives to men and the least empowering status to women.

» Finally, it misjudges the problem and applies a solution that not only is inappropriate but inadequate. Sexual assault is complex problem, exacerbated by multiple contributing factors. These must be addressed — something that can’t be accomplished by keeping women behind closed doors.

It’s true that men (and women) can be sexual predators. It’s true that women and men alike can drink too much at fraternity parties or after-game gatherings and forfeit their good judgment, becoming either predators or victims.

Those problems need to be addressed in ways that are comprehensive, holistic and focused.

The sorority order accomplishes none of these.
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