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Blog and Media Roundup - Friday, December 15, 2017; News Roundup
Topic Started: Dec 15 2017, 04:57 AM (84 Views)
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https://www.newsday.com/opinion/commentary/metoo-won-t-work-1.15455767

#MeToo isn’t the right answer to sexual misconduct

The #MeToo movement comes with real risks, and women and men alike should take them seriously.

Updated December 14, 2017 4:35 PM

This fall the #MeToo movement sought to highlight the ubiquity of sexual mistreatment by encouraging victims, mostly women, to speak up. Some women shared harrowing accounts of violent assault. Others recounted workplace harassment or unfairness. Still others, perhaps unready to share details of their experiences, simply posted the hashtag “MeToo” on social media.

No victim of sexual assault or harassment should suffer in silence. Violations of this kind should never be tolerated, and we can celebrate that the proverbial opening of the floodgates might help victims find solidarity and cope with their experiences, and ultimately, increased attention to this issue could spark needed change.

However, the #MeToo movement comes with real risks, and women and men alike should take them seriously. Rather than a movement that paints these terrible interactions as commonplace, we need a different focus that fosters positive relationships between the sexes and condemns bad individual actions rather than society as a whole.

The hashtag-ization of sexual misconduct may support unfair narratives that depict all men as potential predators, or all women as potential accusers. This threatens to drive a wedge between men and women, both inside and outside of the workplace.

As Sheryl Sandberg wrote in a lengthy Facebook post, men may be inclined to respond to #MeToo by playing it overly safe: They may not want to offer mentorships to junior women staffers, for fear that an awkward interaction could lead to accusations of harassment. This could potentially have serious effects, given how in many traditionally male-dominated industries, entry-level women have few options for same-sex mentors.

It is often “soft” networking interactions, like lunch, coffee or happy hour, where co-workers develop social capital. Will #MeToo cause a de facto sexual segregation to the detriment of women? This has implications not just for the workplace, but for the romantic realm as well.

Another shortcoming of #MeToo: Lumping together all varying degrees of bad interactions — from violent assault to off-putting jokes — risks watering down the most heinous of crimes. When sexual misconduct is everywhere, it’s nowhere. We do not want anyone to shrug off sexual misconduct or see it as an unfixable problem.

Misrepresenting the prevalence or nature of inappropriate behavior can harm victims both past and future, as our current conversations shape cultural expectations for men. We should be clear that the expectations for men in our culture are high, not low: Virtue is expected. Misdeeds will be shamed.

The pendulum of social justice can swing too far. If we’ve failed to believe victims in the past, we could overcorrect and fail to honor due process for the accused in the future. Accusations of sexual assault or harassment should be taken seriously — seriously enough to be investigated and litigated.

Many accusations are true, but sadly, we’ve seen high-profile stories of assault turn out to be false (for example, the Duke lacrosse case in 2006 and the Rolling Stone “Jackie” article about University of Virginia Phi Kappa Psi fraternity in 2015). False accusations not only unfairly defame the accused but also cast a shadow of doubt on all victims. This is terribly wrong, but it is a reminder to soberly assess the facts in each case.

The #MeToo campaign carries yet one more risk, a political one: It could become co-opted by a left-leaning agenda that seeks to paint all women as victims in society. The goal of this political strategy is to confound the real abuse of individual women victims with other phenomena, from “rape culture” even to issues like the gender wage gap or a lack of government-mandated maternity leave. Those who are truly interested in combatting sexual mistreatment should guard against the politicization of their movement and the blurring of these lines.

Margaret Thatcher said, “There is no such thing as society. There are men and women, and there are families.” The focus on so-called rape culture risks moving responsibility away from individuals onto a faceless “society.” We should resist this, instead taking and placing specific individual responsibility for words and actions. In other words, it is not rape culture that is to blame, but the rapist.

As we give victims of sexual mistreatment the respect and platform they deserve, we should keep in mind the needed balance that also honors the rights of the accused. We should invite all — men, women, liberals and conservatives — to work toward a healthier future, without painting an overly dark picture of the present.

Hadley Heath Manning is policy director at Independent Women’s Forum.
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http://www.toledoblade.com/JackLessenberry/2017/12/15/Michigan-State-sex-scandal-could-have-severe-ramifications.html

Michigan State sex scandal could have severe ramifications
By Jack Lessenberry | BLADE OMBUDSMAN
Published on Dec. 15, 2017 | Updated 12:52 a. m.


EAST LANSING, Mich. — Without any doubt, Michigan State University is mired in the biggest sex scandal in the history of college athletics. Former MSU women’s gymnastics physician Larry Nassar may have molested at least 144 women and girls under his care.

He’s already pleaded guilty to federal child pornography and state sexual assault charges. He’s unlikely to ever get out of prison.

But now for the really bad news:

Michigan State is facing a vast number of lawsuits that seem likely to cost the university hundreds of millions — if not more.

The Lansing State Journal is calling for MSU President Lou Anna Simon to resign or be fired, and when asked their opinions privately, there are few in politics or higher education in Michigan who think the 70-year-old president can long survive.

It’s not yet known how devastating this will be to MSU, the state’s pioneer land grant university — though it is sure to deal a major blow to the university’s finances and reputation.

But what’s also clear — though not yet well understood — is that the scandal may play a role in next year’s race for governor.

And who that hurts — or helps — is anyone’s guess.

This much is not in dispute: For years, Dr. Larry Nassar rammed his hands inside the bodies of the young women athletes under his care. Those who complained said they were told it was legitimate medical treatment.

Some were told that he was an “Olympic doctor,” and not to complain. Nassar, indeed, provided some medical services to both the U.S. Olympic team and USA Gymnastics. But at all three institutions, it seemed that women who complained were not taken seriously.

One MSU investigation cleared him of sexual assault in 2014, but the university failed to take safeguards thereafter.

Finally, one courageous woman, Rachel Denhollander, filed a police report in August, 2016, and that prompted a flood of others.

Evidence, including child pornography seized from Nassar’s computer, showed him sexually abusing some very young girls. He was fired in September, 2016. Two months later, he was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a child in his home. That was soon followed by child pornography charges, and a torrent of lawsuits against Michigan State by present and former athletes.

The school’s response was to hunker down. Kathie Klages, the head coach of women’s gymnastics, retired after several women said she told them to keep quiet about what Nassar did to them.

But otherwise, the university has taken the position that nobody knew anything about what was going on. Patrick Fitzgerald, a former federal prosecutor, was hired by Michigan State to examine the case.

Last week, he gave the university a clean bill of health, saying “the evidence in this case will show that no one at MSU knew that Nassar engaged in criminal behavior,” and that “it is clear that Nassar fooled everyone around him — patients, friends, colleagues, and fellow doctors at MSU.” But that essentially satisfied no one.

The Lansing State Journal, a newspaper generally supportive of its hometown university, ran a front-page editorial calling for Ms. Simon to resign or be fired, “due to MSU’s inability to keep women safe from sexual assault and harassment on campus … the time has come to hold her accountable.”

MSU’s board of trustees issued a statement saying “we disagree vehemently. Our full confidence in President Lou Anna K. Simon has never wavered. We firmly believe she is the right leader.”

But strong statements from the board will do little to protect the university from being held accountable when the bills for the lawsuits come rolling in. Five years ago, Pennsylvania State University was rocked by a scandal in which Jerry Sandusky, an assistant football coach, sexually abused young boys.

Eventually, the school, also a public land-grant institution like Michigan State, had to pay $93 million in damages — but when legal fees were added in, the cost came to at least $243 million.

Michigan State is potentially facing something far costlier. There were 33 lawsuits against Penn State from Sandusky’s victims. So far, four times that many women have filed charges against MSU.

The scandal also may have a political dimension. Gretchen Whitmer, the front-running candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, was Ingham County prosecutor when the story of Nassar’s crimes broke at MSU, but she did not file charges.

When I asked her about this, she said “at that time, we were working with MSU to try to get all the evidence we could against Nassar. His crimes occurred in two counties — Ingham and Eaton, and we felt that we should therefore work with the [Michigan] attorney general’s office and let him prosecute the case.”

That may make sense, but that attorney general, Bill Schuette, is the likely Republican candidate for governor next year.

Don’t be surprised if the fall campaign features Mr. Schuette attacking Ms. Whitmer for not filing charges, and her firing back that it was his responsibility and he didn’t move fast enough.

Now, Ms. Whitmer is calling on Mr. Schuette to get the state police to launch an investigation into MSU’s handling of the scandal.

State Sen. Margaret O’Brien (R., Portage) and one of the victims are calling on the Legislature to investigate MSU.

Clearly this isn’t going away soon — and few will be satisfied with the university’s claim that it inspected itself and was blameless. Something else might give school officials pause:

Graham Spanier, who was president of Penn State when their scandal happened, lost his job and was sentenced to jail in June after being convicted of child endangerment. He is appealing his sentence.

And no, nobody thought that could ever happen there, either.

Jack Lessenberry, the head of the journalism faculty at Wayne State University in Detroit and The Blade’s ombudsman, writes on issues and people in Michigan. Contact him at: omblade@aol.com.
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https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/15/uc-davis-professor-stripped-status-amid-sexual-assault-allegations


An Administrator Says #MeToo

Kern Holoman, of the University of California, Davis, was stripped of his emeritus professor status this week after allegations of sexual assault from 1987 surfaced. He has denied the claims, which were made by a former student who now works at the university.
By Nick Roll
December 15, 2017

D. Kern Holoman has been accused of sexual assault.

In 1987, his freshman year at the University of California, Davis, Danny Gray says, he was sexually assaulted by a professor.

He reported this incident to the university, but to no avail.

Now, 30 years later and in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which has spurred the firings of a number of high-profile men accused of sexual assault and harassment, Gray is ready to tell his story again.

That’s the narrative Gray laid out in a blog post published this week. In an agreement reached with the university, D. Kern Holoman, the former university symphony orchestra conductor accused of assaulting and later raping Gray, has relinquished his titles of professor emeritus and distinguished professor, though he denies Gray’s allegations.

Gray -- who now works at UC Davis himself as the director of academic employment and labor relations -- wrote a blog post detailing the allegations against Holoman, and showed a draft to the university last week. A spokeswoman said that the draft “helped spur some activity” leading to Holoman’s discipline.

Holoman, Gray wrote, sexually assaulted him in a hot tub at Holoman’s home, and later raped him. Gray said Holoman apologized, but the professor's unwelcome advances continued in the form of letters and correspondence sent to Gray, and Holoman assaulted Gray again.

“Although in hindsight I can see viable options for resolving this situation, at the time I felt I had no choice but to try to navigate my relationship with him,” Gray said. “I believe I responded to Holoman’s dozens of communications that summer with one or two letters, written in language that I hoped would be received as polite but not welcoming of his romantic and sexual advances.”

In a statement given to Gray by Holoman’s lawyer, Steven Sabbadini, Holoman denied the allegations.

“I am distressed and deeply apologetic for my role in any event that has harmed Danny Gray in any way, and heartsick at the thought of harm that has festered for 30 years,” Holoman wrote. “Our memories of that time differ markedly, but the remorse is very real. I continue to treasure memories of our long friendship and its focus on the beauties of art, literature and history.”

A representative from Sabbadini’s office said that neither Holoman or Sabbadini would be issuing further comment.

According to a disciplinary letter signed by Holoman and the university, provided by UC Davis, Holoman agreed to have his distinguished professor and professor emeritus titles removed in lieu of an investigation into the allegations, which, “if true, would have been a violation of the university’s sexual harassment policy.”

Per the letter, he is allowed to continue with his current projects with the university library, though he is not allowed to have in-person interactions with graduate or undergraduate students.

In a separate disciplinary letter signed by Holoman in 1997, also provided by the university, Holoman faced a complaint alleging “unprofessional conduct.” He agreed to receive counseling, according to the letter, and “any such future conduct” found to be a violation of the campus sexual harassment policy or the Faculty Code of Conduct “shall result in filing formal charges against you with a proposed sanction of dismissal.”

There are no records of Gray’s 1987 complaint to the university, though Gray said in the blog post that he made the complaints within the calendar year.

In a statement Monday, UC Davis Chancellor Gary May acknowledged that the university has not always adequately served victims of sexual assault.

“Many of the reports of abuse emerge after years and sometimes decades of silence and shame. In the past, few if any institutions had adequate reporting and investigative processes, UC Davis included,” May said in the statement. “Our protocols and processes have improved greatly over the years. I am encouraged that our team is dedicated to being thorough, fair to all parties and timely.”
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12/15/2017

Durham
Being believed

In a recent CNN interview, Roy Moore’s campaign spokeswoman Janet Porter dredged up the 2006 Duke lacrosse case as one in which the female accuser purportedly made false accusations about being sexually assaulted. Ms. Porter grievously misinterpreted the pertinent takeaways from that case.

I believe that two overriding reasons women are reluctant to publicly come forward with claims of carnal impropriety are: (1) the fear they will not be believed; and (2) the fear they will be subjected to harsh retaliation.

Unwaveringly Crystal Mangum has maintained she was vulgarly assaulted at the beer-guzzling male-attended 2006 event hosted by Duke lacrosse members. Without evidence, the mainstream media has asserted, as fact, that Mangum lied ... based mostly on Attorney General Roy Cooper’s 2007 promulgation of the Duke defendants’ innocence in dismissing criminal charges against the three.

Even if we assume that it can be proven the defendants are innocent, that does not preclude Ms. Mangum’s assertion of being sexually victimized at the party from being true ... there being more than 50 men at the tawdry affair. And, as exemplified in the nationally known Jennifer Thompson/Ronald Cotton North Carolina rape case in the mid 1980s, eyewitness suspect identification is not fail-proof even under the best conditions and the most reliable and cognizant witness.

Retribution against Mangum has been severe and sinister with a trumped up vendetta-driven prosecution and second-degree murder conviction (in the 2011 death of her boyfriend) as payback for the Duke lacrosse case. Evidence (a busted locked bathroom door, hair clumps, facial injuries) support physical abuse she received prior to stabbing her boyfriend. The wound Mangum inflicted was nonfatal and successfully treated at Duke Hospital with a prognosis for a full recovery. As a retired physician, it is my assessment of the records that Mangum’s boyfriend died due to errant intubation in the esophagus instead of trachea (which resulted in his brain-death) while he was being treated for delirium tremens.

In 2006, when Tarana Burke originated #Me Too, the Duke lacrosse case had emerged and spawned a series of occurrences that validated in Crystal Mangum the fears of all female victims of sexual assault by males in positions of power. Long before floodgates of sexual misconduct opened with the recent Harvey Weinstein revelations, former District Attorney Mike Nifong, courageously and alone, tried to address this longstanding and societal tolerated evil ... and hold its perpetrators accountable under the law.

We all know how that turned out.

Sidney B. Harr, M.D.

Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong

Read more here: http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article189710904.html#storylink=cpy
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Walt-in-Durham

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Dec 15 2017, 05:11 AM
http://www.toledoblade.com/JackLessenberry/2017/12/15/Michigan-State-sex-scandal-could-have-severe-ramifications.html

Michigan State sex scandal could have severe ramifications
By Jack Lessenberry | BLADE OMBUDSMAN
Published on Dec. 15, 2017 | Updated 12:52 a. m.

I cannot reveal the name of the institutions involved because of attorney/client confidentiality and a genuine desire to protect the innocent victims. But, I can say I have some experience, from my days in private practice, handling a widespread sex scandal. I was called by a church, not the Holy Roman Catholic Church, mind you. But, my advice to them would have been the same as to the church that did call me. Indeed, it was the church that told me what they wanted to do and asked if I and my law firm could do it. I agreed. What they wanted, and what we did was we immediately fired the molester and did it for cause. I, in essence, dared him to file suit against his church employers. Of course, being the coward that he was, he never sued.

The church referred the case to the local prosecutor and we sent him a resolution from the Church's Board of Deacons demanding a full and fair prosecution. You'd be surprised how much attention a pack of devout Christians can get in the lobby of a prosecutor's office.

We did a thorough investigation of the church to find out who knew and when. Those who knew, and did nothing were terminated. A beloved by many, and by that time emeritus, Pastor had to be removed from further service. His funeral was held in a local mortuary, not the church, as a final punishment.

We reached out to all the victims and their families with a truly heart felt apology. We offered counseling at the church's expense. We offered generous compensation, even though there is no amount of money that can make right the wrong. Indeed, I said that with every check that we delivered. Each check was delivered by a pastor, a deacon and me or one of the lawyers in my firm. We did it personally. Fully one third of the victims handed the check back and said something along the lines of "use this for someone who really needs it."

We engaged in a wider outreach through the media to try and get all the possible victims. We set up a confidential "hotline" for people to call. That actually didn't get too many real victims. But, it was worth it to get the leads on a few. We promised, and delivered, that we would never divulge the names of the victims, unless they wanted their names divulged. Most did not.

The church keeps a written record of all the victims in a locked file. Each new pastor that is called is forced to read the names of the victims, aloud, to the church's board of Deacons and promise that never again will such events take place. Each church employee and volunteer is screened and then trained on how to conduct themselves around young people and vulnerable people.

In the end, the cost was far less than a lot of litigating. The public relations were not bad. Most media understood we were doing right by the victims and were supportive. The one local news hound who was critical got shut down by a victim who came forward and shamed him for his conduct.

I thought then, and I think now that the key was reaching out to victims and making a sincere apology, combined with real action to fix the situation. People respected that.

While Penn State's response was uneven, in general I thought they got it about right. Late, way too late, but about right in the end. Investigate. Fire. Offer compensation. The main thing that was mission was a deeply sincere apology. That, I would have worked hard to improve on.

Michigan State is just beginning on a very rough patch. I can only encourage them to not do what the Holy Roman Catholic Church did. But, instead to do more like Penn State, but add in a much stronger apology. And, they're going to have to fire some people. Accountability is tough for educators, but it's key to getting through this.

Walt-in-Durham

P.S. Merry Christmas to all.
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