The campus is secluded, with an uphill drive through the mountains necessary before reaching housing and the school buildings (Photo by Nick Masuda)
advantage was with the predators. “It doesn’t need to be that way anymore.”
‘I got a very bad feeling at that time’
While investigations can validate rumors and provide potential closure or the start of the healing process for victims, it is the campus culture at Cate that both alumni and current students are more focused on. “What was done, must be rectified. What will be done, we still need to define that,” said Kristen Kittscher, a Cate student from 1987-1989. Kittscher admittedly was inspired by her time at Cate, blissfully unaware of what was happening around her — even though she says rumors ran rampant about inappropriate behavior among the faculty. She ignored them, chalking them up to just teenagers exaggerating details or making things up. She left Cate and finished her boarding school experience at Choate Rosemary Hall — the latter eventually the subject of an investigation that showcased years of sexual abuse at the school. “Every random rumor that I had heard when I was at (Choate) was confirmed in the report, and honestly, sometimes much worse than I thought,” said Kittscher, a longtime teacher and now an author of mysteries. This changed Kittscher’s perspective about Cate. “Maybe I shouldn’t have ignored all those rumors,” she later admitted. So, in 2017, she took to Facebook, where she tagged Cate School in a post about school investigations and how they can create change. According to Kittscher, this post wasn’t meant to point a finger. But a short while later, she had a 22 – 29 July 2021
voicemail from Charlotte Brownlee, Cate’s Assistant Head of School for External Affairs. According to Kittscher, Brownlee called to inquire about any rumors that Kittscher had heard over the years. While Kittscher says she was uncomfortable discussing rumors, she was curious if the school had ever done an investigation into rumors of sexual misconduct, something Brownlee told her had been unnecessary since no one had ever come forward. When Kittscher pressed on a rumor about a teacher being removed in the early 2010s due to sexual harassment, Brownlee acknowledged this, according to Kittscher. “So, on one hand, at the beginning of the call, there was no one ever coming forward, and then by the end of the call, someone had, and it was resolved ‘to everyone’s satisfaction,’” Kittscher said. “So, I got a very bad feeling at that time.” In a post-conversation email to Brownlee on April 19, 2017, obtained by the Montecito Journal, Kittscher would again urge the school to do a third-party investigation, indicating that it would take such an action to help victims step forward — despite Brownlee’s claim that there had been no reported issues of sexual abuse or harassment. “The much likelier scenario — the one we see playing out at many boarding schools — is that there are more victims and that, due to past mishandling, some abusers might still be working with children and teens,” Kittscher told Brownlee. She received confirmation of the email she had sent with a simple message. “I will stay in touch and keep you updated on future actions,” Brownlee wrote. She never heard from Brownlee again.
The only sign before getting to campus indicating where Cate’s campus is located (Photo by Nick Masuda)
‘I wasn’t the one that did something wrong’
In June, a group of students and alumni started an Instagram account named “@MeTooCate,” inspired by the release of Thacher’s extensive report, allowing Cate survivors to anonymously share the sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse they’ve experienced. One of those was a Cate freshman — whose identity is being withheld due to her being a minor — and her claim of peer-on-peer sexual harassment she endured toward the end of the 2020-21 school year. She says that a boy a year ahead of her at Cate — but more than two years older by age — took an interest in her and the two engaged in a “friendly” relationship. The friendship took a dramatic turn when she says she was told by a classmate that the boy had shared a topless picture of her with his roommates. She claims she did not consent to the photo, which, by law, is a form of child pornography. Despite the shock, she says that she still didn’t want “to ruin his life,” leaving her unsure of her next step until she connected with a crisis counselor that was onsite due to a death on campus. She decided to share her experience and the counselor was mandated by law to report the potential sexual harassment, with Child Protective Services contacted, although no case was pursued to date. As for the school’s internal investigation, she says she was interviewed, as were the boys’ roommates and alleged perpetrator — the latter multiple times. She told the school about the photo in question, and says that the roommates did as well. According to the school’s sexual harassment policy, the option of convening the school’s Discipline
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Committee could occur, with a formal complaint. According to the alleged victim, the boy did not face the committee. Instead, an examination by the school’s Sexual Harassment Information and Resource Team (SHIRT) was launched, leading to the boy being sent home early — roughly 10 days before the end of the school year.
“He acted as though mine was a one-in-a-million case,” Hoffer said in a note she sent to Cate’s board of trustees on July 15, exclusively obtained by the Montecito Journal.
As of July 20, the school had decided the boy would be allowed to return to campus, meaning he would not be expelled for disseminating the photo, with the potential for the two to be back at school together in the fall. He even sent an apology letter to the alleged victim. The case is under further review, with SHIRT interviewing the alleged victim again on July 19, where she divulged more details. She could have avoided the new questioning, with her parents offering the option of leaving Cate. But that’s not something she is willing to consider. “Why should I not chase my dream when I wasn’t the one that did something wrong?” she said.
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