THEM, TOO #METOO
After dozens of women sent Alyssa Bodeau their own #metoo stories, Bodeau says she’s starting to see the “bigger picture.” YOUNG KWAK PHOTO
Alyssa Bodeau, accuser of former WSU quarterback Jason Gesser, confronts uncertainty and frustration as she’s flooded with #MeToo stories BY WILSON CRISCIONE
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lyssa Bodeau’s phone won’t stop buzzing. It’s Tuesday, a day after coming forward to say that former Washington State University quarterback Jason Gesser groped her and tried to kiss her against her will. She leaves her last TV interview and scrolls through her Facebook messages — hundreds of them. “There’s more,” she whispers to her husband. “Oh my gosh, there’s more — there’s another one.” Another woman with her own experience as a victim of sexual assault or harassment. Another woman frustrated that institutions won’t hold her abuser accountable. Another woman wanting to be heard, but searching for her voice. Bodeau, 27, reads each one out loud, feeling the weight of each woman’s experience. All told, out of the hundreds of messages of support she received, around 30 are women who themselves were victims of sexual misconduct, many at WSU. (None were related to Gesser, she says.) “It’s started showing me there’s a bigger picture to this,” she says. Gesser, who was assistant athletic director at WSU, resigned last week in light of the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. For Bodeau, however, it doesn’t end there. She expected a media firestorm. She expected internet commenters to attack her character, for friends and family to defend it. She may have even expected Gesser to resign due to pressure created by her allegations and others. ...continued on next page
SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 INLANDER 13