03 12 15 by UT Office of Student Media

SPECIAL ISSUE “UT was slowly becoming a nightmare.

People would go on to tell me that the rape was my fault, that I was asking for it, that I’m lucky anyone wanted to hook up with me, that I was a slut and that I deserved what I got.

But I wanted to own my story.” Volume 128 Issue 43

utdailybeacon.com @utkdailybeacon

Thursday, March 12, 2015

The Daily Beacon • Thursday, March 12, 2015

DEAR READER, When our staff decided to do an issue dedicated to the problem of sexual assault, we knew it would be a difficult task. It is impossible to form a cohesive narrative about assault. Its stories are impossibly tangled, broad webs of personal violence and patriarchal influence and societal pressure. We could not possibly represent all the women and men in the UT community who have been sexually assaulted in a single issue — despite the number of stories I have heard from friends, family and strangers over the past year. In October 2014, I wrote an editorial called “Stop the sexual assault shame.” In it, I called for an end to the victim-blaming surrounding the allegations against football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams. The piece quickly became one of the most-read pieces on our website, and I received a flood of emails from supporters. I also received emails from college-age women who had survived sexual assault and wanted their stories to be told. Daily Beacon News Editors Hayley Brundige and Bradi Musil have written about sexual assault all year, covering everything from the red zone (the time at the beginning of the semester when most assaults happen) to UT’s evolving policies surrounding the issue. Together, we knew the Beacon needed to address this issue on a higher level than a single article. We set a date for publication. Then, Rolling Stone published an article called “A Rape on Campus.” But what at first was a powerful and harrowing account of campus rape culture turned into a nightmare of unethical journalism exposed by The Washington Post. Going forward, we knew we had to be incredibly careful with our coverage, both sensitive to survivors and ethical about any allegations. And we wanted to approach

the issue differently. While Rolling Stone told the story of an alleged violent gang rape, we know that sexual assault happens in many forms. It happens in and out of the Greek community. Sometimes it involves drugs and alcohol, sometimes it does not. It can be a stranger or a friend or a boyfriend. It is horrific and damaging regardless of the circumstances. The reality is that college students drink and go to parties. We join fraternities and sororities. We date and have steady relationships and have casual sex. To quote Sex Week, we need to talk about it. Throughout this issue, we have included articles about consent, resources for victims, rape kits and Greek culture’s influences. We talked to police officers, sorority sisters, educators, health professionals, advocates, campus leaders. We also included four personal narratives from four UT-affiliated women who have been sexually assaulted or raped. These women courageously shared their stories with us, and we respected the wishes of those who wanted anonymity. If you’d like to contact them, please email editorinchief@ utdailybeacon.com. We hope these accounts are shocking to you. We hope you read them and can feel the way these women have been made to feel powerless. We hope you read them and see their strength. We hope you read them and realize the power you have in your words and actions to affect a culture that tells men that rape is acceptable, that people who report are probably lying and that women are asking for it. It all comes down to you.

We welcome discussion and responses to this issue. You can reach us at editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com and on Facebook and Twitter (@utkdailybeacon).

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Get Uncomfortable—Hike the Hill in Heels April 1st to raise awareness for sexual assault. 4:00 p.m. at the Torchbearer. $10 for individuals, $8 (per person) for teams. Details at Tiny.utk.edu/HHH.

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Thursday, March 12, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

Glossary Clery Act - The federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act requires colleges and universities, both public and private, participating in federal student aid programs to disclose campus safety information and imposes certain basic requirements for handling incidents of sexual violence and emergency situations. Consent, according to UT - The knowing and voluntary communication, through words and/or conduct, of an agreement to engage in a particular act, including without limitation a particular act of Sexual Conduct or Sexual Intercourse. Corrective rape - A hate crime in which people are raped because of their perceived sexual orientation, gender identity and more. Preponderance of Evidence - The amount of evidence that causes one to conclude that an allegation is probably true. If the evidence on a particular allegation is equally balanced, then that allegation has not been proven by a preponderance of evidence. Rape - The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. Rape culture - An environment in which rape is prevalent and sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture. Rape kit - A set of tools used during a forensic medical exam to collect physical evidence following a sexual assault, including swabs, blood collection devices, a comb and envelopes and bags for collection. Sexual Assault - Engaging in non-consensual sexual contact or non-consensual sexual intercourse. Title IX - Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Four things you should know about UT’s new sexual misconduct and relationship violence interim policy: 1. Consent is an affirmative verbal response or acts that are unmistakable in their meaning. Consent is voluntary, sober and revocable. 2. The amnesty policy states that students who report sexual assault or relationship violence under the influence of or in possession of alcohol or drugs will not face disciplinary charges. 3. The Sexual Assault Response Team, UTPD Title IX Coordinators and Responsible Employees are required to report sexual assault or relationship violence. Confidential resources, like the Counseling Center, are available. 4.The policy is now all in one place. A cohesive, accessible policy and procedures that can be found at www.sexualassault.utk.edu.

Social media heightens suffering for survivors Hannah Marley Staff Writer

It takes about 30 seconds to type a tweet, add a hashtag and press send. But in cases of sexual violence, what are the consequences of 140 characters? A negative tweet multiplied by the masses has the potential not only to promote rape culture and victim-blaming, but also to increase the likelihood that survivors of sexual assault suffer from effects like posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. Chandra Feltman, graduate teaching assistant in psychology and an advanced psychology practicum clinician at the UT Counseling Center, said it is important to recognize survivors of an assault are already in a vulnerable state of mind before experiencing the negative effects of social media. “Individuals who have been sexually assaulted may already be feeling depressed, angry, violated and powerless due to what has happened to them,” Feltman said. “For them to then read online commentary that makes rape a punch line or that questions, blames or bullies survivors can often feel isolating, invalidating and even re-traumatizing.” According to a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, one in three rape victims will experience mental illness in some form.

Meagan Brem, doctoral student in psychology who has provided therapy for survivors of sexual assault, said that by adding social alienation to someone in a vulnerable position, they could be at a greater risk of suffering from PTSD or depression later on. “It makes them feel even more isolated and shamed,” Brem said. According to a study by the National Violence Against Women Research Center through the Medical University

of South Carolina, nearly onethird (31 percent) of rape victims experience PTSD after the assault. Suicide is another potential consequence of negative social feedback to sexual assault. In a highly publicized case, Audrie Pott, a California teenager, was raped and photographed by several of her classmates. The pictures circulated around her school, and Pott committed suicide seven days later. Pott isn’t alone. The same study concluded that rape survivors are 4.1 times more likely to commit

suicide, and one-third of rape survivors have contemplated suicide. They are also 13 times more likely to have attempted suicide. For Erin Whiteside, journalism assistant professor, it is the underlying rape culture and objectification of women that is to blame for negative reactions on social media. “We are inundated with images about certain views of women, and a lot of those images objectify women in different ways,” she said. “When we are constantly assaulted with images that depict women as objects, we collectively build meaning around women’s value in society.” Whiteside said this reflects a series of social beliefs that contribute to rape culture, including the belief that survivors wanted to be raped, are lying about being raped or acted in such a way that justifies rape. It is this problematic connection between rape culture and potentially harmful social media, Feltman said, that must change in order to protect survivors from negative social media reactions and the accompanying trauma that might come with it. “I think rape culture is still extremely pervasive in our society and it manifests itself online,” Feltman said. “The mainstream cultural dialogue surrounding sexual assault needs to change in order for these online behaviors to stop and for survivors to heal.”

The Daily Beacon • Thursday, March 12, 2015

taring at this damn blinking line on Microsoft Word, TextEdit and Pages for the past five years; leaving me without a voice. Even with learning the jargon and labeling the emotion, it still does not get any easier. There is no “correct” way to share this intimate moment. All that exists are my vulnerability and reputation; both which I am resisting every fight and flight instinct so the advocacy can persist with sexual assault. Every story is different, and there is no specific format to tackling this

“All that exists are my vulnerability and reputation; both which I am resisting every fight and flight instinct so the advocacy can persist with sexual assault.” process. If you are reading this and either blaming yourself or not sure about your situation, I am

ugust 16, 2014. I agreed to let him come over that night. He had just moved into his dorm room, and I was still getting settled as well. Our conversation started out normal enough; he was sitting on my bed, and I was sitting on my floor, away from him. Things quickly went downhill when he grabbed my phone. As I went to grab it back from him, he shoved it down his pants. I backed up, nervously. I told him to give me my phone. He told me to get it. I asked for it again. He got it out of his pants and acted as though he was going to hand it to me. As I reached for it, he grabbed my wrists and shoved them into his crotch. I tried to pull away but I was physically unable to do so. I told him to stop. He continued to hold my hands over his penis as he said, “Stop touching my dick.” It was a game to him. I struggled to pull away from him. He extracted his penis from his pants and moved my hands, which I had clenched into fists, up and down it. I kept trying to pull away, telling him to stop, telling him to get off me. He grabbed the back of my neck and shoved my face into his crotch. I tried to lift my head up but he was holding it down. As he shoved himself into my mouth, I closed my eyes and asked God to make it stop. But it never did. He moved my head up and down, forcing himself deeper and deeper into my throat. I kept choking and he said, “You like this, don’t you?” I was powerless. Every ounce of strength I

here to look you in the eyes and say: if there was no clear and enthusiastic yes, then it is rape/ sexual assault. So with quivering fingertips and anxiety flowing through my veins, let’s do this. I was in the basement of my friends house, laying down to go to sleep. After laying for a few minutes, I was lifted, and carried off into a bathroom. We had both been drinking. I nervously laughed, some small talked happened, and I walked past him to leave. Instead of grabbing the doorknob, his hand had beat me there. He said, “I didn’t sneak out for nothing ... want me to go home empty handed, do you?” Why did I choose not to report? I did not know that I was raped until two years later, my freshman year at UT. In my mind, rape was only if you had been knocked unconscious; or yelled as loudly as possible. I, however, WILLINGLY accepted the blue drink. I DID NOT yell. I DID NOT fight him. By teenage standards, since I “just had sex,” I was now a slut. My number one focus was saving my virginity for my marriage. When I told my friends from church I had sex, they were offended. It felt like a brick wall forming in between them and me, leaving me isolated. I continually bought purity rings to wear in hopes of making myself feel better; Knoxville also gained a lot of sterling silver as I continued to drunkenly throw them in rivers and grassy plains because I was unworthy. As I have been to counseling and cultivating

my relationship with Jesus Christ, the terms “survivor” and “being healed” are difficult to be placed to my story. In my opinion, when I hear survivor, I do not feel strong. I feel like the crumbles of what is left of my Nature Valley granola bars. That shit is so easily broken. Being healed is more than a physical act of my heart being able to accept what has happened. It is a process of waking up every single day and choosing to become a more resilient form of myself, with the help of the Lord and inspirational cat pictures on Pinterest. This process complicates going to class every day, keeping up with homework, and friendly and romantic relationships. Trying to understand this vigorous process has been damaging to such relationships, and I publicly and sincerely apologize to those who have been caught in the crossfire. Things that last never happen overnight, which is why I have coined my own form of fortitude, called Jesstrong. What makes me feel strong, may be completely different to the next person. I am learning to take baby steps towards becoming a durable advocate against sexual assault. Although it took five years, words are finally forcing the blinking line to move across the page and establish a voice for the voiceless.

had was irrelevant compared to the strength of my assaulter. Every ounce of free will I had was

ing. I reported it to the police. I went to therapy every week for a whole semester. I continued to see my assaulter on campus. I had panic attacks. I threw up a few times. Every now and then, I would cry. But my heart kept beating. I thought about dying occasionally. I didn’t think that I could make it through this. I thought that I could not recover, that I would be shattered forever. But my heart kept beating. When I was comfortable enough to speak out about my situation, he told everyone that I was lying. I knew that he would deny it but it was still crushing. I still wonder if he truly believes that he did no wrong, or maybe he has convinced himself that he is innocent and instead, I am to blame. Or perhaps, worst of all, maybe he doesn’t care. Six months later, I am still struggling with this situation. Oftentimes, I have flashbacks or nightmares about my assaulter. I still get upset, I still get scared, I still panic, especially when I see him around campus. But I refuse to let this situation break me, to stop me from living. I’m still here, stronger than ever. I refuse to let him take any more from me than he already has. Eventually, I will heal. And as of right now, I am well on my way to becoming whole again.

“I wondered if this was what it was like to die. I thought about dying, I prayed that I would die. But my heart kept beating. I reported it to the police.” gone, taken from me by my assaulter. I knew that I would be forced to have sex with him. I knew that he would make me. I knew I had no choice. I was already damaged at that point. He had already crushed my soul, my spirit was already destroyed. He came and then he left. I laid in my bed, numb. I wondered if this was what it was like to die. I thought about dying, I prayed that I would die. But my heart kept beat-

This is account is from Jess Maples, a senior in social work. She can be reached at jmaple21@vols.utk.edu.

-- D. This is an anonymous account. You can reach the writer of this piece at editorinchief@ utdailybeacon.com.

Thursday, March 12, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

Even darkness must pass

Amnesty policy protects students

Staff Writer

Heidi Hill

In a hushed room of strangers, the moment had arrived to tell her story of survival. During an on-campus Take Back the Night in 2010, UT graduate Steph Powers stepped onto a spotlighted stage, riddled with nerves and began to relay the painful memories of the repeated sexual abuse she experienced as a young girl. As words tumbled out of her mouth, the steady gaze from a future friend in the Women’s Coordinating Council helped calm Powers as she told her entire story for the first time. “It was probably one of the most freeing moments of my life,” Powers said. “I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. After it was over, I was terrified that a room of complete strangers wouldn’t believe me for about five seconds. Then I realized it didn’t matter who believed me anymore. “I survived and that’s what mattered.” Although her healing process was finally underway, it was later interrupted. While hosting a party at her residence hall during her junior year, a second sexual assault from a former friend and co-worker “opened up old wounds,” Powers said, sending her into a six-month spiral of alcohol abuse, partying and isolation from her loved ones. After finally confiding the events of her second assault to her boyfriend, Powers explained how dispelling guilt about her second attack was a milestone in her initial recovery. “Until you are a survivor, you don’t realize how much you blame yourself, or at least I did,” Powers said. “So I had to get over that, and I had to tell myself 100 times a day, ‘It wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t your fault,’ and that was how it differed from the first time.” Powers said she battles her individual triggers on a daily basis — a struggle pervasive in the life of any sexual assault survivor. Amy Yerka, a therapist at the Sexual Assault Center of East Tennessee, said such triggers are difficult to generalize, but identifying and diminishing their effects are a key component

in a survivor’s treatment. “Working on and being able to practice coping skills if they’re having trauma-related symptoms, like going for a run, listening to music or having a list of friends or positive support people they can call in that moment,” Yerka said, “is sometimes the difference between anxiety and panic versus being in control and safe.” According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 81 percent of women and 35 percent of men report significant impacts, both short and long-term, from sexual assault. “You’ll catch yourself going through the scenario over and over in your head and think, ‘What could I have done differently?’ and at the end of the day, you have to realize that it’s not about not getting raped,” Powers said, “It’s about the rapist not raping you.” Ashley Blamey, director of the Center for Health Education and Awareness, described a survivor’s post-assault phase as a “grieving process” unique to the individual. “On some level, they’ve trusted that person, and I think that’s a really confusing thing — to have trusted someone and then they take advantage of you in such an incredibly painful way,” Blamey said. Though S.A.R.T. only provides administrative and academic support for students who are sexually assaulted, Blamey said a strong support system can make all the difference. Still the fervent reader, Powers attributes part of her quest as a sexual assault survivor to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Her J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired tattoo serves as a symbol of her path to healing. “My tattoo, like everything else in my life, is a part of my journey as a person and a survivor,” she said. “(The Lord of the Rings) is something that helped me get through and often escape the realities of a rough childhood, so I thought my tattoo would be a fitting tribute to that. As for the act of getting a tattoo itself, it was a way for me to take control of my own body and leave a permanent mark of my own choosing. “I did it with no one’s permission or pressure, and it was liberating.”

Chris Salvemini Drunk, high or otherwise intoxicated — you can always report a sexual assault. Amnesty policies protect people who call police seeking assistance for themselves or for a friend, when they could be charged with crimes like underage drinking or drug possession. They also allow victims to seek medical attention without fear of prosecution. UT has an academic amnesty policy for students who report an incident of sexual misconduct. Anyone who reports an incident to authorities while under the influence of alcohol or drugs will not face disciplinary action under the Student Code of Conduct. Troy Lane, Chief of Police at the UT Police Department, said he believes that recent university efforts have increased reporting statistics for sexual assault. “In the last year, what you’ve seen is that the actual numbers are trending way up, which can be a good thing, because 90 percent of sexual assault crimes go unreported,” Lane said. “We’re now getting young women services they were not getting before.” While the university has an official amnesty policy, the UT Police Department does not.

Lane explained that UTPD instead prefers to exercise discretion when reviewing cases and Lane said he teaches his officers to do the same. “At the end day, I’m more concerned that this person didn’t die. I’m more interested they got to the hospital,” Lane said. “We can overlook the underage consumption.” If a survivor reports the incident, UTPD’s primary focus would be to provide medical assistance. Ashley Blamey, director of the Center for Health Education and Wellness, said amnesty applies universally and is more along the lines of a code of ethics rather than a policy for administrators. “In practice, we probably have been providing amnesty for a very long time, to be honest,” Blamey said. “In fact, I can’t think of a time where there was even a discussion about a person using alcohol or drugs.” The impact of the amnesty policy at the University of Tennessee is still yet to be measured. “I think as students gain more understanding and awareness of our policy, and the amnesty becomes one the critical pieces of the policy that they become aware of, I think we’ll see an increase in reporting,” Blamey said. “I think as people grow in policy awareness, amnesty will be one of those critical pieces.”

The Daily Daily Beacon Beacon• Thursday, • Thursday, March March 12,12, 2015 2015 6 6 The

t happened twice. It was freshman year, and I had (oh so cleverly, I thought) circumvented UT’s dorm requirement by declaring I was living at home. Meanwhile, snickering and high-fiving all the way to the leasing office, my two best friends and I moved into a three-bedroom apartment. This was a move that, admittedly, I was perhaps not ready for. I’d grown up with highly controlling parents and was inexperienced with heavy drinking. The new-found freedom of living on our own, with nothing more than a mostly disinterested apartment management staff to provide any semblance of regulation, meant that a lot of heavy drinking happened in that apartment. Serving as an oasis to several of our friends who had gone the dorm-life route, we invited people over to drink regularly. I, a hard liquor rookie, would often black out before the evening’s end. I felt no need to censor my alcohol intake, though; I was at my own apartment surrounded by my best friends and people I trusted, some of whom I had known since elementary school. They wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me, right? In an effort to be the cool older sister, my roommate *Heather began inviting her 15-year-old brother, *Spencer, to some of these gatherings. Since middle school, Heather had been one of my best friends whose house I stayed at often. I got to know her family well, and she indicated to me on several occasions that Spencer had a crush on me. We poked fun at him for this. I viewed him as a little brother. One night at our apartment, I blacked out in the midst of a round of a beer pong. Evidently, I went upstairs to my room to pass out and after a while, Heather went to check on me. She found Spencer in bed with me; save for my underwear, I was naked. I remember nothing that happened, but her entrance — and immediate exit — was apparently enough to rouse me from my stupor. I got dressed, and the next thing I knew I was on the porch with both my roommates. “What just happened?” I remember asking. Heather told me what she’d seen, to my horror. I was a virgin. I wasn’t remotely attracted to Spencer and hadn’t invited or initiated anything. I knew that and said so. Heather told me she was sure I had encouraged him somehow, and my other roommate supported this hypothesis. I was told by my two best friends that I was “probably just embarrassed” for wanting to hook up with him, since he was three years younger. My confusion was debilitating. Though I had initially been convinced Spencer’s presence in my room was unsolicited, their words cast a crippling self-doubt over me. Although I was still shocked, I began to believe

“Most likely it was my fault; I’d blacked out, and my best friends told me I wanted it, so it must be true.”

“By believing them, I made myself vulnerable to a repeat attack by the same predator.”

them and was quiet about the incident. Most likely it was my fault; I’d blacked out, and my best friends told me I wanted it, so it must be true. A month passed, and I came home from work to find Spencer among the friends gathered in my living room again. I avoided all eye contact with him and attempted to socialize with the others. After one beer, though, my discomfort at his presence was too great, and I told everyone goodnight before going upstairs to my room. I shut the door behind me and got in bed. Several hours later, I awoke to Spencer in bed pressed behind me, his hands reaching down my pajama pants and into my underwear as he struggled to pull both off. I snapped, began screaming and kicked him off of me. I followed him in close pursuit as he stumbled downstairs and past the TV on which he’d watched multiple pornos before assaulting me. I hit and kicked him repeatedly, feeling enraged, repulsed and violated but at least somewhat vindicated. Here was the proof I needed, the revolting evidence that verified I should have trusted myself all along. To me, it happened twice. But I was to learn later I was not the only girl Spencer would assault. There were at least two girls his age and another my age he preyed upon, waiting until they were black-out drunk and unconscious before making a move. To this day, not reporting him to the police remains one of my biggest regrets; maybe if I had, I could have prevented the other assaults. Being sexually assaulted was a sickening experience, but perhaps the most hurtful part wasn’t even the assault itself — it was the lack of support and even active blame I received from my best friends. Unfortunately, I see these same dismissive and disbelieving attitudes exhibited not infrequently in my peer group, most often by other women. The vernacular of victim blame — “She wasn’t assaulted, she was just drunk and now doesn’t want to deal with the consequences” — is ubiquitous on this campus (#FreeAJ, anyone?). Anytime I hear words like this being spoken, it transports me back to the time my own assault experience was discredited by my friends. By believing them, I made myself vulnerable to a repeat attack by the same predator. When you use victim-blaming language, you never know whose ears it will fall on. So, please, don’t engage in dismissive rhetoric that could discredit a victim’s experience or paralyze their recovery process. Everyone deserves to heal. *Names have been changed. This is an anonymous account. The writer of this piece can be reached at editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com.

Thursday, March 12, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

Could sorority parties help prevent sexual assault? Claire Dodson

Editor-in-Chief

Abby never attends fraternity parties alone. The UT sorority member makes sure to always go out with a group of women. They arrive together; they leave together. While there, she never takes a drink she didn’t pour. She doesn’t have hunch punch. It’s a safety thing, she said. “There’s good guys in fraternities, but you just don’t know,” Abby said. “We live in a culture where it’s not perceived as wrong to persuade somebody to hook up with you when they’re drunk and don’t have the ability to consent enthusiastically.” “It makes me sad and angry. I shouldn’t have to watch my back. Guys should know that you don’t do that.” Greek organizations have recently been in the middle of the nationwide discussion on what to do about campus sexual assault. A statistic from Mother Jones said that before college, sexual assault perpetration rates for frat members and non-frat members are the same. In their first year of college, two and a half percent of non-fraternity

Dillon Canfield • The Daily Beacon

members commit sexual assault. For fraternity members, this number rises to eight percent. The New York Times argued in a January op-ed that a possible solution could be a change in party host. “It’s frat members who get to mix the drinks, establish the ‘ambience’ (sticky floors, dim lights, music loud enough to mask arguments or even cries of protest) and determine the guest list,” the op-ed says. At UT, fraternities host parties both at campus houses and at off-campus locations in the Fort Sanders neighborhood. But what if sororities hosted the parties, on and off campus? Elizabeth Stanfield, senior and member of a UT sorority, said the idea has some merit. “It gives agency to women to control their party environment,” Stanfield said. “It gives them the ability to kick people out who exhibit problematic behavior — that guy who’s being too physical or too pushy. It allows them to bar people from parties who have a history of aggressive behavior.” When Abby joined her chapter, she agreed to not consume alcohol until the age of 21. “If that were happening in the actual house, Nationals would go crazy,” she said. UT is a dry campus, though how strictly that rule is imposed within the Greek system varies. “There’s been a constant ebb and flow in my time here of how strictly (the rule) is enforced,” one senior fraternity member said. “Right now, it’s very strict.” This has forced more parties into Fort Sanders, where UT is less able to

hold groups accountable. Compared to the mostly well-lit campus with its high-traffic areas, the Fort appears a dim jungle of aging homes and potentially threatening situations. “Anything is safer than Fort Sanders,” the fraternity member said. The alcohol ban also poses other problems. Stanfield argued that it creates an environment of secrecy that makes things “more dangerous.” If there’s supposedly no alcohol, no reforms can be made, like those at UVA where fraternities have agreed to serve beer in cans rather than kegs, among other limits. But Abby argues the Fort can be and has been a good alternative for sororities, — though they often look different than fraternity-hosted ragers. “(The parties) are usually just more exclusive to the members in that chapter and their friends or boyfriends,” Abby said. “It’s not a whole big thing. They control it and keep it smaller.” Director of Sorority and Fraternity Life Lindi Smedberg said sorority rules about alcohol are in place “to create a safe and responsible social environment.” And sororities often host events with alcohol at off-campus venues with licensed bartenders. “Sororities are welcome to host events at their sorority houses,” Smedberg said, “but events where alcohol is present must take place off-campus.” But even if sororities hosted a larger proportion of parties, this would not necessarily mean the end of sexual assault. There are a lot of underlying problems and reasons for why people assault other people. Stanfield said she hopes fraternities will take their selection process more seriously. “If these organizations are upholding their values, they should be absolutely dedicated to creating safe, consensual, respectful environments,” she said. “Sexual assaults will still happen until our campus has a culture of consent and respect, until at any party you go to you can feel safe and secure.”

The Daily Beacon • Thursday, March 12, 2015

Birds, bees and birth control Sex education in Tennessee schools focuses on abstinence Megan Patterson Staff Writer

Did you get a sex talk in a Tennessee high school? If your answer is “yes,” then the pregnancy rate in your county exceeded 19.5 pregnancies per 1,000 females ages 11 to 18. Only when that number is exceeded are county schools required to implement a Family Life Education Program. This policy was set in place in 2011 by the Family Action Council of Tennessee, whose website describes the program as “a complete, integrated, abstinencecentered program of sex education.” According to FACT’s site, this policy change was necessary to ensure Comprehensive Sex Education — which discusses abstinence, but includes training on contraception and STI prevention — would no longer be used in Tennessee districts. The council criticized CSE programs for focusing “almost exclusively on reducing the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases through condoms and contraceptives,” claiming CSE “avoids dealing with the emotional, psychological, financial and other negative consequences to teens from engaging in sex.” Summer Awad, junior in College Scholars and co-chair of Sex Week’s sponsoring organization Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee, was born and raised in Tennessee. She recalls her school’s sex education as being characterized by “scary pictures of STI symptoms.” “I never learned how to use a condom, what to do if sexually assaulted, how to have a healthy relationship or about the many other options for hormonal birth control besides the pill,” Awad said. Despite the fact she attended a public school, these talks were given by a religiously affiliated group called “Just Wait.” “In middle school, they asked us to sign virginity pledges, so I did,” Awad said. Jamie Meheula, a junior at West High School, received sexual education with a similar bent. “In high school, any mention of STDs and things is generally just scare tactics,” Meheula said. “The only way they talk about contraception is with Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

failure statistics. The little mantra that they say is, ‘The only 100 percent safe way to have sex is to not.’” For private school students, the scope of sex education may be even narrower. Molly Jester, head of the religion department at Sacred Heart Cathedral School, stated that although the program “True Love Waits” was presented to students in the past, the content of the talks, including slideshows on STDs, was deemed inappropriate. However, Jester said she does believe sex should still be a topic of discussion. “I think every state has a health curriculum, but that’s only one step into human sexuality,” Jester said. “There should be no shame or embarrassment, but when you do wrong or sin or disrespect your bodies, then some of that shame and guilt comes in.” In high school, Awad worked with Students Teaching And Respecting Sexuality, a program involving peer education that emphasized the emotional aftermath of sex. Although at the time Awad said she saw this organization as progressive due to its more open attitude toward pre-marital sex and treatment of STDs, she now regrets having once endorsed it. “The program still used shaming and emphasized the emotional aspects of sex, implying that you give a piece of yourself to someone every time you have sex and can’t get it back,” Awad said. “That was probably the most detrimental attitude of the program.” Meheula noted that no matter the measures schools may take to shape and mold the nature of dialogue surrounding sex, “people talk.” “Realistically, there’s a culture of people aware of sex, of what it is and they’re doing it,” she said. Just because young people are choosing to talk about and engage in sex, however, doesn’t necessarily equate to an informed culture. Meheula mentioned a few rumors she has heard among her peers regarding sex. “You would be surprised some of the ridiculous things that people would say,” Meheula said. “I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh you can use a balloon,’ or ‘If you have sex in the shower then you can’t get pregnant.’ It’s ridiculous, so I think if people could just learn about protection at all, it would be pretty helpful.” A major roadblock to any comprehensive instruction is the 2012 addition to Tennessee’s Education policy that “prohibits instruction and distribution of materials that promote ‘gateway sexual activity,’” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. For Awad, who believes teaching people how to “define their boundaries” would solve concerns over gateway activity, the solution for proper sex education is simple: medically accurate information without religious bias. “When I say accurate, I mean that it should also not leave out parts of the story,” Awad said. “The right to know how our own bodies work and how we can best protect ourselves should be thought of as a human right that should be protected.”

Yes means yes Consent a complex issue for university students, clarified by policy and education Jordan Achs

Copy Editor You’re just waking up after a night out with your friends. A few drinks turned into more than a few, then you roll over and suddenly realize you’re not alone and that you might’ve had sex last night. For many college students, this scenario is a familiar element of the college party experience. But what many don’t realize is this can be legally considered rape at many universities — including UT. “It is well-established that alcohol inhibits motor function, making it difficult to give consent,” said Libby Hicks, a wellness coordinator at the Center for Health Education and Wellness. “And it impairs judgment, making it difficult to ascertain whether or not consent

has been gained.” Nickie Hackenbrack, senior and co-chair of Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee, said the new found freedom that many college students gain when they move away from home can contribute to confusion when it comes to consent. “Drugs and alcohol are a part of that, and sexual exploration is a part of that,” Hackenbrack said. “So it’s no surprise that these two go hand-in-hand.” According to The Wall Street Journal, alcohol impairment is determined by a number of factors including gender, weight, amount consumed per hour and factors such as depression and an empty stomach. The Mayo Clinic describes binge drinking as more than five drinks consumed in two hours if you’re male and four drinks if you’re female. These drinks take your body a while to process, which means

Thursday, March 12, 2015 • The Daily Beacon that alcohol can still enter your bloodstream even if you’ve stopped drinking. It takes your body one hour to process one drink; it doesn’t take long for your body to get drunk and stay drunk. All of these factors affect decision making, and thus consent. This confusion leads to many perpetrators not knowing they are committing sexual assault and many survivors not knowing their rights and resources. Because of this, many schools and now states are moving away from the “no means no” standpoint towards an affirmative consent policy, which requires partners engaging in a sexual activity each give an enthusiastic “yes” to every sexual act. “Right now we need to change the conversation and make it ‘only yes means yes,’” Hackenbrack said. “It shouldn’t be upon someone to stop something from going further, but it should always be a positive conversation about what you’d like to do next.” With the introduction of the the Sexual Assault and Misconduct Task Force and policy reform, alcohol and drugs and their impact on consent is now much more concrete in our policy. According to UT’s Sexual Misconduct and Relationship Violence website (sexualassault.utk.edu), “One’s own use of alcohol, drugs, or other substances does not diminish one’s responsibility to obtain consent from the

other person. Moreover, another person’s use of alcohol, drugs, or other substances does not diminish one’s responsibility to obtain consent from that person.” The interim sexual assault policy, UTPD’s sexual assault alerts and the Hilltopics Student Handbook are some of many places UT’s consent policy is detailed. Included in this policy is a section stating consent cannot be given when impaired by alcohol or other chemicals. “We want to continue to educate students about how to both gain and give consent, while at the same time encouraging them to take care of each other, not take advantage, when alcohol is involved,” Hicks said. Despite these newly detailed sections, survivors are still often accused of being merely embarrassed and regretting that they had sex. Hicks warned that this form of victim-blaming can ultimately disempower survivors, potentially preventing them from seeking help or reporting to the police. “We should not tolerate these statements and instead be mindful that the majority of cases involve alcohol — it is the No. 1 drug used to facilitate sexual assault,” Hicks said. “Additionally, according to the FBI, the incidence of falsely reported rape is around two percent — the same as any other crime.” The interim policy can be found online at http://sexualassault.utk.edu.

Not just a women’s issue anymore: men speak up Bradi Musil

Assistant News Editor In 2014, researchers at the University of North Dakota asked 73 college men two questions: 1. Would they act on “intentions to force a woman to (have) sexual intercourse” if they knew they could get away with it? And 2. Would they act on “intentions to rape a woman” with the same promise of impunity? Thirty-one point seven percent of the male responders said they would force a woman to have sexual intercourse if there were no consequences, while just 13.6 percent of those same men said they would rape a woman without the fear of conviction. Although these conflicting results can be perplexing to some, for educators like Vice Chancellor for Diversity Rickey Hall, these outcomes are not surprising given the lack of education historically delivered to young men about what legally defines sexual assault and the complexity behind consent and rape culture. Sometimes when you discuss different scenarios with young people and ask if it’s rape— ”situations that you know clearly are rape,” Hall said —they will say no. What has typically been regarded as a “wom-

en’s issue,” the weight of sexual violence is beginning to weigh on the shoulders of both sexes as men become more engaged in the conversation of what sexual assault is and how it can be prevented. Recently, the Office on Violence Against Women granted the YWCA of Knoxville funding to launch the GameChangers program, which is designed to educate middle school boys about sexual assault and violence against women through bystander intervention. “Engaging men and boys in this discussion is essential to decreasing violence against women,” Hannah Brinson, YWCA’s Violence Prevention Project coordinator, said. “Our hope is that by reaching a younger population, we can challenge the culture of violence against women and create a new standard of behavior as these boys move from middle school to high school and into adulthood.” Jacob Tankersley, freshman in statistics, said he never received a formal education about sexual assault and violence. It wasn’t until he moved to UT’s campus and began receiving safety notices detailing assault incidents that Tankersley said he began to realize the enormity of the problem. “Having three of those emails in one week, my respect for humanity just dropped,” Tankersley said. “I was in shock that it would

“It mainly affects men, at least me, in the way that we worry about the women we know.” -Jacob Tankersley happen that much.” In countries with a high level of gender inequality, there tend to be higher levels of sexual assaults and violence toward women. The U.S. ranked 23rd for gender equality, out of 133 countries, in the 2013 United Nations Global Gender Gap Report. Countries like Iceland, ranking number one in the report, had considerably lower rates of sexual assault. The language Americans tend to use in cases of sexual assault can perpetuate a culture of victim blaming, as well. Hall said societal messages that tie sex to aggression for males allows the ‘boys will be boys’ attitude to justify

acts of sexual assault and sexism. Where men have the power to change this culture, Hall said, is in their ability to act as active bystanders, rather than passive witnesses. Tankersley said he experienced a shift into an active bystander role after realizing the high frequency of assaults on campus. When he was out with friends, Tankersley said he was increasingly cautious of the environment and situation his female friends were surrounded by. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing for women to be more aware of the kind of men around them, but it’s for the wrong reasons,” Tankersley said. “It’s sad that we even have to worry about women going out because of the danger of being sexually assaulted. It mainly affects men, at least me, in the way that we worry about the women we know.” By empowering and educating men to stand up against comments, suggestions, jokes and acts of sexism performed by other men, Hall said he fully expects the numbers of reported sexual assaults to decrease in the future. “There’s more of a conversation today, and it’s hard to ignore,” Hall said. “As a university, we have to take more responsibility for each other, and we have to care for each other and what happens to each other.”

The Daily Beacon • Thursday, March 12, 2015

Sound of silence Victims’ voices, reports stifled by societal expectations Liv McConnell

Special Projects Editor It was the start of D’s senior year of college, and beyond the stress of a 25-page thesis paper and GRE studies to attend to, she was ready to make it a memorable one. A diligent student, she had managed to cram two majors into three years, a feat nearly unheard of at UT. As she settled into her new room in University Housing, she thought of everything she had to look forward to in the year to come. What D couldn’t have expected is the male student who entered her new room as a friend and left it as her sexual assailant. “My life had been damn near perfect,” D said. “I had never had to deal with anything as traumatic as that. I was going back and forth about what I should do, but you know, I swear I do not even know who I was. I didn’t even feel human. It was so surreal.” The aftermath following a sexual assault is a

treacherous slope to navigate, as survivors are faced with not only their own emotional trauma, but also others’ expectations as to when and how the “correct” way to cope with and report the crime is. A 2007 study by the National District Attorneys Association showed that even though it is well established that survivors of sexual violence respond to trauma in a multitude of ways, society still holds them to a “normal” code of behavior following an assault. Anything that deviates from this code is deemed suspicious. One way this is frequently manifested, according to the NDAA, is by linking the perceived authenticity of a survivor’s story with how quickly they report it to authorities. Yet for D, it took two weeks to even admit to herself what had happened. “I was trying to overcompensate and be like, ‘Everything is fine, I’m good, everything is going great,’” she said. “I was very smiley, very bubbly, because I wasn’t ready to deal with all the emo-

tional repercussions of that situation.” Ashley Blamey, director of the Center for Health, Education and Wellness and chair of the Sexual Assault Response Team, believes there are “multiple reasons” why some survivors remain silent about their experiences, including a fear they won’t be believed. “I think people feel like the involvement in the (reporting) process will be very hard and taxing, and they do not feel like they are ready or want to deal with that because they’re already dealing with so many other things,” Blamey said. “A lot of people say, ‘I want to forget this.’” While Blamey said she understands that out-

“I swear I do not even know who I was. I didn’t even feel human. It was so surreal.” -D

look and always presents survivors with options rather than directives, she does believe in the positive impact choosing to report these crimes can have. “It’s my personal bias that I would really like for everyone to report, because I think that gives us the best shot at intervening and changing the culture,” she said. “But I also don’t think it’s any individual’s responsibility to do that — it’s ours.” Although national statistics complied by the Bureau of Justice indicate a discouraging 68 percent of sexual assaults go unreported to the police, there are signs this culture at UT is changing. In 2014, the university saw an increase by approximately 70 percent in the number of sexual assault reports over the previous year, according to data released by Vice Chancellor for Student Life Vincent Carilli last month. As Blamey points out, this doesn’t necessarily indicate an increase in the prevalence of assaults — it could reflect a growing culture where victims are encouraged and supported to become survivors. Though she ultimately did not press charges against her assaulter, D is still well on her way to life as a survivor. She chose to report the incident to Student Conduct and UTPD last semester. “He doesn’t have power over me or my life,” she said. “I’m going to be just fine.”

LGBTQ+ community faces high rates of sexual assault Tanner Hancock Copy Editor

For the LGBTQ+ community, sexual assault comes with another set of challenges. As recognized by Joel Kramer, co-chair for Chancellor’s Commission for LGBT people and faculty staff advisor for VOLout, homophobia and other forms of oppression often cause victims to remain silent. Kramer said that societal disapproval of LGBTQ+ people adds an additional barrier to sexual assault reporting. In the case of some victims, going to the authorities may mean

outing themselves. “There’s the additional factor that your whole lifestyle and your choices and the way that you live and who you are may be called into question,” Kramer said. According to data from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, 64 percent of transgender people experience some form of sexual assault during their lifetime, and around 1 in 8 lesbian women suffers the same. According to the Williams Institute, 40 percent of homeless youths served by agencies identify as LGBT, raising the risk of sexual assault in that community tremendously. As a “more vulnerable population,” the

LGBTQ + community is prone to encounter barriers when dealing with sexual assault, Kramer said. For Kayla Frye, a junior in global studies co-chair of Sexual Health Advisory Group, progress must come from society’s acknowledgement of all forms of rape, not just the traditional understanding of it. The idea that lesbian sex “doesn’t count,” that men cannot rape other men or even that “corrective rape” among the LGBTQ + community is credible are some of the ideas Frye sees as damaging the progress and safety of LGBTQ + people. “If we’re making sexual assault about only one kind of sexual act, it can be really exclud-

ing to people who can have sex in a way that doesn’t meet that criteria,” Frye said, noting the importance of “making sure those experiences are validated.” Frye said that while UT’s removal of gender pronouns from the sexual assault policy has helped validate all forms of sexual assault on campus, there is still room for improvement. For example, Frye pointed to UT’s lack of any gender-neutral housing as a potential concern, as individuals not conforming to a specific gender are often forced to live in environments they are not comfortable in. See LGBTQ+ on Page 12

Thursday, March 12, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

Why rape kits go untested Liv McConnell

Special Projects Editor Last year, national outcry emerged when thousands of backlogged rape kits — about 400,000, according to the Rape Kit Action Project — were determined to be collecting dust on police department shelves across the country. In Tennessee, as reports circulated of some 12,000 neglected kits in Memphis, the state legislature passed a law requiring an audit from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. On Sept. 2, 2014, TBI released their findings: 9,062 untested rape kits statewide. After Memphis, the Knoxville Police Department accounted for the second highest number of kits, with a reported 394 remaining unprocessed. Ranking at No. 6 statewide, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office had 126 kits on backlog, while the University of Tennessee Police Department had 18. Capt. Gordon Catlett of KPD’s Criminal Investigation Division acknowledged the DNA evidence provided by the kits “clearly bears a lot of weight” in court when seeking a prosecution. However, he said many sexual assault cases — and their kits — don’t make it that far, accounting for some of the high backlog numbers. “Out of our total number of kits to be received before May 2014, we had 44 cases that the Attorney General’s Office was not going to prosecute,” Catlett said. “These kits were pending, waiting disposal. However, when we’re asked, ‘How many kits do you have that weren’t tested?’ what the media receives is a total number.” In the Knoxville area, the majority of rape kits are collected by sexual assault nurse examiners like Glenna Ford, nurse coordinator at the Sexual Assault Center of East Tennessee. “Our policy is we try to collect within 72 hours of the assault, which is pretty much the rule of thumb in many states,” Ford said. “After 72 hours, it’s kind of difficult to get DNA evidence.” DNA is preserved in the form of hair, saliva and bodily fluids taken from the assault survivor’s body. “We may collect other evidence to submit with that kit, but the kit itself will be trace evidence from the victim, swabs, fingernail scrapings and possibly under-

wear,” Ford said. After the evidence has been collected, it is then sent to law enforcement. Catlett said the kits serve two primary purposes. “One, it may assist with indicating the presence of violence, and two, it can definitely nail down the participants at the time of the sexual assault or alleged sexual assault,” he said. However, rape kits are not foolproof forms of evidence when it comes to the legal process; a positive DNA identification alone cannot prove the act wasn’t consensual. “It’s not just enough to have a sexual assault kit to prosecute a sexual assault,” Catlett said. “The kit itself is another piece of evidence as part of a whole investigation.” And in order for them to be tested, contrary to popular belief, it is not within the jurisdiction of the police departments to initiate the process. “It’s not like a blood test for a DUI where an officer executes an arrest at the time of the offense and automatically sends the blood to be tested for alcohol content,” Catlett said. “The kit is collected, but until we’re instructed by the attorney general’s office to process, we retain it and hold onto it.” KCSO Capt. Brad Park, who heads the forensics unit, said in an article published by the Knoxville News Sentinel the day of the report’s release that although “we want to catch everybody we can,” only a fraction of kits move forward for testing. “We send probably one-tenth of the kits we get to the TBI,” he said. In some cases, like when a survivor knows his or her alleged attacker, DNA analysis is unnecessary. At other times, survivors will refuse to prosecute or later recant their allegations. Though the cost of processing the kits is high — each can cost an upwards of $500 — Catlett said price is not a determining factor when choosing whether to test them. “The reason there are backlogged kits is not because of the cost involved with testing, that’s not the rationale here,” he said. “The reason we haven’t sent the kits to be tested is because the evidence isn’t needed for prosecution yet, or at all.”

400,000 Estimated number of untested rape kits nationwide

9,062 394* 126 18

Number of untested rape kits state-wide at the time of the report

Total amount of untested rape kits at the Knoxville Police Department

Number of untested rape kits at Knoxville County Sheriff’s Office

Number of untested rape kits at UT Police Department *But 94 were not slated to be prosecuted Source: September 2014 report from Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

The Daily Beacon â&#x20AC;˘ Thursday, March 12, 2015

LGBTQ+ continued from Page 10

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re being misgendered simply by the housing that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in,â&#x20AC;? Frye said. Even the simple act of choosing restrooms can become a question of safety when you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t conform to a particular gender. Although the SGA Student Senate passed a bill fall semester ensuring all campus buildings would have gender neutral bathrooms by 2019, the current lack of such facilities in all buildings creates worry and the risk of sexual assault for certain LGBT students.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;For them, when they look at a bathroom, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of more a question of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I might get yelled at in one, I might get beat up in another,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Kramer said. Jessica Labenberg, advocacy coordinator for the Sexual Assault Center in Nashville, helps sexual assault victims on their path to recovery. While Labenberg deals with varieties of sexual assault survivors of all identities, she said she understands that for the LGBTQ+ community, lack of support often complicates the process of reporting rape and ensuring justice is served. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If (LGBTQ+ people) feel they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t supported by their community prior to being sexually assaulted, it creates a barrier for

that person to come forward and disclose,â&#x20AC;? Labenberg said. In Tennessee, the OUTreach Center is one of only two LGBTQ+ based community centers offered at a university and the only one to be offered at a public university. Frye emphasized the importance of expanding similar LGBT â&#x20AC;&#x153;safe spacesâ&#x20AC;? across campus in order to prevent students from choosing between safety or a welcoming environment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If there is some sort of violence within that (community),â&#x20AC;? Frye said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel like they have to choose between speaking up and losing the only safe space that they have.â&#x20AC;? In Tennessee, the legality of gay marriage

is not recognized, while the state itself does not prohibit discrimination based upon gender identity or sexual orientation. While Kramer acknowledges UTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progress towards equality, he sees the advancement and safety of the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s LGBT community as ultimately tied to politicians in Nashville. â&#x20AC;&#x153;On a basic level, UT as a university is still hindered by the Tennessee legislature, so thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only so far they can go,â&#x20AC;? Kramer said. For more information about the OUTreach: LGBT and Ally Resource Center, visit their website at: http://lgbt.utk.edu/

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Thursday, March 12, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD • Will Shortz ACROSS 1 Some finger food 6 ___ power

37 1958 hit by Jackie Wilson 40 Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-___

10 Dawber and Grier

41 14 Trump caller, once? 42 15 “Buy it new. Buy it 43 now” sloganeer 46 16 La Salle of “ER” 47 17 Sheena Easton hit 50 from a Bond film 20 Just my opinion, in a tweet 21 Crinkly vegetable

Clinton aide Myers Mimics

They’re just over two feet

16 19 22

28 31

53 Reason to add salt?

29 32

41 43

61 Internet chat status

28 Solve, in a way

63 Cold draft, maybe

30 End of a long biblical journey

64 Tally on a prison wall 65 Ken who wrote “Sometimes a Great Notion”

H Y A T M O T E K O U T C A B A H Y P E B O U T O R E T Y E D I Y C T A S O O K O U R N S N E S O Y O U T R O M A R K S T Y E

T S O U R A G D E A P R T E T P O O S U T S S

F I N E A R T

45 50

46 51

1 Short row 2 Frankly admit

12 Author who went by his first two initials

36 Plays for a chump

13 Flooring measure: Abbr.

39 See 38-Down

3 French capitalists?

18 Chernobyl’s locale: Abbr.

4 1953 hit for Julius La Rosa

19 Made a case against?

5 Part of some Portuguese place names

24 Like three and trois

6 Actor Depardieu

26 Movie pizzeria where Radio Raheem ate

I O T A S

E W E R S

F A R S I

G E H R O I T P O I N N E K A

I C A N

F O N T

7 R. Kelly hit from “Space Jam”

E S P Y

10 Depeche Mode’s first U.S. hit, 1985

S E A T

DOWN

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52 Paradises

62 Elvis, to Spanish fans

S A W T O

26 Larsson who wrote the “Millennium” trilogy

R E E F

Trees with beans

60 Contrarily

33 Giant Jesus

25 Some ball attendees

32 Passing through

From what place

57 1964 #1 hit with a motorcycle crash sound

T A L L

Goldfish cousin

23 ___ Shepherd, former co-host of “The View”

I M H O

54 Milo’s partner in film

22 Flip

M A C S

1 14

38 Great 39-Down

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25 Co-op ___

8 Madcap Martha

27 Half-Betazoid on the Enterprise

9 Pipe cleaner

29 Org. in “Homeland” 31 Rug rats 34 Guiding lights

11 Trademarked fabric 35 Person who’s a name zero?: Abbr.

48 “Skyfall” singer 49 Fire starter? 51 Energy unit: Abbr. 53 Many a mixer 55 Arctic Blast maker 56 Absolut competitor 58 Cleanse (of ) 59 “Mice!”

The Daily Beacon • Thursday, March 12, 2015

our first semester of college is the most crucial one. You’re adjusting to so many things and learning just how you’re going to survive the next four years. Like most students, I was excited to make new friends, experience new things and be as involved as I possibly could. Unfortunately, after only three weeks on campus I hit a huge bump in the road. While out with a few friends, I went missing from a party and was raped by two UT students. At the time, I was 17 and about 10 hours away from home. I was too scared to report it or tell my family. I didn’t want to be blamed or to be known as “that girl.” Within the first 36 hours, I had broken down and confided in my floor mates. They were so great at comforting me and encouraging me to get help. When I finally ended up in the counseling center, my psychologist really listened to me and tried to offer support in any way she could. I wish I could say it helped, but unfortunately PTSD would soon take over my life. To cope with the nightmares and panic attacks, I continuously drank and took painkillers. I would keep that up for months causing an addiction to occur. UT was slowly becoming a nightmare. I couldn’t even attend a football game without having a panic attack and locking myself in a bathroom stall for an entire quarter. A few of my friends saw me becoming a “party girl,” and didn’t stick around long enough to realize there was something wrong. Throughout the year people would go on to tell me that the rape was my fault, that I was asking for it, that I am lucky anyone wanted to hook up with me, that I was a slut and that I deserved what I got. In addition to my addictions, I attempted suicide three times. However, UT also gave me strength. Every time I walked into FYS 101, my instructor and peer mentor genuinely took an interest in every student. They would ask questions and provide us with a loving smile. My geology professor constantly tried to joke and connect with his students. When second semester came around, I took another one of his courses and eventually confided in him one day after class. He was so understanding and encouraging of my recovery. I also took a political science course my second semester. In my class, my second rapist’s best friend was in attendance. I couldn’t stand going, and it was starting to interfere with my learning. As soon as I told my professor that I had PTSD and felt triggered in his class, he offered to switch my times. When I couldn’t, he just offered his sup-

“If you are a struggling student, no matter the reason, please reach out and let our amazing Volunteer community lift you up. You are never alone on Rocky Top.

port throughout the semester so that I wouldn’t fall behind. He never asked questions; he just wanted to help. Being inVOLved on campus certainly helped, too. Despite my addictions, I tried to remain spirited and reach out. Thanks to VolCatholic and CRU, I was able to surround myself with people who offered love, support and friendship no matter what. Many of them didn’t know my story, and even if they did, I’m sure it wouldn’t have changed their attitude towards me. They constantly reminded me of my worth. I was able to end my year at The LeaderShape Institute, and thanks to all of those leaders, I felt inspired. I wanted to own my story, and grow from it. A year and a half later, I am stronger than ever. I’m not only clean and healthy, but also I’m genuinely happy. I still have my bad days, but I am constantly growing. My time at UT surely tested me, but I can honestly say that the support I was able to find on campus is something I will always be grateful for. If you are a struggling student, no matter the reason, please reach out and let our amazing Volunteer community lift you up. You are never alone on Rocky Top. This is an anonymous account. You can reach the writer of this piece at editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO: My psychologist, Melissa Bartsch for listening to my story. FYS101, Mark Rozanski and Aldo Rivera-Sanchez, for genuinely caring about their students. Geology Professor, William Deane, for connecting with his students, listening to them and offering endless support. Political Science Professor, Andrew Lee Morelock, for putting a student before everything, without question. My friends, VolCatholic, CRU for providing me with friendship and love. The LeaderShape Institute for giving me a voice. The love of my life - Thank you so much for accepting everything that makes me the person I am and for being my best friend. Thank you for reminding me of my beauty and strength on the days that I forget. And most of all, thank you for loving me endlessly.

Thursday, March 12, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

Should universities be investigating sexual assault cases?

Nickie Hackenbrack Co-Chair of Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at TN

After public outcry for more transparency, the Department of Education released a list of schools under investigation for mishandling sexual assault cases according to Title IX. The list has grown from 55 to 94 schools since April. Title IX’s original purpose was to require equality for women in athletics. After multiple court case precedents, Title IX has since been applied to universities’ responsibilities in cases of sexual harassment. Though the department recently released more finely tuned suggestions for schools, the extensive list of schools under investigation illustrates that universities are ill-equipped and unprepared to handle cases of sexual assault adequately. Nationwide, universities re-victimize survivors by asking them to recount their story more than necessary and obtaining “confidential” records from their own counseling centers. They blame survivors by asking about their level of intoxication and sexual history and expose survivors to harassment by betraying their requests for confidentiality, permitting perpetrators to directly question the survivors in hearings and allowing fellow students to adjudicate. Furthermore, universities have made it difficult for survivors to obtain the interim measures they deserve, such as issuing a no-contact derivative. Here at UT, athletes accused of sexual assault were surreptitiously suspended or transferred to other schools. In the end, the only control a survivor has in an investigation is to decide whether they

want one or not, and sometimes they are not even afforded that luxury. Sexual assault investigations on college campuses often look like incompetent university representatives scrambling to save themselves from the impending doom: a Title IX investigation. Their top priority is no longer the survivor but themselves. After all, we wouldn’t want people to know that sexual assaults happen on UT’s campus, because then it would be harder to recruit new students, solicit donations or improve rankings. Universities do not have a good record of adequately responding to the hostile environment created by sexual assault, and our own campus is not an exception. At UT, it’s not just secondary responses to sexual assault that are lacking; true primary prevention, or prevention of sexual assault at a community level, is attempted but not effective on our campus, with a few student-led initiatives leading the way on prevention and education. What other options are available to survivors? They could file a police report, though they are notorious for victim blaming. Judging by the backlog of untested rape kits in Tennessee, it could take years for the investigation to resolve. Plus, there is the potential for identifiable information or even the survivors name to be released. That would mean, for example, a future employer could find very personal information about a survivor with a quick Google search.

The other solution is to go to places like the Sexual Assault Center of East Tennessee. They perform “rape kits” in house, storing them as long as needed. They also provide therapy for survivors and witnesses, and they assist and advocate for survivors during any legal processes. There need to be many more resources like this, so that we can transition away from the current university model. Sexual assault is a heinous act of violence, rooted in sexism, power and privilege. We must overcome our ignorance to the entrenched social problems that perpetuate sexual assault before we will see improvement on a large scale. Many groups are working toward this, and with education and empowerment comes more equality and less violence. But this process is not easy, and it takes a long time. Right now survivors who want to report what happened to them must choose between bad and worse, the university or the police. We, including our educational institutions, must find new ways to support survivors and focus on establishing a process that gives survivors an equal opportunity to share their stories and find a new normal that works for them. We deserve a safe and welcoming learning environment. Nickie Hackenbrack is a senior in BCMB. She can be reached at nhackenb@vols.utk.edu.

The Daily Beacon â&#x20AC;˘ Thursday, March 12, 2015

S E C R U O S E R T N E STUD Information & Support

Obtain Counseling or Medical Service

Interim Measures

Report to the University

Center for Health Education & Wellness Sexual Assault Response Team Emergency: 865-974-HELP (4357) Office: 865-974-5725

UT Police Department Emergency: 911 Reporting an assault or rape: 865-974-3114

Office of Equity and Diversity Title IX Coordinator: Jennifer Richter 865-974-2498

Student Health Center 865-974-3135

Counseling Center 865-974-2196

Dean of Students 865-974-3179

Student Conduct & Community Standards 865-974-3171

Off Campus Resource Sexual Assault Center of East Tennessee Crisis Line: 865-522-7273 Office: 865-558-9040

C O N F I D E N T I A L I T Y L E V E L O F C O N V E R SAT I O N S , R E C O R D S = According to state law

= As private as possible, within policy and process

= Strictly confidential with few legal exceptions