EDITORIAL: Yale University sex complaints unacceptable; CMU fosters different environment
What is legal is not always ethical.
The First Amendment’s free speech clause protects the right of civil rights advocates, pro-life and pro-choice groups, liberal and conservative speakers and all others to spread their opinions in the free marketplace of ideas.
This fundamental right — to speak one’s mind without censorship — is also enjoyed by individuals who do not respect the strides women have taken toward equality. But words can often lead to actions.
The federal government is investigating student complaints this week that Yale University has promoted a “hostile sexual environment.” According to published reports, a group of students have alleged the university “failed to adequately respond to incidents of sexual harassment” after members of the school’s Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity allegedly made signs reading “We love Yale sluts” and chanted “No means yes.”
Not reprimanding these students for their actions is not only the wrong approach by the university, but sets a poor precedent for how school officials handle incidents of a sexual nature.
While the First Amendment does protect a person’s right to criticize a segment of society, it certainly does not endorse an egregious assault of a woman. Students should understand they may be instigating a dangerous cultural phenomenon to treat women as second-class citizens when they verbally express their disrespect for them.
Fortunately, Central Michigan University has a solid system in place when it comes to how female students can deal with sexual harassment or assault.
Rather than being forced to either report such a case to police or stay silent, students have the option of consulting with Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates. The service consists of student volunteers who can provide help to survivors of sexual assault.
SAPA provides the survivor an initial place to go for help. It is also a more comfortable system for reporting assaults than others, said SAPA Director Stephen Thompson in today's In Depth article. A student can still report a sexual assault to police later and do so with the aid of a SAPA member.
CMU is one of few institutions in the country with such a system in place and it has worked. Perhaps other universities such as Yale should consider forming their own.
