The Hunting Ground Page #4

And so we started looking to do

something to force them or shame them

into doing the right thing.

We started digging and doing

months and months of research

on sexual harassment law,

on rape statutes.

And then I read about Title IX.

Title IX is a gender equity law.

And it guarantees anyone

the right to an equal education.

When perpetrators are allowed to remain

on campus, and schools don't expel them,

even when they're found responsible,

then they're in violation of Title IX

for contributing to a hostile environment.

If a school is found

in violation of Title IX,

the government has the power

to revoke all federal funds,

which would hopefully force

a school to be in compliance.

Title IX and the pending Campus Save Act

and now this law? Like, what?

And so,

we decided to file a Title IX complaint.

You basically write

to the Department of Education,

and you not only explain

what happened to you,

but you also explain how

it's a violation of Title IX.

So it is Thursday night,

and instead of going out,

we are in, learning case law

until we know Title IX

and the case law

like the back of our hands.

I had earbuds in.

If I was walking, if I was, you know,

going on a run or whatever,

instead of music

there were Supreme Court cases.

I read all the case law

on all existing Title IX cases.

Like, we're sleeping in shifts.

I would write for three hours

and then sleep for three hours,

and she would do the same.

And I learned that

you don't have to be a lawyer to file it,

that you could be 20

and take on a 200-year-old university.

We didn't know how to file.

So we faxed it, we emailed it,

and we mailed it.

We didn't know what to expect,

and so I go into

my university mail office one day,

and I have this big envelope

from the Department of Education,

and I'm just, like, freaking out.

I'm, like, crying, I'm calling

Drea, Melinda. I'm just like,

"They took our case.

They took our case. "

Flat out denial.

Leaders at UNC say accusations

that the university underreported

sexual assault cases is false.

UNC Chapel Hill

General Council Leslie Strohm pointed out

what a false claim can do

to a university's reputation.

The allegations are false. They are

untrue. And they are just plain wrong.

"False. Untrue.

And just plain wrong. "

That resonates in my head.

I hear that when I sleep.

To say, "None of this happened.

We're not underreporting.

We didn't mess up,"

it's just betrayal.

Schools are actively and aggressively

not wanting to tell the truth

about what's going on on their campuses

because the first campuses

to do so will be,

you know, kind of known as

the rape campuses,

where they actually have a rape problem.

But, you know, rape is happening

at all college campuses,

and there are perverse economic

and reputational incentives

to hide those numbers.

I analogize it to getting a letter.

So you're a parent, and you get a letter

in the middle of the summer,

and it says,

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Schultz,

we're so happy that Johnny

is going to be a freshman,

and we thought we might need

to let you know

that there's a one-in-four or five chance

that while Johnny's here,

he's going to be the victim

of a drive-by shooting.

What's so vexing about this problem

is that the shooters are other students.

Thank you so much

for your tuition money.

We so look forward

to welcoming Johnny in the fall. "

Would any parent send

his or her child there?

They protect perpetrators,

I think, across the board

because they have

a financial incentive to do so.

Perpetrators who are found responsible

for rape are much more likely

to sue institutions than survivors are,

and institutions like to avoid lawsuits.

And so in an effort

to avoid lawsuits,

they pretty much do whatever they can

to give them a slap on the wrist.

What to expect

if you are accused of a sexual assault.

If you are found responsible,

you may be...

suspended for one semester...

suspended over summer vacation...

suspended for one day...

given a $75 fine...

given a $25 fine...

given a warning...

assigned a paper

to reflect on your experience...

required to construct a poster board,

listing ten ways to approach

a girl you like...

assigned 50 hours of community service

at a rape crisis center.

Any allegation

of sexual assault is something

that we at the university

take very seriously.

ASU issued a statement

saying in part, "Arizona State University

takes all sexual misconduct

complaints very seriously. "

The university says it's taking

these allegations very seriously.

We take all incidents very seriously.

We take

these accusations very seriously.

We take

reports like this very seriously.

They take all reports very seriously.

James Madison University

takes the safety and well-being

of our students very seriously.

So... So what's the punishment?

All three students responsible

for sexual assault and harassment,

expelled upon graduation.

Yes! Justice! Unbe... Wait a minute.

Expelled upon graduation?

Isn't that...

graduation?

We will strive to build

a community where education,

inquiry, and faith combine

to respond to the demands of justice.

This is our goal,

that no one ever say

that we dreamed too small.

My career

in law enforcement started in 1969

from the South Bend

Police Department and then went

to the University of Notre Dame

Police Department.

University students are...

they're just wonderful kids.

But there's... just like anywhere,

there's a percentage

of, um, of...

absolutely horrible people, too.

You know. And, of course,

I had to deal with that too.

Saint Mary's is

the sister school to Notre Dame.

It's one of the best Catholic

all-women's colleges in the nation,

and I was proud to go there.

I was really happy.

I was part of Campus Ministries.

I decided to be a biology major.

I had a dream of going

to medical school.

Compared to my sister,

I'm more of a book person,

and she kinda always made fun of me

'cause I liked to stay in on the weekends,

and she'd kinda say I was a party pooper

and want me to come out and stuff.

And I did go out. And it was fun.

It was Halloween.

A call came in on my phone.

It was from someone I knew

who went to Notre Dame.

He's like, "You have to come

to a Halloween party. "

You know, I trust people.

I trusted what he said.

So, you know,

I just went along with it.

We got to his dorm.

You know, I asked him,

"Well, where is everyone else?"

And he's like,

"Oh, they're coming. "

And eventually

his friends left,

and it was just me and him.

And that's when it happened.

She, of course, said, "No. "

You know, tryin' to keep him

from doin' what he was doin'.

And then he eventually just forced her

and... and raped her.

Lieutenant Cottrell interviewed

all the people that,

you know, I had known

that were involved.

In my opinion,

I had a conspiracy

of not only the suspect that was involved

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