Tag Archives: University of Pennsylvania

Campus News Bytes: Racism at UCSD, Activist Art at UPenn

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Shall we start with the good? Today marks the opening of a new art exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania’s Fox Gallery: This Is Not an Invitation to Rape Me.

The multimedia exhibit explores female body types, intimacy, relationships, fashion, attitudes, psychology, behavior, vulnerability, alternative lifestyles and more through art. Featuring photographs, illustrations, paintings, film, sound and music, the exhibit will be at the Fox Art Gallery in Cohen Hall and The Forum at Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through March 5…

Charles Hall, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter in Richmond, Va., launched “This is Not an Invitation to Rape Me” as an artistic response to the sexual assault of a close friend in 1993.

Check out some of the included work at the exhibit’s website. It looks like there will be some cool student participation. Wish I could see it.

On to the bad news. (h/t Amanda Marcotte’s twitter) A a bunch of students at UC San Diego thought it would be really funny to throw a “ghetto-themed” party for Black History Month.

The so-called Compton Cookout event urged all participants to wear chains, don cheap clothes and speak very loudly, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Female participants were encouraged to be “ghetto chicks.”

The invitation read, “For those of you who are unfamiliar with ghetto chicks — Ghetto chicks usually have gold teeth, start fights and drama, and wear cheap clothes …,” the Union-Tribune reported.

Although the administration is upset about the party, no students will be penalized because the “event wasn’t sanctioned by the university or run by a student organization.” Members of a particular frat seem to have been involved in the planning, but it wasn’t explicitly a frat-sponsored party. (The president of the frat issued a statement condemning the party).

I bring this story up as a reminder about campus organizing and intersectionality. You may be working explicitly on the issue of sexual assault on your campus, but consider examples of  racism like this one—it bears noting that apparently less than 2% of UCSD’s undergraduates are black, so already there is the possibility of a very palpable possibility of feeling underrepresented and unsupported. Add in an incident like this, and I can’t even begin to imagine how hostile an environment that campus might feel like right now for a black student. Would it be a different experience for a black student who was sexually assaulted on this campus to go through the process of reporting and charging an assailant than for a white student? Very possibly—s/he would not only have to deal with the trauma associated with assault, but also wonder if s/he is operating within a system that cares less about the accusation/is skeptical of it because of her/his race. I know nothing of the reality of racial tension or sexual assault at UCSD, and this isn’t meant to assume anything about the school or it’s policies or procedures. But I wanted to make the connection, as I think it’s really important to remember that even within a campus community that seems homogeneous, people are bound to be influenced by different experiences—personal experiences, but also the tone and reality of campus life.

Men’s Role in Prevention

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A great article in U Penn’s Daily Pennsylvanian about men’s role in ending sexual violence. Darcie Richie points to the ways that our tendency to blame victims leads us to ignore men’s role in sexual assault prevention:

What messages are men receiving through the media and through our words about how women are to be treated? The idea that so many men are painfully confused about their role in the sexual experiences they have, along with the prominence of rape, suggests one truth: that we have overemphasized the female fear in our message about rape, while neglecting the man’s role. We teach women about safety and protection from the scary men in dark alleys. We teach women that acquaintance rape is still rape despite their sexual history and despite their relationship with their aggressor. We teach women that they deserve to be respected. But what are we teaching men?

We do not continue this dialogue of respect for women with young men. Perhaps the inherent characteristic of men that motivates them to rape is a struggle to define what it actually means to be a man through messages of dominance, aggression and an un-compromising demeanor. Perhaps as men struggle to self-express, the idea that sex is a commodity is something tangible that they can hold on to.

The rest of the article is also excellent. Go check it out!

College editorial pages on a roll this week

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UPDATED The last article is available online again.

The Daily Vidette goes after the myth that “rape doesn’t happen that often on college campuses because I don’t know anyone who has been raped.”

Survivors of sexual violence are often blamed for their victimization and the list of “why did you…why didn’t you …and what were you thinking…” is endless. This questioning implies that it is the victim who is at fault and failed to prevent their assault. We tend to absolve the perpetrator and blame the victim. This is reflected not only in many of our basic beliefs, but also expressed in our language – we say “she was raped” rather than “he raped her”. In the former, there is no mention of an assailant, it is as if the assault occurred in a vacuum and involves only one person.

A junior at Gonzaga University demands the university re-examine their sexual assault policy

Gonzaga condones sexual misconduct. What kind of academic institution allows a dangerous threat to the student community to return at all? What kind of statement is the University making? So long as the immediate conflict is hushed and any bad publicity is avoided, a known rapist can return to campus?

A student at UPenn details her own silencing by her sexual assault and the lack of support she received from those she thought were her friends.

So let’s all engage in open conversations about rape to protect and support each other when confronted with sex-related issues.

I whole-heartedly endorse that conclusion. I really hope that she, and others who feel like she does, seek counseling or at least the friendly ear of a trusted older person. There are undercurrents of self-blame in the article that are really sad to read. No one deserves to be raped.

If you find yourself, as this women clearly did, feeling like you are too weak or too undeserving to assert your own desires or that you don’t deserve the right to defend yourself against an attacker or those who judge the situation without knowing your side, please, please find someone to talk to. Everyone has the right to defend themselves, everyone has the right to control their own bodies, everyone has the right to say “I’m worth more than that.”