These horrific crimes affect both sexes, Dr. Elwood Watson, a professor of history and African-American studies at East Tennessee State University, writes in a piece for Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
In June 2012, Trey Malone, a junior at Amherst College and a distinguished student both academically and athletically, took his own life after he was unable to deal with the immense trauma and intense emotions he suffered after being the victim of rape by a co-ed. After his suicide, it was discovered that Malone's experience was not an aberration. On the contrary, he was one of a number of students on the prestigious, leafy, upscale, distinguished liberal arts institution who had been the victim of such a horrific sexual violation …
Truth be told, Amherst College is far from the only institution of higher learning that has been plagued by rapes and sexual assaults. The sad fact is that this sexual assault is a sordid, sickening demonstrably troubling epidemic that is happening on college campuses from coast to coast. In fact, late last summer, Tyler Kingkade, a reporter at The Huffington Post, wrote an article about the crisis that was taking place at the University of Montana at the time. By fall 2012, the problem had become so severe that the campus had earned the title (no doubt, certainly a chilling feeling for the school's administrators, faculty and many students) the "rape capital" of America. In response to such troubling news, the university implemented a policy that required all students to watch an online video tutorial about rape prevention and required that students pass the test with a perfect score …
The grim facts are that sexual assault is a vice that does not discriminate. It is a social evil that is gender blind. It is a rapacious act of degradation, denigration, demoralization and terror that has to be attacked with the force of a hurricane. Its victims must be supported and comforted with all resources available and its perpetrators must be punished to the full extent of the law.
Read Dr. Elwood Watson's entire piece at Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
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