By Erasmus Baxter
CW: Sexual Assault
The Western Front published an important article today looking at the rarity of expulsions from Western in sexual misconduct cases. However, the article doesn’t completely capture how bad the situation truly is.
Specifically, despite at least 14 cases of rape and forcible sexual offenses being reported in the last 3 years alone, Western’s administration has not expelled a single student for sexual violence in the last five years, according to disciplinary records.
In fact, Western’s administration has only expelled one person in the last five years, Tysen Campbell, the student who faced criminal charges after calling to lynch then-AS President Belina Seare on Yik Yak.
The numbers of cases of rape and forcible sexual offenses come from Western’s federally-required annual safety report. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher.
The student expelled for sexual misconduct mentioned in the Western Front article initially received a suspension of seven quarters or as long as the survivor was enrolled as a student, from university administration, until he decided to appeal it, a process that can result in both reduced and increased sanctions. The appeals board, made up of six students, four faculty and four staff members, was the one that decided to expel him.
“Based on what you shared in the appeal the board believes that you do not understand how to apply the concept of consent as outlined in Western’s student Code,” wrote Samantha Golden, chair of the appeals board, in a letter announcing the decision.
This is not the only case where a student found to have committed sexual assault by the university received a suspension as their harshest sanction.
In a 2016 case, a student reported that she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by another student at his house over the course of a night. The report notes that a friend on the phone could hear her crying and and telling the other student to stop.
Assistant Dean of Students Michael Sledge found the student in violation of Western’s sexual misconduct rules on May 9 of that year, and suspended him from the university for four quarters, starting a month later on June 10, the last day of the quarter.
He also was assigned to write a four to five page paper (double-spaced) about consent, what he learned from the incident and why he wanted to stay at Western, as well as being placed on conditional status and barred from approaching or contacting the survivor. Conditional status means that a student could face additional penalties for further violations of the student code, including suspension or expulsion.
In a 2014 case, a student reported that another student had forced her to perform oral sex on him in her dorm room, despite her telling him she did not want to continue four times. Her account was corroborated by her neighbor who she spoke to immediately afterwards.
Upon finding that the student had violated the student code on sexual misconduct, Sledge immediately suspended him from Western through the end of June 2016, for six full quarters, and gave him a week to move out of on-campus housing. He was also prohibited from contacting the survivor and placed on conditional status for one year if he returned to the university.
Until his suspension went into effect, he was allowed to attend the anthropology class he was in with the survivor, as long as he sat in the front, left portion of the class.
In a third case in 2015, a student reported that her boyfriend had been sexually assaulting her while she was asleep for months. It was also revealed that, as a teen, he had been convicted of molesting his sister while she was asleep, and was on probation when he arrived at Western, which he didn’t disclose on his application as required.
He was suspended for four quarters, beginning once he finished spring quarter, and as well as being prohibited from contacting the survivor, was required to continue counseling and undergo sex offender treatment.
Before being re-enrolled, he was required to allow the counselor and treatment provider to speak with a doctor, counselor or psychiatrist at Western to confirm the treatment and suggest any follow-up treatment.
While these cases are not necessarily representative of typical cases of sexual misconduct, they do further support the pattern of light sanctions The Western Front reported. While sexual misconduct includes many different types of infractions, from harassment to assault, there have been a number of cases of sexual assault that have resulted in, essentially, a mandatory gap year or two.
While it is unknown how many of these students may have been re-admitted, The Western Front reported last spring that Western had re-admitted Connor Griesemer who was similarly suspended after sexually assaulting a student, and who eventually plead guilty to fourth degree assault with sexual motivation.
In the article, Martín Prado, an advocacy counselor with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services and member of Western’s Empowerment and Violence Education, told the Front that the decision to let a known sexual assault perpetrator on campus can harm students’ educational experience.
He said it can make it harder for survivors to regain control of their lives and the spaces they occupy, a major aspect of recovery.
“Especially in a learning environment like Western, it would definitely make it harder [to begin recovery],” Prado said. “Of course [survivors] can be successful, but it would be easier to breathe if you knew the perpetrator wasn’t anywhere near you, and it would be beneficial not having to worry about them doing it to someone else.”
Some universities, including Duke and Dartmouth, have made expulsion the preferred punishment in cases of sexual assault, and required it for certain types of sexual assault. However, there has been push back on the idea of mandatory expulsions for sexual assault due to concerns it can inhibit reporting
“A victim will think, ‘I’ve been with this guy for two years. I don’t want him to be expelled,'” Alexandra Brodsky, Founder of Know Your IX, a leading voice in fighting sexual assault on campuses, told The Atlantic in 2013. “If a mandatory expulsion policy is going to deter someone from reporting, that’s a big problem.”
However, Western is far from that point. Expulsion for perpetrators of sexual assault is not just rare at Western, it’s practically non-existent.
Sledge told The Western Front that the administration’s goal was to hold students accountable in an educational manner. It seems the education that is being prioritized by Western is not that of survivors of sexual assault, but that of the perpetrators.
All information about misconduct cases in this article come from student disciplinary records obtained from Western through public records requests.
Have you had issues with reporting sexual assault or harassment and receiving justice at Western or in Bellingham? Do you have thoughts about how sexual assault is handled on campus? Let us know at as.review.editor@wwu.edu