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Students express anger and disappointment with HSMB report

By Emily Eisler ’17

October 6, 2016

Hamilton’s Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Board (HSMB) released their annual report regarding the 2015-2016 school year on Monday via an all-campus email. The report summarized the results of 19 reports of potential violations of the College’s Sexual Misconduct Policy, five of which were investigated as formal complaints. Four of the formal complaints were filed against students. Two of those were found responsible for sexual harassment and another responsible for dating violence. They each received six disciplinary points and one received a one semester suspension. However, two other students investigated were found responsible for sexual harassment and non-consensual sexual contact and received only two points each. Within 24 hours many students had expressed their anger both publicly and privately about the comparative lack of disciplinary action taken against the latter two perpetrators.

The complaints against the HSMB ranged from social media posts to directly emailing members of the Board. It also sparked displays of campus activism: as students walked to their classes on Wednesday, it was impossible to ignore the signs posted along the bridge and across campus. Several students responded to the report through The Spectator. One anonymous student expressed her concerns about how the College punishes perpetrators of sexual assault: “I can get more points for smoking pot or having Christmas lights in my room than assaulting someone. The school does not take these crimes seriously enough. They do what many institutions do: brush it under the rug and hope these reports can be hidden. They discourage victims of assault from going through with their cases, not because of the potential trauma the case may cause, but because they selfishly want to keep these things on the DL. This report sends a message to assailants or potential assailants that you can face just two points for committing a non consensual sexual act. If someone went around beating up people, they would be expelled. The act of sexual assault is not only more serious but has more of a long term effect. Too many assailants have faced little to no punishment for their crimes, have graduated and are now out in the world living in ignorance to the consequences of their actions.”

The Spectator has been covering the controversy surrounding Hamilton’s sexual assault policy extensively since the results of a survey in which over 25 percent of students took part in by the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium were published, concerning the administration and students alike. A larger than average percentage of Hamilton respondents did not believe the average number of sexual assaults that occur at Hamilton is low. More than an average percentage of respondents also considered themselves at risk to be sexually assaulted. Only 54 percent of Hamilton respondents reported that they had never experienced unwanted physical contact such as groping, pinching, or unwanted sexual touching. 81.5 percent of respondents who had been victims of sexual harassment or assault at Hamilton did not use the College’s procedures for making a formal report about sexual assault. A frequent cause of underreporting of sexual misconduct in any case is doubt that a favorable outcome will result from a report. Barby Perego ’17 told The Spectator her concerns with Hamilton’s Sexual Misconduct Policy and the point system employed in it: “There exists an inherent issue when Hamilton College attaches a point system to sexual assault: 1. It trivializes the experience of the survivor of sexual assault. Especially, when their experience is compared to that of hanging lights in a dorm room. 2. The act of not having tangible repercussions to sexual assault perpetuates rape culture within our society, especially within college campuses. 3. The response of the school after concerned students showed indignation, once again proves how the school invalidates the lived experiences of sexual assault survivors. 4. The point system we have in place is not good enough and we can definitely do better.”

Becka Vacarelo ’17 also expressed her support for student protests: “The responses to this report and the outrage of other students (via social media, via the powerful signs on the bridge today, etc) have been amazing to hear so far, but I’m also worried that the tone of the report reflects the larger student body’s attitude to rape. I see my rapist almost every day in the dining hall, he still shows up to parties I’m at and threatens my friends; I tried to warn the girls he was with in the diner two weeks ago that he is a rapist (the first time I’ve ever spoken up to people besides my friends) and not only did they not believe me, but everyone in the line ignored me. I’m afraid we live on a campus that supports sexual assault and rape; the administration should absolutely address the issues on their end, but the campus as a whole needs to come forward and say we won’t associate with rapists anymore—we won’t sit with them at lunch, we won’t allow them at our parties, we don’t think they belong here."

After the public outcry, Senior Associate Dean of Students/Title IX Coordinator, Lisa Magnarelli sent out another all-campus email in response to the complaints. The email states that the College’s Sexual Misconduct policy “covers (and students have filed complaints about) a broad range of behaviors. These behaviors vary widely from brief verbal interactions to unwanted touching to non-consensual penetration. All are considered ‘sexual misconduct.’ In each case our Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Board makes a judgment based on all of the facts of a particular case. In the case of non-consensual sexual penetration, our policy states clearly that ‘individuals found responsible for non-consensual penetration should expect suspension or expulsion from the College.’ The HSMB has undergone extensive training in these areas and takes their role in our community very seriously.”

However, this has not done much to satisfy those who made the initial complaints. Ondine Jean-Baptiste ’17 told The Spectator, “I believe that her statement did not rectify anything in my mind. Sexual assault does not exist on a hierarchy, and I do not believe that you can assign lesser points for what our heteronormative society considers ‘acceptable.’ None of it is acceptable; especially, within the context that something as trivial as having an unlit candle in your room can be treated with the same punishment as violating another person, whether that be verbally or physically. Regardless of the offense, it is a pervasive violent act that affects many people on this campus continually and has severe consequences outside of the Hill.”

Student concerns will be further addressed at the Student Assembly Meeting on Oct. 10, but the campus conversation about sexual assault and harassment and the problematic ways in which the college addresses cases within the community will continue as long as students do not feel their issues with said policies are addressed. For many advocating for policy reform on campus, this argument sadly comes as no surprise. Also, for victims on campus, the College’s own misconduct in dealing with these issues can be harmful. In response to the HSMB report and the College’s defense of their policies surrounding it, a student who wishes to remain anonymous stated, “It’s hard to know what to say other than it’s disheartening and disempowering to see every HSMB email. The statistics are that, what, one in four women will be raped in college? And then the HSMB report comes out and it makes it harder. So few of us come forward, but with the emotional toll that comes with going through the process, is it worth it for your assailant to get two points? Drink outside under the age of 21 and you get two points. Objectify and harass me? Also two points. In an email [Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students] Nancy Thompson says students who intentionally or recklessly damage college property face suspension, but I see at least one rapist a day. Some days I leave McEwen and see three rapists in 30 seconds. I run into my best friend’s rapist every weekend. I want them gone. I want the mothers of assailants to look at them differently. I don’t want them to get a degree from this institution.

When I told my mother that I had been raped she told me that when she was in college she had been raped too. She didn’t come forward. I didn’t either. It’s too much. Dealing with my assault is enough; I can’t be interrogated about it too, especially if it’s my word against his. Especially if he might not leave. Especially if he might come back and graduate. I’m not sure anything is really changing. My mom refuses to wear Hamilton gear anymore.”

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