FSU, Deal With Your Campus Rape Problem Instead of Attacking Film that Exposes It!
- by: Susan V
- recipient: Florida State University President John Thrasher
A new film about the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses is being attacked by Florida State University president John Thrasher as “incomplete and misleading.” However, a 2014 investigation by the New York Times supports the film’s representation of FSU’s response to a reported rape as grossly inadequate.
The Hunting Ground documents the stories and follows the journey of two University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) rape victims who fought back against system indifference by filing a Title IX complaint with the US Department of Rducation’s Office of Civil Rights and by reaching out to other rape victims at schools nationwide.
One testimony highlighted by the film is that of a victim at FSU, whose alleged rapist was a star quarterback on the college football team and nominated for the Heisman Trophy. Both the film and NY Times’ examination of the facts document, in detail, how FSU and local police failed miserably in their investigation..
Despite the volume of facts stacked against FSU’s claim that the film is misleading, Thrasher has refused to back down, even attacking CNN for airing it.
In an open letter to Thrasher, disputing his claims, the film’s director and producer insist that “ FSU students are best served by an administration that acknowledges past mistakes and focuses on the very real problem of sexual assault on its campus.”
Sign this petition to demand FSU president Thrasher stop attacking The Hunting Ground and fix the problem it documents - a serious problem of inappropriate response to sexual assaults on FSU’s campus.
To FSU President John Thatcher:
We, the undersigned, agree with The Hunting Ground's directors that your time would be better spent on efforts to make your campus safer for students, than "scheming" about how to counteract "negative publicity FSU has received about how they mishandled Title IX complaints."
The director and producer of the film, in their open letter responding to your attacks and claims of misrepresentation, address those claims, point by point, which are also backed up by New York Times' investigation.
It is no secret that money and attention star football players bring to colleges and the bad publicity of reporting campus rapes often get in the way of colleges taking appropriate action in responding to reports of sexaul assault. It cannot be possible that, as statistics reported by the film show, college after college failed to expell even the smallest percentage of students found guilty of assaults and there not be a serious problem in colleges' response to this problem. It also is highly unlikely that the majority of the reports are false.
The facts reported in both the film and New York Times' 2014 investigation clearly show that FSU admnistrators, athlethic staff and Tallahassee police failed miserably in the investigation of allegations against Jameis Winston. And there is no excuse for FSU remaining in denial about its failures or attacking this film -which itself is yet another attack on the victims whose stories the film shares.
We insist that you take a proper leadership role in making FSU campus safer for students and end your defensive and inappropriate attacks on the film and those involved in it.
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.