A late March party at a college social house; at some point in our lives, we’ve all been there. In this case, “there” is the Delta Social House of Middlebury College, located in an off-campus college-owned residence called Prentiss House, an elegant grey-shingled edifice to grace and style on South Main Street in a town usually described as a ‘quaint New England village.’
The atmosphere: music, definitely; alcohol, yes, according to a June statement issued by College President Ron Liebowitz; drugs, maybe. (Yes according to a statement made to media in April by a Middlebury Police investigating officer, specifically ADHD medication mixed with alcohol into a ‘date rape’ cocktail; no, according to the then-social house president.)
The allegation: sexual assault, of two women in two separate incidents, perpetuated by the same student in the course of the evening.
The fallout: the accused student withdraws from the college; rumor and speculation abound; and the college’s investigation, based on complaints by the two women, results in a one-year suspension of the social house from campus. But one of the two women reported the incident to local police, and the independent police investigation that resulted has been reported to the state’s attorney’s office.
According to Addison County State’s Attorney John Quinn, as of press time, the case remains actively under consideration for prosecution of criminal charges, awaiting the imminent return of laboratory reports. If guilt is found, the state’s attorney will decide to prosecute, and the most effective justice will be done. But in the meantime, neither disciplinary actions by the college nor the student’s withdrawal and move away from the area will deter him from future offenses. These measures simply do not carry the same weight as a criminal prosecution.
And as the fallout filters down, media interest abounds: The Boston Globe, The Burlington Free Press, and a number of area television stations reported on the incident, as well as a series of articles and commentaries in The Campus, a weekly student newspaper that devoted a special June Summer Update issue to the subject. The May 4, 2006 editorial of the paper also chastised the college administration for its secrecy, acknowledging the need for protection of confidentiality, but stating that silence, “seems to have eliminated any potential communication with the student body about the incident [...] Conveying accurate information can dispel rampant rumors.”
For example, although it has been widely reported that the student accused of sexually assaulting two students has withdrawn from the campus, no public report has been made as to whether that action was voluntary or a result of a college disciplinary action. The Campus also reported that television reporters were escorted off campus and redirected to the public affairs office when they attempted to interview students about the incident.
“The Duke incident is out there in people’s minds,” said Timothy Spears, Middlebury’s Dean of the College. “We have 2,350 students here living their social lives on a Saturday night and that makes things complicated. People over the age of 40 or 50 are conscious of how student mores have changed over the years. It’s a complicated situation.”
This is not the first time that the Middlebury administration has taken heat regarding campus sexual assault policies. In 2002, the college’s sexual assault policy was under fire, with active student organizations calling for a revision of outdated policies and inclusion of anonymous reporting procedures. The student paper then noted that the four sexual assaults reported between 1997 and 2002 was a number generally accepted as highly skewed due to unavailability of anonymous reporting procedures. Student handbills accused the college administration of silencing survivors’ voices. The campus paper stated that the college sexual assault policy, “focuses primarily on procedures, outlining how survivors can bring charges against an alleged perpetrator within the College’s judicial structure.”
“We considered anonymous reporting in 2002 when some parts of the student body proposed it,” said Spears, “but we backed away from that. In part that’s connected with how we’ve come to staff student support on campus. [...] There was concern if we allowed anonymous reporting regarding accuracy. How do you follow up on an anonymous report?”
The College’s judicial structure regarding sexual assault allegations had itself been the subject of unpleasant attention a few years prior: in the widely reported 1994 case of Fellheimer v. Middlebury College, the U.S. District Court for Vermont cleared the disciplinary record of a Middlebury College student found innocent of a rape allegation in a campus court, but ‘convicted’ by that disciplinary court of ‘disrespect for persons.’ According to the reported case, Mr. Fellheimer had not been notified that he faced that charge until after his conviction for it; the Middlebury student handbook was interpreted by the court as a contract, which promised students that they would be told of charges against them with sufficient particularity to defend against the charges.
Whether revised policies, heightened awareness or simply sheer coincidence led to increased reporting is unclear. However, reports made under the federal Clery statute (which requires public disclosure of campus crime data) show that Middlebury College saw seven sexual assaults in 2002, one in 2003, and two in 2004 (the most recent year for which data is publicly reported). By comparison, the University of Vermont (UVM), with about 11,000 students in an urban campus setting to Middlebury’s small-town 2,400, also reported two or three on-campus assaults in each of those years, along with an average of five sexual assaults on college students occurring in private off-campus residences or in publicly-owned locations. UVM also reports approximately 12 anonymous incidents of sexual impropriety each year.
Spear said, “We try to strike a balance. If a criminal act took place on campus, we’d be in touch with Middlebury Police. But there’s a cultural difference. Our campus is in some ways an autonomous community. There’s an awareness of the complications involved in students’ lives and the students, particularly the female students, benefit from having a variety of options. The standards in criminal justice are different than those in our campus judicial system. Sometimes something could happen on campus that might not meet the standards of a crime, but would breach the standard we have of behavior appropriate to Middlebury students.
“Our policy outlines all the implications of putting a criminal charge into place. Once that’s reported, it’s up to the state’s attorney. Sometimes, over time, the victim’s attitudes toward their experience can change, but once the criminal process starts, it’s out of their hands,” Spears added. “Our policy is about giving women choice, though we do reserve the right for the college to press internal charges if we think safety of other students requires it. Not everyone has the same opinion as to what should happen.”
Procedure Versus Prohibition
Despite a number of intervening revisions in campus sexual assault policy, the Middlebury College policy continues to emphasize on-campus procedures, noting that “members of the campus community have a right” to report sexual assaults to law enforcement agencies beyond the campus borders. The policy outlines the resources that the deans, on behalf of the college, can offer students who have been the victims of sexual assault, including facilitating a mediation with the offender, and ‘aca
demic allowances.’
“We are a small campus. Imagine that a female student alleges an assault by a student down the hall, and they are also in class together. The deans work with other offices to change the living arrangement and ensure that they are not in classes together. We also pursue a non-contact order through public safety,” explained Spears.
The Middlebury procedures are grounded on options, but those options primarily involve campus resources. “If a Middlebury student is sexually assaulted, there are a number of different ways the report can happen,” Spears said. “First point of contact is generally the Commons Dean, or they may want to talk to the Dean of Student Affairs. That conversation would take place before any charges are brought. If, of course, the assault happened right then, the student would report to the campus health center or Porter Hospital for medical attention. With the deans, there would be a wide range of discussion for follow up. Students are advised to think about their range of options very carefully. More often than not, as you can see from our policy, it’s the student’s option to bring charges in our judicial system. They could go what we call ‘downtown’, and report the criminal charge and proceed under Vermont law. But usually they proceed with internal judicial proceedings. They can proceed under our sexual assault charges or under the sexual harassment policy, but they cannot proceed under both. Historically speaking, the sexual harassment procedures are there more to accommodate students with a faculty member issue, and sexual assault is more student on student.”
The sexual assault policy begins by stating that ‘Middlebury College policies strictly prohibit... sexual assault.’ Only well into the policy statement is it mentioned in passing that sexual assaults which violate campus policies ‘may also violate state law.’
UVM’s campus policy begins with a decidedly different tenor: “Sexual assault is prohibited and will not be tolerated at the University of Vermont. Any act that falls within the definition of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault is a violation of University policy. Disciplinary sanctions for any member of the University community engaging in such an act may include suspension or expulsion from the University, termination of University employment and prosecution under Vermont law. Victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault are encouraged to notify the UVM Police Department immediately.”
At UVM, campus security is a bona fide law enforcement agency, authorized to make arrests and pursue criminal charges. The student handbook includes a Victim of Sexual Assault Statement of Rights that emphasizes confidentiality and justice; students are encouraged to report directly to the Victim’s Advocate at the campus Women’s Center regarding assaults occurring during the daytime hours, to receive prompt counseling and medical attention and assistance in addressing law enforcement reporting.
Call the Professionals
The Champlain College sexual assault policy emphasizes student safety, immediate reporting, and preservation of evidence for use in potential criminal cases. Students are encouraged to call either campus security or local law enforcement agencies. Dialing 911 on campus immediately dispatches security, and they will call in local police.
According to Chris Pollard, the senior supervisor of security at Champlain, “Every incident that we have of that type, we automatically involve the Burlington Police Department. As soon as we identify a sexual assault situation, witnessed or reported, we secure the scene and start a complaint process with the Burlington Police Department. They take total control, and we go from a reporting to a supporting role. They’re the professionals.” Pollard and the other 10 security officers on the Champlain campus are contracted employees of Guardsmark, a large private security firm. The firm enjoys a close working relationship with students, whom they train for on-campus escort/walk services and to assist with safe lighting surveys and other reports about day to day campus safety.
“It’s like the old military expression, When in doubt, call ‘em out,” Pollard said. “We err on the side of caution and don’t mess around with the safety of our students. We’ve got 750 residential students on campus, and I’ve got four kids of my own, so I always say I’ve got 754 kids I worry about every night when I go to sleep.” For Pollard and Champlain College, that includes nurturing a close working relationship with Burlington Police as well as with UVM police and the county sheriffs, to ensure prompt reporting and law enforcement investigation of possible crimes like sexual assault.
Safe and Healthy at Johnson
The Johnson State College policy, like the policies at other member campuses of the Vermont State College system, starts with the clearest statement on sexual improprieties of those cited in this article: “Sexual harassment is illegal and will not be tolerated.” With over 500 residential students on a beautiful, rural, small-town campus, however, sexual assault reporting “is not something we see often,” according to Dave Bergh, the Dean of Students.
“If someone reports a sexual assault to us, we first make sure the person is safe and healthy. That’s the number one priority. Then we review with them their range of options, one of which is to report to the police, which quite frankly is ideal and what we’d prefer to have happen. But reporting to law enforcement is not something we require,” Bergh said. That review of options includes careful information about the need for prompt collection of evidence to preserve information that may be valuable in a criminal prosecution.
Campus security, which is not authorized to engage in arrests, consists of four professional security agents, with someone on call 24/7. Security works in a fruitful partnership with local law enforcement, primarily the Lamoille County Sheriffs Department, which can be reached by dialing 911 from campus. “If the student does not wish to report to the police, they can still report internally, and it will not be ignored,” Bergh said.
Resources and Options
“While not completely focused on the victim, our policies are crafted to give the victim resources and options,” said Middlebury College’s Tim Spears of the differences between Middlebury’s policy and those of other campuses. “But if she doesn’t want to pursue it at all, and we have ongoing concerns about the rest of our students’ safety, the college could pursue it on its own. Our public safety department works very closely with the Middlebury Police Department. That’s where the rubber meets the road on town-gown relations, and our students know it. But this is a small liberal arts residential college. The campus is their home, the campus residential culture is somewhat independent of the town, and the purpose of our public safety department is first and foremost our students and their safety and well being.”
Thankfully, none of Vermont’s college campuses ignores reports of sexual assault. When the college party goes sour and music and dance give way to date rape or even unbridled assault on a stranger, each of Vermont’s institutions of higher education has a reporting procedure in place, and will assist the victim in finding physical respite and counseling. What happens afterwards, however, depends on who you call – and which campus you are on. Anonymous reporting, or on-campus complaint and disciplinary procedures, are often well designed to protect the privacy and dignity of the victim. Or at least the victim of that particular assault. Without law enforcement investigation and, where warranted, criminal prosecution, on-campus procedurally-oriented sexual assault policies do little to protect the same offender’s next sexual assault victim.
To view policies mentioned in this article, please visit:
www.middlebury.edu/about/handbook/student/student/Sexual+Assault+Policy.html
www.my.champlain.edu/public/security/ANNUAL%20SECURITY%20REPORT.pdf
www.uvm.edu/~women/Files/sapolicy.html
www.jsc.vsc.edu/studentlife/1702.html
