TO THE EDITOR:
The events of the past months have made many of us at UNC more aware of the imperative need for a compassionate and informed institutional support system for survivors of sexual assault. As educators and members of the Carolina community, we wish to express our commitment to building such a system, which holds perpetrators accountable and contributes to making survivors feel safe on campus.
We consider it necessary for UNC’s existing resources for sexual assault education and survivor support to be given greater organizational coherence and visibility. We call on the University to prepare now to implement the recommendations of Gina Maisto Smith, including the establishment of an on-campus and off-campus network for sexual assault prevention and recovery to begin this work.
We echo our colleagues in the history department in asking UNC to invite Biddy Martin, president of Amherst College, to visit and speak at UNC about the ways in which Amherst as an institution responded to public criticism of its sexual assault policies.
We are in agreement that sexual assault should not be handled in the Honor Court and are pleased that UNC has stopped addressing sexual assault complaints through the Honor Court.
This said, the present situation, where an assault survivor is now being charged with an Honor Court violation, apparently for making her assault public, is evidence that the Honor Court continues to handle complaints it is unprepared for, which should be handled in criminal and civil courts.
We call for a complete review of the Honor Court in all of its capacities, including its handling of academic misconduct complaints and its independence from faculty and administrative supervision.
We may not be able to stop sexual assault on campus, but we can fight to make it much rarer, and we can certainly achieve a nationally recognized model for sexual assault education, prevention and support for survivors. We hereby commit our time and energy toward achieving this vision, and we volunteer to participate in the structural changes necessary to move UNC forward.
Andrew Aghapour
Barbara Ambros
Yaakov Ariel
Cemil Aydin
Rose Aslan
Brandon Bayne
Jessica Boon
Jason Combs
Brian Coussens
Matt Dougherty
Bart Ehrman
Carl Ernst
Stephanie Gaskill
Joe Gindi
Megan Goodwin
Juliane Hammer
Shannon Harvey
Cyn Hogan
Matthew Hotham
Michael Knight
Joseph Lam
David Lambert
Lauren Leve
Lenny Lowe
Matthew Lynch
Laurie Maffly-Kipp
Jodi Magness
Katie Merriman
Candace Mixon
Shenandoah Nieuwsma
Todd Ramon Ochoa
Helen Orr
Shaily Patel
Travis Proctor
Myra Quick
Kenneth Richards
Omid Safi
Barry Saunders
Shannon Trosper Schorey
Randall Styers
Jenna Supp-Montgomerie
Tehseen Thaver
Stanley Thayne
Brendan Thornton
Leif Tornquist
Hope Toscher
Department of Religious Studies
