TO THE EDITOR:
In response to your editorial “On sexual assault policy, UNC should lead, not follow”, you are correct in asserting that UNC has had egregious, inexcusable flaws in addressing sexual assault cases.
However, the solution isn’t some kind of additional program; rather, universities need to stop pretending to act as the criminal justice system.
The proof of the University’s inability to pretend to address sexual assault cases was documented by your newspaper in a March 5, 2013 article titled “Landen Gambill’s ex-boyfriend: UNC Forced Me Out” where a UNC student was reportedly not indicted of a crime (much less convicted) and was given an indefinite suspension from the university without being able to present evidence or arguments in his favor.
Later, a University Hearings Board found him not guilty of sexual assault.
As readers, we may never know what actually happened since the story has become nationally publicized through viral media, but that’s not the point. It’s neither the job of the university nor the job of bloggers on the internet to try these cases.
If the University wants to get serious about addressing sexual assault cases, great — it’s long overdue. However, the solution is to utilize the criminal justice system instead of attempting to create a new one, only with less qualifications, less oversight, less transparency — and if history shows, less burden of proof to wrongly convict the innocent and less punishment to mete out to the guilty.
Let’s just hope the University gets it right this time. Carol Folt, take note.
Alex Cook
