Letters: Sexual Assault Survivors Spoke Out With Courage

To the editors:

I want the two students involved in the sexual assault cases (News, Feb. 19), as well as the many other students on campus who have survived rape or sexual assault, to know that I respect their strength and perseverance.

They are dealing with a situation I can scarcely comprehend, let alone face, and they are doing extremely well. Rather than being victims, they have proven themselves to be the most powerful and courageous members of our community.

I can't fathom the willpower it takes to make it through each day: to get out of bed, to eat or to talk. They have gone on to pick out classes, buy books at the Coop and turn in problem sets. I wonder if I could do the same job maintaining a focus on academics and other seemingly peripheral activities. They not only survived being assaulted, they have overcome it and have not allowed it to rule their lives.

They have been forced into a situation no one could expect to face. To further exacerbate its complexity and immensity, the Harvard administration and Ad Board harassed and deserted them when they needed them the most. Yet the survivors are still here. It tears at my heart to hear of their Ad-Board horror stories. I am ashamed to be associated with such a backward policy. I am saddened that Harvard abandons its students in their time of greatest need.

I hope that their bravery in coming forth to point out what has been so long neglected at Harvard will provoke discussion and change. By not expelling the rapists on campus, the Ad Board is revealing to all its priorities: lying about one's SAT scores is more serious than brutally assaulting a fellow human being.

The College seems unembarrassed at not having set a precedent for expelling those convicted of rape or sexual assault Ignoring rape on campus does not make it go away, rather it condones it by allowing rapists to go on unpunished.

Joseph W. Lind '99

Feb. 22, 1999

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HEADLINE: Response Offers Support

To the editors:

Regarding the article written by Jenny E. Heller about sexual assault on the Harvard campus, we would like publicly to acknowledge both women who were interviewed by Perspective for their strength and courage. Their candid and honest accounts, as well as Perspective's sensitive presentation of them, were invaluable in informing the student body of a crime that is too often ignored.

Both Perspective and The Crimson have honestly portrayed rape as a serious and existing crime on the Harvard campus. Unfortunately, it is a crime that carries a stigma of being unmentionable. There undoubtedly exist other victims of sexual violence within the community who have chosen not to speak, either publicly or privately, about their experiences.

We at Response offer our services to the Harvard community. Response is a confidential and non-directive peer-counseling group. Our staff is composed of undergraduate women who receive extensive counseling training primarily about relationships, harassment, sexual abuse and rape.

Response can be reached by telephone any night of the week from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., or by dropping by our room in the basement of Lowell House (E-013) from 8 p.m. to midnight. We believe strongly that if something is bothering you, it is serious enough to call. We make our services available in the hope that no member of the community feels the need to bear such a heavy burden alone.

-The Response Co-Directors

Feb. 19, 1999

Due to the sensitive nature of their work, the identities of Response counselors are confidential.