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| Williams College has come under fire for their handling of an alleged sexual assault by a men's hockey player in the fall of 2012 |
The female student, Lexi Brackenridge, and her family (as well as many others) have expressed their outrage with the handling of the case by the Williams administration. The school found the alleged assailant guilty of sexual assault and suspended him for three semesters, a sentence that is set to expire this fall.
The assailant's name was not published by WBUR, as no criminal charges were filed. Lexi's name was published only after permission was given by both her and her parents. With regards to not filing criminal charges, the WBUR article states that the attorney the Brackenridges contacted advised them not to press charges as it could remove Lexie out of college and take two years. In addition, the deans at Williams reportedly encouraged the Brackenridges to address the matter through the college's disciplinary process.
Brackenridge said she was harassed by members of the hockey team after the alleged sexual assault, including having full beer cans thrown at her head and being placed in housing with hockey players for her sophomore year. She has since transferred to Columbia University in New York, where she is finishing up her sophomore year. In her May 14th essay in the Williams Record, "A survivor speaks out", she said that it became clear that Williams would not be a safe place for her.
The issue has understandably generated a lot of reaction, including heated words in comments sections and coverage from the Williams Record up to the Boston Globe. Ms. Brackenridge has created a change.org petition with specific proposed reforms to the handling of sexual assault on the Williams campus. The petition has 713 supporters as of May 24th.
The Williams administration has put out several statements defending themselves, including a point by point response to the change.org petition. Williams is not the only NESCAC school to come under fire recently for mishandling of sexual assault cases. Earlier this month, Amherst was included on the Department of Education's list of 55 colleges with open Title IX sexual violence investigations. Tufts isn't on the open investigation list, but this month they accepted the DOE's finding that they violated Title IX in the handling of a 2010 sexual assault case.
The age of incoming hockey players and hockey culture have come up as topics of discussion in the Williams case. The Brackenridges indicated in the NPR article that they believe a desire to protect the hockey team played into the handling of the case by the school and that the advanced age of freshmen hockey players also contributed. They even insinuated that the coach played a role by fostering a culture in which players closed ranks to defend their teammate.
Bill Kangas, head coach of Williams men's hockey since 1989, did not return NPR's requests for interview for their reporting.
One Williams alum and school fundraiser, Ken Hillman, '85, was even more explicit in his diagnosis of the problem of older hockey players. Hilman told NPR he was suspending his fundraising efforts for the school until they look into the practice of recruiting 1/3 of their players from junior hockey. In Hillman's eyes, placing players that spend up to three years in the "minimally supervised" environment of junior hockey in a small, rural campus like Williams is a "powder keg of trouble."
There's no hard evidence that in this specific case junior hockey had anything to do with the alleged assault and Williams reports that no group, including varsity athletes, are over-represented in allegations of sexual assault.
The trend to recruiting older players out of juniors has already been a topic of debate on the USCHO forums, although for much more benign, hockey specific reasons. And no less than Jack Parker, he of 40 year Boston University men's hockey coach fame, lamented the increasing age of incoming freshman at his retirement presser last year. At that presser, Parker referenced a discussion with one of his former captains at BU, Bowdoin head coach Terry Meagher, who confided in Parker that he was "aggravated" that college hockey had become what senior hockey had once been in Canada.
The merits of recruiting junior players aside, there's certainly no need in the Williams case to paint juniors players, or collegiate hockey players in general, with a broad brush. What the situation does represent, however, is a chance to talk about locker room culture.
Last year, former Bowdoin goalie Nick Smith (G, '09) wrote an opinion essay in response to the Steubenville High School rape case. Smith presented his views on a locker room culture that can promote team loyalty but at the same time can be a bastion of "vile, homophobic, and sexist attitudes." Smith relayed an experience of a gentlemanly hockey role model from his youth and calls for more role models, who would promote respectful attitudes towards women, in locker rooms.
The piece appears on the website for "Speak About It," a "performance-based presentation about consent, boundaries and healthy relationships." Smith, now a med student at Boston University, was a cast member for Speak About it in 2010 and 2011.
In the Williams case, the accused's lawyer told NPR that his client has yet to speak publicly because of a confidentiality agreement with the college. With his client set to return to Williamstown come fall and increasing media coverage of the issue, expect to hear more about this case in the coming months.
Read More:
Fred Thys, 90.9 WBUR - - Family Has Harsh Words for William's College's Handling of Alleged Assault
Fred Thys, 90.9 WBUR - - Two Williams College Fundraisers Suspend Activities to Protest Handling of Alleged Assault
Here and Now, 90.9 WBUR - - The Anatomy of a College Rape Accusation
Lauren Bender, The Williams Record - - Former student speaks publicly on sexual assault case
Lexie Brackenridge, The Williams Record - - A survivor speaks out
Sarah Bolton, Williams Dean of the College - - Response to Petition Regarding Sexual Assault at Williams
Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe - - Williams College roiled by report of rape
Nick Smith., SpeakAboutIt - - A Reaction to Steubenville
OK. Well, it would seem a good place to start would be getting the basic FACTS correct. Despite the FACT that age and "experience" have been cornerstones of this story, the FACT that he was 21 at the time of the alleged assault is, in FACT, not a FACT. He was 20. Not really a big deal, unless it is a big deal for him to be labeled "21". Everybody who reports him as 21 at the time, knows or should know, he was 20. That is a FACT. Poor form to start any witch-hunt with an easily documented fallacy.
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