Too little
The contrasts could not be more striking.
Here’s what University of Oklahoma President David Boren said when members of the SAE fraternity were caught on video reciting an appallingly racist chant:
“To those who have misused their free speech in such a reprehensible way, I have a message for you. You are disgraceful. You have violated all that we stand for. You should not have the privilege of calling yourselves “Sooners.” Real Sooners believe in equal opportunity. Real Sooners treat all people with respect. Real Sooners love each other and take care of each other like family members. Effective immediately, all ties and affiliations between the university and the local SAE chapter are hereby severed. … All of us will redouble our efforts to create the strongest sense of family and community. We vow that we will be an example to the entire country of how to deal with this issue. There must be a zero tolerance for racism everywhere in our nation.”
And here’s what a Penn State University spokesman said when it was revealed that a bunch of numbskull members of Kappa Delta Rho had been suspended for a year amid a police investigation into allegations that members of the fraternity used private, invitation-only Facebook pages to post photos of nude and partly nude women.
“State College Police and Penn State administrators continue to investigate the reports surrounding Kappa Delta Rho (KDR) fraternity. The Penn State Interfraternity Council, to which KDR belongs, has suspended the chapter’s activities. Following suspension of the chapter by the Interfraternity Council on March 3, the national KDR fraternity has announced the local chapter will be suspended for one year and will be reorganized. This means that all chapter social and related activities are suspended.”
Where’s the statement in support of the young women who were allegedly victimized?
Now take a moment to remember which of the two schools was at the center of the worst sexual abuse scandal in the nation’s history.
Take a moment to remember which of the schools was the subject of a Justice Department probe into a “record” number of sexual assaults on campus.
Yes, there is a judicial process that must take place. Yes, these are allegations.
But as university officials should have learned by now -had drummed into their heads by three years of horrible national headlines — how one responds to allegations of sexual misconduct is just as important as what one actually does about it.
Speaking to Penn State’s Faculty Senate, University President Eric Barron offered only the most tepid of condemnations, saying, “It’s simply unacceptable. And it didn’t take long for the national organization to say sorry and put the chapter on suspension.”
Where’s the outrage? Where’s the vow to work tirelessly to root out this kind of evil on campus?
Where’s the statement in support of the young women who were allegedly victimized? If proven true, these allegations appear to be sexual assaults against these young women.
Reading Boren’s statement, his solidarity with the aggrieved students is palpable, as is his anger.
Leave it to a Penn State student to recognize the obvious: “It’s frustrating. This is a great university. I’m proud to say I went here,” Michael Porter, a senior from New Jersey, told PennLive’s Ivey DeJesus. “It’s just unfortunate. It’s just disappointing.”
The reaction from university officials? The legal language reads like bureaucrats covering their posteriors once again.
Will they never learn?
– PennLive.com