Recently I reread Malcolm Gladwell’s characteristically penetrating and elegant essay “In Plain View” (New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2012), published on the occasion of Jerry Sandusky’s exposure as a long-term child molester.  The essay is not for the faint-hearted.  It is a sickening profile of how child molesters groom not only their victims, but also their communities, and—in Sandusky’s case, as well untold others—their employers or supervisors, like Joe Paterno.  Since the last time I read the piece, I’ve learned a great deal about professor-on-student sexual harassment and assault; this time through Gladwell’s essay, I was struck by the parallels between the two kinds of sexual molestation. [Read more…]

UVa’s Associate Dean of Students, Nicole Eramo, is suing Rolling Stone magazine for libel to the tune of $7.5 million in damages.  Of course, the magazine denies either misrepresenting or criticizing Ms. Eramo, whose lawyer accuses Rolling Stone of “malicious and reckless journalism.”  Whether or not the lawsuit has merit, though, it will have the deleterious effect of discouraging future reporting about sexual assault on campus. [Read more…]

Seeing the Kipnis articles distributed worldwide makes me wonder if I won’t face a similar backlash as the Northwestern undergraduate. . . . that “chilling effect” the Northwestern graduate student spoke of is real, I can feel that. I read through everything I could to catch up with the Northwestern case, and everything written by or supporting Kipnis. The details of the undergraduate’s case who accused Ludlow are like my case, and I find some silver lining in that, because at least I can take those articles and show people what happened to her is like what happened to me. [Read more…]

I’ve suspended posts on this blog for a brief while for a couple of reasons.  One is that I’m currently responding to Laura Kipnis’s latest essay, “My Title IX Inquisition” (28 May), through a letter to the editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education.  You can read the letter responding to that essay on-line as of 22 June and in the 26 June print version.  Another reason I’m suspending posts for the time being is that I’m working steadily on the ongoing case at Northwestern University.  I’ll resume posting here as soon as possible.  I’m still seeking interviewees for this project, as described in the first post on this blog and in the body of this web site.  CL