This is the second part of a series examining how Boston University handles cases of sexual assault, in response to the two separate arrests of men’s hockey players for sexual assault in the last two months.
Boston University students weighed in on whether recent incidents of sexual assaults and “peeping Toms” are coincidental or part of a larger “rape culture” on campus.
In addition to the two sexual assault cases involving former BU men’s hockey players, BU has also reported three peeping incidents and an additional assault, which occurred Sunday night in Mugar Memorial Library, BU Police Department officials said.
College of Communication junior Jenny Kadenkavil noted possible issues involving the culture on campus.
“There may be something wrong in culture,” she said, “especially if sometimes certain actions are seen as okay in some sense, or if it becomes a part of accepted or norm culture when it definitely should not be.”
Kadenkavil, president of Gamma Phi Beta, said the sorority leaders have taken it upon themselves to educate their members. Gamma Phi Beta has promoted women’s self-worth and encourages sisters to travel in groups. They have also begun talking about educating members about how to respond to sexual assault incidents.
“In response to the events that have happened . . . We have planned an educational event about how women can protect themselves against sexual assault,” she said. “I’m sure many other chapters will be doing something similar to protect their women.”
Ann Masline, a freshman in the School of Hospitality Administration and School of Management, described the past few incidents as “terrible.” The rape and assault problem BU has addressed may have been due to the high profile people involved.
“It’s inevitable that these crimes will happen in a school of thousands,” Masline said. “It’s just up to us to take proper action to educate and be there for each other.”
An anonymous source, who has served as a BU faculty member, with expertise in sexual abuse cases said the issue is the “tip of the iceberg” and may reflect a larger issue for BU.
“BU has a long way to go in terms of developing a comprehensive student-centered approach to intervention and prevention of sexual assault on campus,” the source said.
While the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center has worked with individual offices at BU such as Residence Life, BU has not partnered with BARCC as Harvard University and other college administrations have, said Meg Bossong, community mobilization project manager at BARCC.
“We don’t currently have the training and consultation relationship with administrators at BU that we have at other schools,” Bossong said. “It’s something that we’re certainly open to.”
Bossong said BARCC generally gets a lot of clients in the office who are college students in the Boston area. The services one receives on their college campus may correlate with how much of a priority the issue of sexual assault is at the institution, she noted.
“It’s been the case that students whose institutions have taken on that work seem to be more confident in using services and have better experiences doing so, which leads to better outcomes,” she said.
Bossong, however, declined to comment on BU specifically.
COM sophomore Mike Lavallee said the incident reports may have resulted from sexual assault victims coming forward.
“In today’s culture, sexual assaults are pretty prevalent in general,” Lavallee said. “I think probably the influx of incidents that have been happening has definitely caused [victims] to come out and speak their mind on what’s been happening to them.”
Students tend to freely use the word “rape,” especially in reference to what some students call the “rape stairs” behind the Life Science and Engineering building. However, SHA junior Robbie Cocchiarella said students refer to the stairs as such as a joke.
“I have never thought of it as a serious thing,” Cocchiarella said. “I lived in Warren [Towers] and heard about [the rape stairs] as a joke.”
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Nora Lankhof said a rape culture is present on campus based off her experience with a friend who was sexually assaulted.
“The first month I was here I had a friend who had an incident,” Lankhof said. “She wasn’t raped, but she was physically assaulted in a bathroom [and] it surprised me that it was one of my first experiences here.”
The Daily Free Press is looking for victims of sexual assault to describe their experiences, including whether or not they sought help from BU and if their needs were met. For students interested in sending statements, email news@dailyfreepress.com.
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