Dive Summary:
- Dartmouth College has charged a minimum of 10 students who protested an admitted students event in April with not following directions, a violation of the school's code of conduct.
- Seven of the students charged were involved in a Clery Act complaint filed last week accusing Dartmouth of underreporting sexual assault crimes and failing to pursue disciplinary action against those involved.
- Dartmouth senior Lea Roth said she believe the charges are "retaliation for our Clery complaint and an attempt to quiet the lynch mobs." Nastassja Schmiedt, a Dartmouth sophomore, alleges the charges against the students violate federal law because they were retaliatory. Dartmouth has not publicly responded to allegations that the charges were related to the Clery Act complaint, saying that ongoing investigations will remain private.
- In the wake of the protest, violent threats against the protestors caused Dartmouth to cancel classes. Here's a video taken during the April protest:
From the article:
"If there's a rule that I broke, I should be punished for it, but if other people break rules, especially if they involve violence or sexual violence, they should be punished as well." Rojas said. "Punishment and accountability is done in a selective way, and that is a huge problem."
Alumni Council president John Daukas has openly criticized the Real Talk protesters, and said their claim that 95 percent of sexual assaults go unreported was "preposterous." (U.S. Department of Justice research published in 2000 concluded that fewer than 5 percent of campus rapes and attempts are reported to authorities.) Dartmouth trustees chairman Steve Mandel equated the rape and death threats with the anti-rape protest at the "Dimensions" show in a campus email.
