For allegedly implying that women are partially culpable in some instances of sexual assault, University of Oklahoma President David Boren became the target of “rape culture” protesters’ wrath.
In comments made referencing a school report on sexual misconduct, Boren said “We try to really train students about (sexual violence), and you try to also say, ‘Don’t get yourself in a situation where you’re incapable of saying no. Can we eradicate the problem? Not any more than we can eradicate human nature.”
Activists demanded Boren apologize — or hit the road. His apology had to be SINCERE and PUBLIC (yes, all caps), and he had to acknowledge sexual assault victims by stating “I believe you.”
Event organizer Kelsey Morris is reading her list of demands, saying they should be followed or Boren should resign pic.twitter.com/e4gFhECpnU
— Daisy Creager (@DaisyCreager) October 11, 2016
Boren met with some of the protesters yesterday, but he did not apologize.
“I can’t say that I can apologize for what I said when I didn’t say something,” he said. “I have never in my life said the victim of a sexual assault should be blamed.”
The meeting lasted more than two hours, and The Daily and OU Nightly were not allowed inside of the meeting. Kelsey Morris, sociology sophomore and organizer of the Oct. 11 protest, said while Boren did “not exactly” apologize, she thought the meeting was a productive one.
“(We talked about) how to change the campus culture regarding sexual assault,” she said. “I think we’ve sort of opened his eyes to a few angles he hadn’t thought about before.”
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Morris also said Boren “agreed that we are going to start looking at sexual assault as a cultural issue and a learned behavior rather than just an aspect of human nature.” Boren said in The Daily’s Oct. 3 story that we can’t eradicate sexual assault “any more than we can eradicate human nature.”
Abby Beliveau, junior in a dual degree program of English literature and women’s and gender studies, said steps will be taken to address the issue of sexual assault on campus.
Wait a second, Ms. Morris — you said President Boren had to apologize, and it had to be SINCERE. And a closed meeting certainly isn’t PUBLIC.
Oh well.
Nonetheless, I think it’s a safe bet most folks don’t see much wrong with what he said; not getting yourself into a situation where your judgment becomes impaired (i.e drinking) is simply common sense.
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