SEXUAL ASSAULT at Brown University

Page 6

by Jody Ericson

It's over for Lack, who has taken a leave of absence from Brown and doesn't know when he'll return. And it's over for the alleged victim in the September case.

Following the publication of a version of this article in the Providence Phoenix, Brown released a statement: "A major review of policies and procedures dealing with sexual misconduct has been underway for several months. That review, which included two hearings open to all members of the campus community, should conclude soon, and the task force's report will be submitted to the Provost and the Dean of Student Life at the end of April." Only then will the university decide whether to make the report public.

Some universities have actually opened up their hearings to the public and press, while others allow their students to be represented by an attorney. These campus judiciaries are not afraid to be scrutinized. They want to be challenged -- which, in the long run, will help everyone learn.

But Dennis Gregory, now an assistant dean of student life at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, says he believes that confidentiality is in the victims' interest, and that opening up the process would be a mistake. "Students, particularly those involved in a date rape, would be reluctant to come forward," he says. "The last thing they want is an O.J.-like scenario."

That goes for the witnesses as well. "They are not obligated to testify at campus judiciary hearings," says Gregory. "We can't threaten to jail them or hold them in contempt. We must entice them to become part of the process."

In the end, he argues, open records and hearings would make campuses "less safe, because not many cases would be heard."

Instead, Gregory says campus judiciaries need to abide by certain standards, punishing students in similar ways for similar crimes. "I think presumptive penalties should be available to the community, and that they should be commented on," he says.

But Russell Carey, an assistant dean of student life at Brown, disagrees. Because the UDC hears only one to five cases a year, it is impossible to establish any precedents. "You don't have a big enough body of cases," he says. Besides, a student's punishment is based on a number of factors -- "how contrite he or she is," says Carey, or "whether there were aggravating circumstances."

Gregory also maintains that if the university is going to take on the responsibility of trying these cases, it must try all of them. Councils like Brown's "have usually adjudicated cases in the past, usually serious crimes like rape, and have gotten burned," he says. "So they say, `We're just going to leave 'em up to the courts.' "

To make sure students are treated fairly, Gregory is in favor of allowing attorneys to become part of the process. Officials at the University of Tennessee do, he says, and, if students can't afford an attorney, the school employs law students to serve as their advocates.

As for Brown itself, senior Annabel Bower, a member of the campus Coalition Against Sexual Assault, says that the university's tenets of community behavior, particularly those pertaining to sexual assault, need to be clarified. Otherwise, cases like Adam Lack's will continue to tear the campus apart.

Even more important, says Bower, the university needs to ensure that confidential information -- details like those Josephson was overheard discussing in a restaurant -- don't make it into the wrong hands.

The ad hoc committee on sexual assault is looking into such concerns, and it will submit a report to Pomerantz and Rose this month. Problem is, no one else may ever see it. After they've had a chance to read it, Pomerantz and Rose will decide whether to release it to the public.

Meanwhile, the young woman who claims to have been raped in September continues, with her parents, to wait and wonder. In letters to Gregorian and in their complaint with OCR, the parents say their daughter's life has been all but ruined.

"The effects upon [the alleged victim] of the sexual offense were devastating. The additive effects of Brown's administration of this case have been crushing. She has been emotionally and scholastically shattered," say her parents, who apparently know Gregorian personally. "For the former, she goes to a therapist for first time in her life. As for the latter, her senior year is . . . destroyed."

In response, Gregorian wrote a kind but technical letter that essentially reaffirmed the university line. "Although I know a great many students, I know [the alleged victim] better than most and consider myself a friend of hers as well as yours," he wrote.

But once again, the president cited the student code that allowed the UDC to decline to hear her case. "I know this is a difficult time for [the alleged victim] and your family," he says, "and regret that I cannot be of further assistance in this matter." n

Jody Ericson can be reached at jericson[a]phx.com.