Starting immediately, when multiple letters to the editor are submitted about a single topic, they will be aggregated in a single post, which will be republished every time an addition is made. 

The following letters to the editor are in response to the guest viewpoint, Memoirs of a student-criminal, that was published on Monday, Nov. 3:

To the editorial staff at the Emerald,

I was dismayed and angered that the Emerald chose to print the “viewpoint” of an anonymous author: a former student convicted of sexual assault. It is, unfortunately, not unusual for a perpetrator of sexual assault to refuse to accept accountability or to minimize their crime, perpetuate myths and stereotypes about the causes of sexual violence, and paint themselves as the victim. What is unusual is for a newspaper to designate a significant amount of print space to publicize and disseminate these views.

While the Emerald’s intent may have been to educate or promote dialogue, in uncritically publicizing the author’s myths and stereotypes about sexual violence without comment or analysis, the publication contributes to maintaining a culture of violence on our campus. Publishing this anonymous perpetrator’s viewpoint not only served to broadcast harmful myths and stereotypes about sexual violence to the entire campus community, but may also be detrimental to the survivor of this crime, and to all the students, faculty and staff among the Emerald’s readership who are survivors of sexual violence. Not only is the survivor’s voice glaringly absent from this “viewpoint,” but the decision to publish the anonymous letter and the likelihood of ensuing campus dialogue based solely on the perpetrator’s perspective, makes the newspaper complicit in the survivor’s possible re-victimization.

Jessica Sarontay, Master’s Student, Couples and Family Therapy

Imagine my disgust when I opened the Emerald on Nov. 3 to find, “I Had Made a Mistake,” a full page guest viewpoint from a convicted rapist. Penning the letter was supposedly required during this former student’s probation after being convicted of sexual assault, and the Emerald made an egregious mistake in publishing it. The perpetrator whines about how he was inconvenienced by being held marginally accountable for his crime: it was expensive – his parents paid the costs, – it would have been embarrassing if his friends found out – so he made sure they didn’t – and he has to serve three years of probation! There’s not a word of remorse for the harm he caused to the person he assaulted, nor gratitude for the inexplicable leniency of his punishment. Worst of all, he minimizes his crime and deflects all responsibility from himself: Committing a rape “can happen to anyone,” we are disingenuously told. But committing rape is not an accident; it’s an intentional abuse of power, and intoxication does not cause rape, but is used incessantly as a calculated excuse. At a time when a concerted effort to transform the culture of campus violence is desperately needed, the Emerald chose to devote a full page of column space to a perpetrator’s laundry list of lies, excuses, myths and stereotypes about sexual assault. I wouldn’t have expected anything different from a rapist, but we all deserve better from the Emerald.

Maria Paladino, class of 1998