To the Editor:
Re “I Thought Things Had Gotten Better. The Cornell Case Shows How Bad They Really Are,” by Jennifer Weiner (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, Sept. 30):
When news of the alleged rape case at Cornell resurfaced, my mother called from nearly 3,000 miles away and asked, “Is this true?” At the time, I answered, “Yeah, probably.” Neither of us wanted to believe the horrifying allegations of several hours of sexual assault by seven men.
Mothers everywhere send their daughters to college hoping, as Ms. Weiner did, that things have gotten better. But the Cornell case is a reminder that progress in policies and public awareness does not necessarily mean the culture that enables sexual violence has disappeared.
The #MeToo movement helped bring extraordinary national attention to sexual violence and the experiences of survivors. Now, students are still confronting allegations that are disturbingly familiar.
As a woman at Cornell, I do not want the lesson of this case to be that mothers simply need to warn their daughters more carefully. Women should not bear the responsibility for preventing violence committed against them.
Ms. Weiner hopes that when her daughters someday drop off daughters of their own at college, things will finally be better. But that will require more than teaching women how to protect themselves. It will require institutions — beginning with my own — to confront the cultures that allow sexual violence to persist and to hold perpetrators accountable.
Jeannine Chiang Ithaca, N.Y.
To the Editor:
I would like to see data about the extent to which fraternity members have been involved in sexual violence at Cornell. A system that encourages excessive drinking plays a role in loss of impulse control. Furthermore, there have been reported incidents of racial assaults and slurs by fraternity members, as well as hazing violations.
Perhaps it’s time for Cornell to address the role of the Greek system in supporting inappropriate and dangerous behavior. I don’t doubt for a moment that strong bonds are forged among many members, and that some are involved in positive community activities. But many educational institutions find ways to create community and fellowship without the potential downside of the fraternity system.
Should Cornell take the courageous step of ending the Greek system, there would certainly be an effect on the flow of donations coming from alumni. However, there might be new donors who come forth to support a more equitable, safe and peaceful campus environment. As there are young people who might not apply to a school without fraternities and sororities, there are others who will be attracted for that very reason.
This is the time for members of Cornell’s board of trustees to take a hard look at the quality of life on the campus, especially for women and minorities.
Nina Miller Ithaca, N.Y. The writer was the director of the Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service in Ithaca for more than 13 years.
To the Editor:
Six months into my time living on campus as a sophomore at Barnard, I left a male friend, a senior, at a party, diverted several blocks south by a phone invitation to buy discount Valentine’s chocolate. He called me after midnight, telling me about a woman who ended up asleep in his dorm room. Some time later, another friend of mine spoke to the woman and learned that what transpired that night was not consensual. She chose not to report what happened that night.
Although I was not at the party at that time, feelings that I was complicit stayed with me. I was shaken and vulnerable. That woman could have been me, and the line between trusting my male friend and being wary of him was further blurred.
I believe that trauma is now rippling through Cornell’s social systems.
Women who were once friends with the seven accused men feel that Jane Doe could have been one of them. Then there are the friends whom Jane Doe hopefully leaned on, shoulders to cry on, who watched their friend fade and fight and ultimately leave the school.
They face secondhand trauma, interruptions in feelings of safety and trust, and alterations in their view of sex during a formative time, without the spaces or resources to discuss it.
If one in four women experiences sexual violence during college, the remaining three will not emerge unscathed.
Ilana Cohen Philadelphia The writer is a graduate student in social work at the University of Pennsylvania.
A Botched Execution, and a Pause, in Tennessee
To the Editor:
Re “Tennessee Governor Pauses Future Execution After Inmate Survives Lethal Injection” (news article, nytimes.com, Oct. 1):
Short of issuing an executive order that completely bars his state from putting human beings to death, Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee did the next best thing by calling off another planned execution in 2026 after an inmate, Christa Pike, survived two doses of a lethal drug in the state’s second botched attempt at capital punishment this year.
Surely, Tennessee residents, as well as residents of other states where taxpayers essentially pay to put human beings to death for horrible crimes, are not so filled with blind vengeance that they can stomach hearing or reading the gory details of these macabre exercises in cruelty.
While the murder Ms. Pike was convicted of in 1996 was especially hideous, it seems morally wrong for a civilized government to stoop to the same level of barbarism in its methods of delivering a just punishment.
Cody Lyon Brooklyn
The post Anger and Questions at Cornell appeared first on New York Times.
