We are all friends of the victim, but we experienced this complicated situation very differently. Pat, as the director of the Zumbyes, had to face the challenges of dealing with T as a member of his group and making decisions based on that membership. Jess, Shannon and Davi were faced with a different issue: We felt that the campus had a right to know who they were cheering. If we did not protest we would effectively communicate that a person could rape without any fear of social accountability.
This is neither an attack-and-defense nor a point-counterpoint; rather, we would like to discuss the complexities and dilemmas that present themselves in reacting to such a confusing and serious case.
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Why did we feel compelled, in the absence of a criminal conviction and thus legal "legitimacy" for our actions, to pursue so vehemently the expulsion of T Patterson from our campus? It is simply that our sense of social responsibility required public action.
We do know the difference between a formal accusation of rape and an indictment, between an indictment and a conviction. However, we believe our friend when she tells us what T did on the 28th of May; we know she lost three pints of blood in consequence. And knowing this side of the story, we worried that someone who could so brutally and destructively violate one woman would do this again to another. We felt that his presence put every female on this campus at risk.
The message his presence embodied concerns us even more. Regardless of whether T himself is innocent or guilty, when the Naughty Muffins called up "our boy" T to sing at Luau it implied that someone who violates a woman is allowed to remain free from social stigma. T may be a "born performer," but by putting himself on a stage, eliciting applause from the crowd, he opened himself up to social scrutiny–he asked us to love him, because that's what entertainers do, but can we love T the performer and ignore the rest of what he may stand for? Even though the crowd didn't have any of this information, cheering for him contributed to the sense that perpetrators of sexual violence are immune to social ramifications.
Jess Blanton '06E
Davi Lakind '06
Shannon Rush '07
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I was disgusted and ashamed of being associated with T when my friend first told me what had happened. I told him that I refused to allow him to sing with us at the freshman a cappella show or interact with the group as long as I was the director. As the concert approached, however, I began to question whether I had done the right thing as the Zumbyes' director, or if my personal feelings had interfered with my responsibilities to the group. I wanted to tell the group, but I felt that only someone who heard the story firsthand from my friend or from T would be in a position to make an informed decision. I didn't want to contribute to the spread of uninformed rumors that I thought could hurt everyone in the community and could even compromise the legal case, especially since T had not been officially charged.
After agonizing over my decision, I called T two days before the show to tell him that I wasn't in a position to stop him from singing with the group, as much as I personally opposed it. He had to choose whether he wanted to risk hurting the group's image by his presence, and at the last minute decided not to sing.
Allowing T to sing was the most difficult decision I've ever faced, but I believe it was the right one. The Zumbyes are absolutely opposed to sexual violence. However, even if we were in a position to make an informed group decision, the Zumbyes are not a jury, nor a judge, nor an executioner. Any group facing this situation needs to use it to move forward and change the atmosphere that allows these things to happen, both within the group and within the community.
Pat Savage '07
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This is clearly a complicated issue. We don't know at what point we should sever ties with someone in a group because of their actions outside the group; we don't know if that point should exist at all. However, this is not really about T; rather, it is about combating the culture of acceptance and secrecy on this campus. None of us can stay silent about these issues, and we don't want anyone else to either. Write a letter to the editor. Question the sexual assault statistics that came out last week. Be skeptical of this article, but voice those doubts.