Stanford sexual assault: students plan graduation protest as anger grows

Stanford sexual assault: students plan graduation protest as anger grows

Graduation would normally be a happy time for Stanford students, but the outcry over Brock Turner’s light sentence has shifted the mood


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Amanda Lorei, left, and Tina Ju help organizecampus demonstrations stand at the Stanford University. Photograph: Ramin Talaie for the Guardian




The rape survivor support group meeting at Stanford University on Tuesday started with birthday cake. But when the sweets were gone and the birthday song ended, the pain began again. “Did you guys want to talk about your feelings about the Brock Turner case?” one woman asked, shaken and emotional. “I’m feeling really sad and angry.”

Just days earlier, Turner had been sentenced to six months in jail, after being convicted of sexual assault and facing 14 years in prison. The former Stanford freshman was caught assaulting an unconscious woman behind a frat house dumpster in 2015. He blamed the school’s “party culture.” His father pleaded for leniency so “20 minutes of action” wouldn’t ruin his son’s life. The victim’s letter has been widely read and shared and the case has caused international outrage.

The two-hour support group meeting stretched into five. When it ended around midnight, the women had a plan: to protest Sunday’s commencement ceremony while the world was watching. In recent days, others both on campus and off have joined forces with them. There will be signs, bicycle billboards, a plane flying over campus pulling a banner. “Our focus is not pursuing offenders”, said Amanda Lorei, 23, who will be graduating on Sunday with a master’s degree in Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian studies, “but rather making campus safe and holding the university accountable.”

These are difficult times on the prestigious Palo Alto campus, where the endowment is huge, the grounds are pristine and buildings bear the names of wealthy tech donors – Hewlett, Packard, Moore, Allen, Gates. Graduation happiness is threaded through with shame, yearend celebrations are leavened with outrage.

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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/11/stanford-sexual-assault-students-plan-graduation-protest-as-anger-grows