A University of North Carolina sexual assault victim has been charged with violating the school's honor code and creating a hostile environment for her attacker, according to Jezebel.com.
The charge came approximately a month after Landen Gambill, a sophomore at UNC—who last spring reported being raped by a student she says is still on campus—filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. She, as well as others who filed with her—including current and former students, and Melinda Manning, the school's former assistant dean of students—allege that the school had pressured Manning into underreporting sex offense cases.
An email sent by the school last week to Gambill—who says she's facing possible expulsion for speaking out about her ordeal— reads in part:
You are being charged with the following Honor Code violation(s):I.C.1.c. - Disruptive or intimidating behavior that willfully abuses, disparages, or otherwise interferes with another (other than on the basis of protected classifications identified and addressed in the University's Policy on Prohibited Harassment and Discrimination) so as to adversely affect their academic pursuits, opportunities for University employment, participation in University-sponsored extracurricular activities, or opportunities to benefit from other aspects of University Life.
The matter has been turned over to UNC's Honor Court. If found guilty, Gambill could be subject to a range of sanctions, including probation, suspension or even expulsion.
An avatar used by Gambill's supporters (Twitter)
"This type of gross injustice is unacceptable," Gambill wrote on her Facebook page. "It's important to me that we continue to advocate for the rights of survivors—not just because it affects me personally but because I desperately hope no one has to go [through] anything like this again."
Some of Gambill's supporters have also taken to Facebook and Twitter, changing their avatars to say "I Stand With Landen" and tweeting messages with the hashtag #standwithlanden.
Colby Bruno, managing attorney for the national Victim Rights Law Center, told InsideHigherEd.com the code violation is "outrageous.” For the university "to entertain this as a viable claim is a problem, because it's not,” Bruno said.
The university would not comment on Gambill's case, citing federal privacy laws. But at a board meeting last month, Leslie Strohm, UNC's vice chancellor and general counsel, told trustees "the allegations with respect to the underreporting of sexual assault are false, they are untrue, and they are just plain wrong."
In 2010, the Department of Justice estimated that 25 percent of college women "will be victims of rape or attempted rape before they graduate within a four-year college period," and that schools with more than 6,000 students "average one rape per day during the school year.”
According to New York University's "National Statistics about Sexual Violence on College Campuses," fewer than 5 percent of such cases are reported to law enforcement. LINK
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