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A very painful incident
involving Smith students took place over January
term. On January 15, a Smith student reported to Northampton
police
that she had been sexually assaulted at an off-campus apartment.
Two
individuals, both known to the student, have been charged
with serious
offences, including aggravated rape and assault and battery.
One of the
alleged assailants was a Smith student. She is no longer
enrolled at the
college. The District Attorney is now handling the criminal
case, and
the courts will determine its outcome. These charges, if
true, also
represent a very serious breach of the college's code of
student
conduct. We refer such cases to the judicial board.
Incidents
like these raise painful questions about violence and abuse.
Sexual violence is abhorrent, and the hurt that people inflict
through
it causes profound and lasting damage; we have no tolerance
for it as a
community. It is important to speak out about domestic
violence and
rape. Only by making forceful and vivid the values of a
community and by
empowering victims can we reduce the harm that sexual violence
does.
Dean Mahoney will be
in contact with you soon about workshops and
programs that we will offer both to houses and to individual
students
that will give you opportunities to seek support and to
become informed
about acquaintance rape, domestic violence, and safe sex,
as well as
alcohol and drug abuse. As difficult as this incident is
for us as a
community, I hope that we can take something constructive
from the
experience. |
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