Tufts avoids accountability with OCR loophole

I have fought hard. The fight has been very long.

 

I put the money up for a domain name and hosting to create this site and blog. I dealt with the aftermath of rape and expulsion WITHOUT health insurance because I was no longer a student. I dealt with the aftermath of my student loans defaulting and having bad credit on top of all the bad effects of rape because I had no money to pay them and I was unable to defer them (ugh, private loans). I dealt with being unable to get a job as a survivor struggling with PTSD and then as a person with no college degree. I spent my newfound free time volunteering with an organization (SAFER) to help prevent others to go through what I did at Tufts University.

 

And yet, the poor girl seems to be losing again. I filed my complaint with the Office of Civil Rights in 2009. They first claimed that it wasn’t a matter of “right or wrong,” but rather timing. Then I was able to get that decision for them to not investigate overturned, I hit another roadbump.

 

Tufts is trying to avoid an investigation at all costs.

 

They want to do early resolution – with or WITHOUT my consent. This means if I don’t want to sit across the table from them and come to a mutual agreement…they can have the process taken COMPLETELY out of my hands and they can work with the government to resolve MY complaint.

 

This is way too familiar. The powerful institution tries to do what it can to avoid accountability with what they’ve done wrong to one individual. This has been a very emotional journey for me; one that I have done mostly alone with a small support system. BUT I see the power of CHOICE taken out of my hands right away.

 

Everyone is talking about Yale being investigated, which has prompted change already from their side. But no one is talking about Tufts. And they want to keep it that way. And frankly, I am PISSED.

 

I am pissed that the OCR allows the institution who is the subject of the complaint to get out of having an official ruling against them. I am pissed that Tufts just refuses to take accountability. I am pissed that after all this time, where the mere thought of this experience and the stress can reduce me to tears in a matter of seconds the institutions get their way AGAIN.

 

I think about what happened to be EVERY DAY. School administrators and their lawyers don’t seem to understand – their decisions impact lives. What they think, do, and say change lives forever. There needs to be change. There needs to be accountability instead of the cowardly moves of maintaining the best interest of an oppressive institution at the cost of one rape survivor.

If they didn’t think they did wrong, they wouldn’t be pushing for this to be done early before a finding.

Tufts University Not Doing Enough to Help Black Students

It is almost laughable that the day before a national holiday meant to commemorate one of the leaders of the civil rights movement for African Americans I find myself applying for food stamps and General Assistance. A year and a half after getting expelled, I see myself becoming increasingly closer to that statistic. A young, uneducated black person overwhelmed by debt and lack of employment who needs to depend on welfare just to meet basic needs. I think bitterly of Dean Glaser’s dismissive denial of appeal letter; he told me that I would be “better off” kicked out of the school and attending university at home. Instead, I’ve been a victim of more domestic violence, kicked out of a home, and with absolutely no money to be able to get the food or care I need. I’ve been traumatized and a survivor of violence and have not been able to get any treatment since getting kicked out. It is not very farfetched to say that I absolutely NOT better being kicked out.

I very much think that my current position in life is due to Tufts not caring or believing that I was raped. I think it is because they did not think my body was worth anything. I think it is because they did not take me seriously and did not want to help me or consider the consequences of their decisions. They had absolutely no concern about what happened to me or what could happen to me.

When I read a Racialicious blog post about Towson University eliminating the graduation gap between black, white, and latino students I learned about the existence of College Results Online. Apparently Education Trust, a Washington-based think tank that focuses on racial and ethnic achievement gaps, did a study about the graduation gaps at various four-year colleges throughout the country and wrote a brief noting how some schools are working hard to eliminate the disparity in graduation rates between blacks and whites.

Naturally, I wanted to see how Tufts measured up. The Tufts Daily recently wrote an article quoting administrators who boasted about their high graduation rates.

The success is a testament to the administration’s dedication to its students, according to Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler.

But is this “dedication” unevenly applied? During my time as a student (and even afterward!) I would see and hear stories of students of colour who struggle to be accommodated academically. I would often be confused when I would hear about their white classmates who seemed to have been able to pull the right resources (in even the most seemingly dire of circumstances) to have the administration to help them out and get the best results possible.

I already wrote about how I believe my race played a factor in Tufts mishandling my rape report. This led to a barrier for a student of colour to getting the degree they were seeking. If my race potentially played a role in getting kicked out then imagine how it affects other black students at Tufts of the past and present? The reason why I even created this blog to put my opinions and experience out there is for a reason – if schools pledged to take rape seriously – if Tufts pledged to sincerely take measures to end rape on its campus – it would be a big step forward in creating a better and more equitable future for people regardless of their sexual violence survivor status. Individuals should not be punished because of events that were out of their control.

While the national average is that black students graduate rate is about 20 points lower, 2008′s statistics show Tufts is above the national average. HOWEVER, Tufts consistently has a lower graduation rate for black students.

When Tufts is compared to other similar schools in terms of graduation rates overall, it falls behind the curve. Tufts performs even more poorly when looking at the graduation rates for black students; the university clearly is greatly behind the curve. If I knew this, I know I would not have enrolled at the university.

There is a real lack of concern for the needs of students of colour. In their places of privilege, the administration has been short-sighted in their decisions by arbitrarily providing help and accommodation for students when they are in need. The intersections of oppression can be very heavy. In my case, my class, race, gender, and survivor status have all worked together to put me in a position I never thought I’d see myself.

This is definitely not the dream Dr. King envisioned.

Quick Hit: Reitman Forgets Origins of 13-Year Old Award

In a Daily article that I mentioned in my previous post, Reitman boasted of an award given to Tufts University. Unfortunately it seems that he got a few things mixed up.

Reitman added that far from noncompliance, Tufts has been recognized for its adherence to the Clery Act. “The university, through the Department of Public Safety, has been a recipient of an award from the Clery Foundation for being a model in meeting the requirements of the [Jeanne] Clery Initiative,” he said. The Daily could not independently confirm the award, as the Clery Foundation does not have an online presence.

A quick Google search of “Tufts”  “award” and “Clery” shows that the University was given an award (in 1997 – when the policies were different, mind you) called the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award. However the award was not given by the Clery Foundation as Reitman claims. It was given by the very same organization that emailed him warning about Tufts current policies – Security On Campus. In fact, the TUPD front page had the award on its front page until recently – as the last Google cache from this Monday (12/13) shows us.

If you want to see a full page screenshot, click here.