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    HarvestMoonEllie Shechet
    3/17/16 11:40am

    It’s weird that in the US sports are the most important part of school culture. In the rest of the world they have teams and clubs that are separate from schools.

    It’s like their schools are about education and learning or something...

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      BDCBHarvestMoon
      3/17/16 11:47am

      It's like, sometimes due process for grown-up stuff mucks up your recreation. What if some kid had been called up for jury duty?

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      GELLA - LLAPHarvestMoon
      3/17/16 11:49am

      because brain is not a muscle here

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    montgirlEllie Shechet
    3/17/16 11:46am

    I’m not in any way commenting on whether he’s guilty or not (particularly since the university used a preponderance of evidence standard as opposed to a criminal standard), but you know what would be nice? If coaches started holding their own players accountable. The whole team blames the university and the alleged victim here, but nobody is blaming their own teammate for potentially committing a crime and getting expelled. If they care so much about winning and their team, then perhaps they should promote an atmosphere that doesn’t tolerate rapists. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about missing team members for the big games.

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      chipmunkfacemontgirl
      3/17/16 12:07pm

      I agree.

      A friend of mine is a coach for a big university’s softball team, and at the beginning of every season she flat out tells the students- If you drink or do any drugs, you’re off the team.

      It’s an (almost?) comparable situation, because, I think since the drinking/drugging can happen away from campus, the students might not get in trouble with the actual university (if they were caught), but as coach, she has the right to drop them from the team, even without them breaking a university rule.

      There’s something to be said about creating and maintaining a culture which allows some things and/or expressly prohibits others.

      In the context of sexual violence, someone may not care about raping people, but they may care about their sports-dependent scholarship, their team going to the championships, and losing their social network. Of course, such circumstances are only possible in a strong, and strongly supported, anti-rape culture.

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      Catniss Meowverdeenmontgirl
      3/17/16 12:07pm

      in sexual assault complaints on campus, students are held to “violating” the student code of conduct which all prohibit sexual assault. since they are only being held to violate an ethics code (and not violating a law), preponderance of the evidence is appropriate as opposed to a criminal standard since there are no criminal ramifications.

      for clarification, i work at a rape crisis center and deal with Title 9 and campus judicial boards very frequently.

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    deerlady83Ellie Shechet
    3/17/16 11:51am

    I’m tired of the narrative that “he had a bright future until it was taken away” about rape and sports. It makes it sound like a horrible thing was done to him when it’s him who has done it to someone else.

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      ohnopleasenodeerlady83
      3/17/16 11:59am

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      I'm Fart and I'm Smunnydeerlady83
      3/17/16 12:03pm

      I just seriously can’t deal with this shit anymore. I have been lucky enough not to experience sexual assault on campus, but I have many friends and friends of friends who have and campus police just doesn’t fucking care. They either never find the guy or there is not enough evidence to investigate anymore than an interview and rape kit. And many of my friends have gotten lectures about how they shouldn’t be going to these parties anyways. Just so helpful.

      So when I see that a college actually does their job and expels a kid for sexually assaulting someone and then everyone talks about how this is just such a bummer for the team and for this kid who had such a bright future blah blah blah, it’s just too infuriating.

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    wafflesfriendsworkEllie Shechet
    3/17/16 11:50am

    Baylor’s going to beat them in the first round anyway, so he’s not even needed

    BOOM

    And also this shit is ridiculous, I’ve never been able to understand how athletics always takes precedence over human beings. Especially disappointed this happens at a place like Yale, where I always would have imagined that they wouldn’t be blind to the misconduct of their athletes like schools who get most of their clout from athletics.

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      FridayNextwafflesfriendswork
      3/17/16 11:56am

      So a school that failed to cover up a murder is playing a school that failed to cover up “unconsented-to sex.” There’s a angle they should DEFINITELY play up in the pre-game.

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      HarvestMoonwafflesfriendswork
      3/17/16 12:00pm

      Steubenville broke me forever.

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    Adrastra predicts "Low Key" title for Taylor's new albumEllie Shechet
    3/17/16 11:48am

    I just hope the victim is getting all the help and support they can during this time. It would be hard enough to live through this without the publicity; I can only imagine how difficult it would be to have your sexual assault as the NCAA tournament’s hot-take piece.

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      I'm Fart and I'm SmunnyAdrastra predicts "Low Key" title for Taylor's new album
      3/17/16 12:38pm

      People are already saying that her behavior is not rape victim-y enough. Because obviously, they are the experts on a victims behavior and not the actual experts, who repeatedly point out that a very common reaction to rape is denial and minimizing the experience. But yeah, let’s assume the victim is lying because of her behavior that is, and I repeat, very fucking common.

      And there is my rant against the piece of shit (thankfully grey) commenters on this article.

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      UngreyMyHeartI'm Fart and I'm Smunny
      3/17/16 1:29pm

      I seriously wonder sometimes how much thought people put into what a genuine false accusation would look like. I mean, if you’re going to lie about being raped, you’re going to put on a show of victimization, right? You’re going to talk to everyone about it, and as melodramatically as possible. You’re going to have a plausible scenario planned out that makes the dude look as guilty as possible. You’ll probably send some text messages to friends at strategic moments to make things more realistic, and you’ll have a strong motive to want to damage the dude’s reputation (or maybe blackmail him). A real false rape accusation would take some pretty serious conniving to pull off. This? Is not that.

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    chipmunkfaceEllie Shechet
    3/17/16 11:53am

    Thank you for this article. It is clear, cogent, and highlights the role that this particular situation plays within the larger problem of sexual assault, its reporting, legislation, and contra-bias.

    Everything about this upsets me, from the attack itself, to the refusal from so many completely uninvolved with the situation to even consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he deserved the punishment, to the complete lack of “what about her life” in the face of the “what about his life” concerns, to the bravado of anonymous internet trolls.

    I like to think, as I see the extraordinary change and momentum gathered through activism across so many areas, that we are moving forward, but sometimes I’m not so sure.

    Anyway, good article!

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      KaraThrace,LikeEverybody,LovesHypnoToadchipmunkface
      3/17/16 7:36pm

      i am convinced that the “bravado” you speak of is actually a manifestation of a deep-seated (directly) unaddressed fear: i believe the guys who make the majority of those types of trolly rape-apologist comments have an incident in their own past that they are terrified (usually subconsciously) will resurface at some point (say via a facebook post accusation from an old school acquaintance that they sexually assaulted and forgot about because they themselves never considered it rape even though that’s exactly what it was, sex with someone who didn’t want to have sex with them). i could very easily imagine the acquaintance who raped me 20 years ago being this type of troll, because i don’t think he ever thought of himself as a rapist consciously. i think the subconscious knowledge of what they have done eats at them, and any time they see discussions about the topic online it pings that deep-seated fear they have and prompts them to last out at women in the form of trolling comment threads about sexual assault. i really think that many of them live in this unacknowledged fear every day that some day their past is going to catch up with them, and it’s a big source of their general misery and misanthropy (because let’s face it, you also have to be a miserable fuck in general to be an internet troll). but yeah, i think the majority of the ones who troll about sexual assault specifically are date/acquaintance rapists themselves, the kind with zero self-awareness.

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      chipmunkfaceKaraThrace,LikeEverybody,LovesHypnoToad
      3/17/16 7:39pm

      Well, hell. There’s a thought to put me off my dinner :( Ugh. You’re probably right.

      Or, (more or less alarming?) they have a view of sexuality that makes them think it’s very possible they will/could be in these situations in the future. They believe it is rape, and think it’s totally normal, so they have to preemptively attack anyone for criticizing (“criticizing.” jesus. It’s not like they don’t shower regularly or something. It’s a fucking crime.) behavior that they condone, plan to engage in, want to engage in, and see no need to stop.

      Sigh.

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    No-Mi SkyeEllie Shechet
    3/17/16 12:11pm

    Yale Sexual Misconduct Expulsion Threatens to Ruin March Madness, Sports Forever

    This is the real tragedy here folks. Unless you too can feel and understand the pain and suffering sports fans/leagues have to go through every time one of their fav players or teams is put at risk of being expelled or kicked off the team for a random rape or assault ...

    GIF

    Think of the game!!!!

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      citecheck2No-Mi Skye
      3/17/16 3:30pm

      Seriously, its almost as though by doing the right thing and handling the situation appropriately by expelling Montague (not to mention that the team actually issued a fairly genuine sounding apology for their misguided support of him) Yale is somehow ruining sports for everybody. How dare they not be like Florida State and do everything in their power to defend Jameis Winston and attack and discredit his accuser as he led their team to the BCS Championship and won a Heisman Trophy in 2014.

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      No-Mi Skyecitecheck2
      3/17/16 3:58pm

      This! Apologies and trying to not be shitbags to women is going to spell the doom of American sports? What the hell does that say about American sports? Good God. The cluelessness. The sadness.

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    ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILDEllie Shechet
    3/17/16 11:52am

    March Madness downgraded to March Brain Fart.

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      jinniʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD
      3/17/16 11:57am

      March Idiocies? (Ids of March?)

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      GELLA - LLAPʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD
      3/17/16 12:00pm
      GIF
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    norbiznessEllie Shechet
    3/17/16 11:47am

    Hopefully by about 4:00 Eastern (or earlier if it’s a blowout) the point about Yale’s compelling-ness will be rendered moot by Baylor, a school with absolutely no issues pertaining to sexual assault.

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      ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILDnorbizness
      3/17/16 11:53am

      BUT IF HE WAS STILL ON THE TEAM THEY CLEARLY WOULD HAVE WON!!!!

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      Sodburgernorbizness
      3/17/16 11:54am

      I clicked the link, hoping against hope that you were NOT being sarcastic but... sigh...

      The saddest part is, there’s probably not a school in the entire bracket without a problem regarding sexual assault,campus rape etc.

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    Rooo sez BISH PLZEllie Shechet
    3/17/16 11:47am

    Historic March Madness Berth Clouded by Sex Assault Saga

    It’s so hard. So hard.

    GIF

    And yet, it never seems to occur to these Bowed-Down Drafters of the Scripted Sports Tragedy that if the dudes would just stop with the sexual assaulting and harassing ...

    we would have no fog monster.

    Amazing, right???

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