Dear [insert name of school here]: You might have won, but I still have a voice. And I plan on using it as much as I can to make things change.

Read the Devastating Letter by a Harvard Sexual-Assault Survivor
By Asawin Suebsaeng
Mother Jones
Apr. 1, 2014

On Monday, the Harvard Crimson, the university's student newspaper, posted an anonymous letter written by a student and sexual-assault survivor. The student details the aftermath of the alleged assault that occurred last year, and discusses how Harvard University administrators profoundly failed her. (This sort of thing is hardly unique to Harvard; rape and sexual assault on college and university campuses across the country is a huge problem, as is too often the administrative response to such cases.) The letter, titled "Dear Harvard: You Win," was published one day before the start of Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April.

Here is an excerpt (read the whole thing—which is obviously tough to get through—here):

More than anything, I'm exhausted from living in the same House as the student who sexually assaulted me nine months ago.

I've spent most of 2013 fighting the Harvard administration so that they would move my assailant to a different House, and I have failed miserably. Several weeks ago, in a grey room on the fourth floor of the Holyoke Center, my psychiatrist officially diagnosed me with depression. I did not budge, and I was not surprised. I developed an anxiety disorder shortly after moving back to my House this fall, and running into my assailant up to five times a day certainly did not help my recovery.

[…]

Dear Harvard: I am writing to let you know that I give up. I will be moving out of my House next semester, if only—quite literally—to save my life. You will no longer receive emails from me, asking for something to be done, pleading for someone to hear me, explaining how my grades are melting and how I have developed a mental illness as a result of your inaction. My assailant will remain unpunished, and life on this campus will continue its course as if nothing had happened. Today, Harvard, I am writing to let you know that you have won.

[…]

The last time I met with my resident dean, I told my dean about my depression, and how I thought it had been caused by the lack of validation and empathy I had received from the Harvard faculty. I said that it would be immensely helpful for me to know that my dean, not as a school official but as a human being, understood my pain and empathized with it. I asked my dean to take a step back from the situation and to admit that I had not been served well by the Harvard system. My pleas were met with a refusal to comment and an argument that it was not an administrator's role to criticize Harvard's sexual assault policy.

If my resident dean refuses to question the current policy we have in place, then I will. Dear Harvard: You might have won, but I still have a voice. And I plan on using it as much as I can to make things change.

In response to this letter, the Undergraduate Council, Harvard College's student government, announced the formation of a task force to involve students in discussion of Harvard's sexual assault policies.

Harvard University public affairs did not respond to Mother Jones' request for comment.

Stanford University turns out to be as clique-ish as any teachers lounge

The most amazing part of this story is that Stanford college graduate students actually told their professor that they didn't want to sit next to a certain person!

This story sounds like it might have taken place in a high school cafeteria or teachers lounge: places where conformity to group-think is frequently required. I'm sorry to disappoint anyone who thought universities were places where everyone was genuinely interested in divergent points of view. It turns out that even though academics might process information a bit faster than the average Joe, when it comes to personal politics, they're sometimes as bad as--or worse than-- the mean girls in high school.

I think it's quite likely that Michele Kerr might be wrong in many of her beliefs, but why do other students want to stop the discussion? They should articulate why she's wrong. Also, they could learn something if they seriously considered what she's saying. There are probably gems of truth in her diatribes. Don't throw the baby--free expression and open mindedness--out with the rant water. Kathy Marshall is someone who is expressing opposition to Michele's beliefs. Stanford students should step up to the plate and defend their beliefs, not relying on the power of their clique to do it for them.

BLOGS AND EMAILS CAUSE ALARM AT STANFORD


They Messed With the Wrong Blogger
By Jay Matthews
Washington Post
July 24, 2009

...[Stanford student Michele Kerr sent an email] to her classmates after the program’s director, Rachel Lotan, said some of her fellow teacher trainees found her “domineering and intimidating” and didn’t want to sit next to her in class.

“For those of you who wish to continue requesting that you not sit with me in practicum, make sure you mention the reason so that Rachel can build her case for the next time we do our little dance. ‘Rachel, I do not want to sit next to Michele in practicum. It has nothing to do with her views; she’s just a domineering, overbearing bitch.’ DOB. We could print up cards or something. Don’t Sit Me Next to the DOB!” she wrote. “I’ll continue being me, and those of you who feel uncomfortable can maybe learn how to speak up. Or not. Your call.”

Lotan and Eamonn K. Callan, the education school’s dean for student affairs... said the email “could have the effect of silencing those who are wary of confronting” Kerr and that she “had not considered that her actions could have a chilling effect on other students, according to an email they sent to Kerr...

She was almost 46, much older than most other STEP program admittees. Single, with a son in college, she had a long career as a business process management consultant, but began to tutor high school students struggling with difficult courses and standardized tests. She found she was good at it. Why not teach full time?

She was pleased that a program as prestigious as Stanford’s had room for her...At the open house, a STEP instructor asked if she planned to accept the offer of admission. Anyone else would have said yes. But Kerr, who calls herself “fatally truthful,” said the tuition would be difficult to afford and admitted she was philosophically out of sync with the program...According to Kerr, Lotan looked for legal grounds to keep Kerr out, something Kerr said she discovered when another official mistakenly sent her an email that was meant just for Lotan...

The senior university counsel answered, saying Kerr would start the program in June...


BLOG BECOMES AN ISSUE

But in September, Kerr’s blog, “Surviving Stanford,” which she had routinely referred to in her STEP classes, became an issue...

STEP’s displeasure was so great that Kerr finally took down the blog temporarily, renamed it, eliminated all references to Stanford, and gave it password protection so that only she and a few friends could read it.

That wasn’t enough for the STEP folk. Two months later, Lotan wrote that she was concerned that Kerr was “unsuited for the practice of teaching,” beginning a process that could have ended in Kerr being denied a teaching credential. Lotan complained that Kerr was late to some Stanford classes, and in turning in assignments.

Kerr learned to her dismay that a student could be denied a credential for any reason--even those that have nothing to do with teaching. Kerr’s supervisor told her in late November, without warning, that he was unhappy with her work and gave her low ratings in professionalism, she said. According to Kerr, he said she had lied to him, and made it clear her chances of getting through the program successfully were in jeopardy.

Kerr fought back, demanding proof of the charges. Kerr said the supervisor withdrew the accusation of lying. Lotan admitted that she had no idea if other STEP students were similarly tardy or why some didn’t want to sit next to Kerr...

Who blanked my San Diego Education Report Blog?

Peg Myers is facing an election in May as President of Chula Vista Educators.







I woke up this morning and found all the posts missing from my San Diego Education Report Blog.

Who could have done it?

My prime suspect is the last person who visited my most recent post. This person visited at 12:21 a.m. Interestingly, this person was using the same computer as the anonymous person who posted this comment just a few days ago:

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness for the perseverance of the attorneys in Shinoff's firm...some day this crazy nonsensical web site will come down!

The post on my blog that apparently triggered the erasure of my blog was about the deposition of Chula Vista Educators president Peg Myers.

A witness told me that Peg Myers used the word "crazy" to refer to me. Putting all the information together, I am suspecting Peg Myers, who is facing an election in May if she is to continue as President of Chula Vista Educators. It's perfectly understandable that Myers wouldn't want her deposition to be exposed during a campaign.

I also know that California Teachers Association protects sitting presidents of CTA locals, and that CTA information has previously disappeared from my website.

This is the information I have about the anonymous visitor:

IP Address
72.220.30.144
Cox Communications
United States
California
Chula Vista
Time of Visit Mar 1 2009 12:21:31 am
Visit Length 10 minutes 6 seconds
Page Views 2
Out Click SAN DIEGO EDUCATION REPORT WEBSITE
Time Zone UTC-8:00

China, CVESD and Stutz law firm have similar ideas about freedom of speech

As I have explained elsewhere in this blog, CVESD and Stutz, Artiano Shinoff and Holtz are trying to hide the truth about themselves. So is China:

Journalists Say China Is Not Living Up To Openness Pledge

By Maureen Fan
Washington Post

Sunday, August 3, 2008;
"...Chinese authorities and the Western news media apparently have different understandings of "complete freedom." Sun Weida, a spokesman for Beijing's Olympic organizing committee, and Liu Jianchao, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, suggested recently that reporters did not actually need to visit blocked Web sites to do their jobs. Sun was surrounded by a mob of reporters after a news conference, and when he insisted that the Internet was free and open in China, some of them shouted, "That's not true!" ...

What does the "Castle Park Family" do when someone speaks out about problems?

Photo: Chula Vista Educators President
Peg Myers














The morning after the May 27, 2008 meeting at Castle Park Elementary, one of the parents who spoke out at the meeting took her children in to the school, and came back to find that someone had thrown cereal and milk on her car.

Children are not normally allowed to leave the school cafeteria with milk and cereal, where breakfast was being served at the time of the vandalism. At least one adult who is connected to the "Family" was in the cafeteria.

What interest would a child have in someone else's mother who spoke at a meeting? The speaker's own children are too young to come to the attention of kids old enough to pull a stunt like this.

But several staff members and teachers at Castle Park Elementary have demonstrated out-of-control hostility in recent years, attacking fellow teachers and principals with shocking malice. The current leader of the Castle Park Family is Peg Myers, the president of Chula Vista Educators. Two of the last three CVE presidents (Peg Myers and Gina Boyd) have come to the CVE presidency directly from Castle Park Elementary, and the other one, Jim Groth, aided the cover-up of wrongdoing at the school.

Note to Superintendent Lowell Billings: It's time to end this before somebody gets hurt. It's impossible for anyone to bring order to Castle Park Elementary when the "Family" has so much invested in keeping the truth hidden. Come to the school and deal with the truth. Don't go looking for some unfortunate person to sit in the vacant principal's office. You should serve as principal of Castle Park Elementary until order is restored.