I need to preface this for myself and for the reader: I AM NEW AT THIS AND MY FIRST FEW PIECES WILL NOT BE PERFECT. I tend to hold myself to pretty high standards to the point where it’s crippling. That’s why it’s taken me so long to even publish my first SVU post. I don’t feel ready. But this isn’t about being ready, it’s about sharing stories that might help someone, letting them know they’re not alone, and that they are strong survivors.

So why not start near the beginning? This will also be the first of a series on campus sexual violence, of which SVU has many and this is the very first one.  Because we’re starting back in season 1, we’re working with the OG squad of Benson, Stabler, Munch, Jefferies, and Cassidy, with Captain Cragen leading them. The real ones know. Pre-Ice-T days, too. There aren’t many episodes that man is not in. Cash that check, my man. Booked and blessed. We love to see it. 

This case is really sad and really, the story is tragic, but we take a lot of twists and turns to get to the truth. Everyone is not as they seem. Let’s begin.

Episode opens on a college campus, a couple are talking on a bench and the man is being pushy and trying to make out, though he doesn’t seem to actually mean harm to his lady, and she’s telling him to knock it off. As he’s pushing himself onto her, he notices a woman unconscious and bleeding near a campus building.

Cut to Stabler rummaging through a desk late at night and finally finds his keys, when his oldest daughter, Maureen, sneaks into the house after curfew. Maureen is wearing a really cute choker. Daddy Stabler is pissed. He asks where she’s been, what she’s been doing, she’s doing the guilty teenager act, not answering questions. Stabler demands to smell her breath. Needless to say, Maureen is grounded, she gives Stabler shit for going into work in the middle of the night. Like girl, you know your dad’s a cop, when he gets the call, he has to go.

Back to campus, Benson and Stabler arrive on scene. The officer on scene tells them a couple found the victim, DOA at 1:50AM and it was reported by campus police. They notice her underwear is missing and she was beaten on the head. Stabler points out cement fragments in the wound, they throw out possibilities of murder weapon, like a rock or a brick. The officer (with balls the size of Texas, tbh) goes, “Who’s going to look for that? Me?” and Benson is like uh yeah dude and tell campus security to halt trash pickup. Again, Officer Do-Nothing is like “I gotta go through trash?” and they’re like yeah dude wtf!!” They also note that she is wet, which they believe to be because of the sprinkler system. Stabler then wants to talk to the couple that found the victim. He asks them a few questions and then Liv calls over to show him the victim’s ID, which she’s just found. Her name is Jeanne Gallagher. They also find something with the name of the dorm she’s living in and ask the couple where it is. They point it out. Benson goes, “She was almost home.”

~Opening Credits~

Back in the squad room, Olivia and the squad are discussing the case, like they do. Some foreshadowing: Olivia says she feels like there’s two offenders. We find out that the victim was drunk (0.27 BAC) and they’re still waiting on the official cause of death but they believe it was her head injury. Cragen makes a joke like “There was a time I wish I could find a girl who could drink like that.” I’d have to go back and watch the episodes before this one to say for sure, but this is one of the first times he talks about his alcoholism. He has some really funny jokes throughout his time on the show about being in the program, which I appreciate. We also find out that the victim was at a party thrown for/by the men’s basketball team at the university. Apparently they made a huge comeback and Cragen is an alum. The men chat about sports and no one cares. Side note: Munch looks so young in the earlier seasons! I miss Richard Belzer. Brian Cassidy has a damn baby face.  Stabler is very fresh faced. I lowkey love Olivia’s 1990s, early 2000s fashion.  Mariska in earlier seasons looks like a 1990s Winona Ryder.  I love ADA Abbie Carmichael, I wish she was in SVU more.

Munch and Cassidy go to St. Raymond’s and the Chaplain touts the university’s typical defense, they’re going to investigate themselves and do alcohol seminars, etc. *eye roll* Munch and Cassidy ask him who was in attendance at this basketball party. He points them to the hostesses whose responsibilities include tutoring and other “support” to the basketball team. Players, prospects, coaches, alumni, and hostesses were all in attendance. This woman says she left before the party ended.  Shelly Brown is Jeanne’s roommate, she says, she might be able to give more details on Jeanne’s whereabouts that evening.

Riley, a basketball player, is in the room when Munch and Cassidy are questioning the head of the hostesses. He claims to not have seen or know anything. He said she was fighting with a black player, Chuck Moseley. Riley’s casual racism is also not really addressed? He calls him a “street player” which is just code for black and poor. He also doesn’t interact with any non-white cops, so that’s probably a factor. It was 1999, too, but like come on. Riley also left the party early, to attend another party at the Mayor’s house. Munch and Cassidy go to meet Chuck at the basketball court, where he is dunking on all of these guys. After some back and forth about racial profiling, in which Chuck is doing basic things to protect himself from the police, he agrees to answer their questions. Chuck said he wanted her to leave with him and she wouldn’t. He said his mom can confirm the time he arrived home, 1:30AM. Unfortunately, she’s on a bus to Louisiana to see family. So they’re holding him until she can confirm his alibi.

Back at the squad room, the team is discussing the new details they’ve found. While Riley is a dickhead, his alibi checked out and he was in fact meeting the Mayor of New York that evening. Chuck did admit that he and Jeanne argued that night. Stabler points out that the university has a lot of money to lose if their investigation leads them to a basketball player.

Stabler and Benson head to Jeanne and Shelly’s room to interview her and look through Jeanne’s things. They both were hostesses for the basketball team, and she explains it’s not just cheerleading. The NCAA is cracking down on outright monetary incentives, so schools have to offer up something else. Of course the university doesn’t explicitly demand these things from the girls, but Jeanne needed the money and scholarship. This whole hostess situation is fucked. Women are expected to be “available”? What the shit is that? I’m sure it happens but it feels like trafficking.  Especially since the girls were getting scholarships. They’re literally being compensated financially. And the school is taking advantage of young women in vulnerable money situations so they can’t quit without having to sacrifice their education. The patriarchy ruins fucking everything. Anyway, Shelly said Jeanne was a good friend and they were close. She said Jeanne had been drinking a lot since the team got into the Sweet 16. She said Jeanne moved in with her parents after that.

So Benson and Stabler go interview Jeanne’s parents. They ask her parents what they think could’ve caused her demeanor to go from carefree to depressed. Dad immediately answers, Stress. He doesn’t want to admit it. Her mom revealed she was raped. Now we’re getting somewhere.

So then, Benson and Stabler are walking and interviewing Jeanne’s therapist. The doctor tries to get out of answering questions with the good ole trusty confidentiality line. They’re like you can help us find her rapist, please. Doc said Jeanne didn’t tell her who her rapist was but she was pregnant as a result and it was a basketball player, but she didn’t say which one. 

So Munch and Cassidy are interviewing Chuck again in an interrogation room. They’re like Jeanne was raped by a basketball player after the Sweet 16. He’s like I’m not surprised, that party got ugly, but that was before we knew each other. Munch is like are you sure that’s not why you were fighting? They’re leaning on him, Cassidy does that racist thing white people do when imitating a black man speak, and is like, You sure it the conversation wasn’t “Yo bitch you drop a dime on me and I’m gonna kill you, yo.” and it even sounds lame as shit coming out of his mouth. Again, it’s the ’90s, I don’t know, it’s gross. They were in the same class, French Lit. Munch quickly decides that Chuck isn’t the rapist after he quotes something, probably from a famous French writer but in English.

Benson and Stabler are interviewing the French lit professor, asking about Chuck and any players in his class. When they ask about Chuck Moseley, what I presume to be a TA speaks up in the corner of the room and is like Chuck had checked out the last two books we needed for this class before she could. They ask if Jeanne and Chuck were together and he was like not that I knew of. When asked about less exemplary students, Professor Russeau is like oh you mean like a classic entitled white douchebag athlete? Riley Cougar perhaps? 

Now Benson and Stabler go talk to Riley Cougar, who they believe is Jeanne’s rapist from two months ago. But Riley has an alibi, campus police picked him up for drinking the night of her murder. They go back to Cragen and are like all these people seem to know about Jeanne being raped but it was never reported. Cragen shares a story of campus police not taking crimes on campus seriously back when he was a student: a drunk athlete stole the Dean’s brand new car and crashed into a bunch of cars and also broke Captain’s leg. So he’s pissed. So Cragen goes to talk to them himself and he’s like oh okay so Riley was here that night, there it is in the log book in different colored ink than the rest of them. Yeah okay. Cragen is staring him down and using his scary dad Captain voice and eventually this shitty cop is like, yeah I covered for him because Jeanne was pissed and he didn’t want Riley’s future to be fucked because of a “he-said-she-said.” Classic campus cops. He finally admits that Riley wasn’t there that night.

We all know how colleges handle (rather, don’t handle) sexual assault.  And of course, campus security being obstructive and the opposite of helpful.  Here it is playing out right before your eyes, like it does every day. And people wonder why survivors don’t report. No one fucking does anything, except cover for some white boy who can throw a ball into a hoop. Who gives a shit?

Meanwhile, at the Stabler house, Maureen is still in the doghouse for sneaking out. Kathy appeals to him with empathy like, “what if my parents had dealt with me that way?” and he’s like “we wouldn’t have had Maureen.” Which I get, I appreciate her parenting style, but also you can’t let your kids just do whatever, so grain of salt. Absolutely create a home environment where your kids are comfortable coming to you, but also you need rules, too. It’s a delicate balance. I’m not a parent (yet?), don’t ask me what to do.

Back in the ME’s office, Benson and Stabler are asking for an update, they really just want DNA results and the doctor is like I don’t know yet, but I do know your rapist has a low sperm count. So now they’re taking DNA samples from Riley and Chuck. A Reverend Al Sharpton type is there arguing that Chuck is being profiled, which I understand the need to be vigilant but that’s not what this is. He dated the victim. They have to eliminate him and they have the ability to do so with a DNA test. Inside the squad room, there’s lots of jokes about jerking off into a cup. We love it. SVU is full of dick jokes. Chuck pulls Munch aside and is like “look we made love, it was consensual.” and Munch is like “after an argument? Really dude?” and Chuck is like “no it was before the party, but we used a condom.”  So his DNA is unlikely to match the perpetrator’s.

Then Jeffries is in the court room to testify but it looks as though the defendant was murdered in custody. Gavel, gavel, Jeffries approaches the prosecutor to ask his opinion on Jeanne’s rape, how else could they bring charges. And the prosecutor was like if a credible person knew about it then a grand jury might indict. And she’s like, “is an ex-cop credible enough?” and he’s like “reserve him a cell in Rikers.”

Meanwhile, Benson and Stabler are back on campus and Elliott is lamenting not getting a full college experience because he was commuting, taking night classes, and a new dad. They’re there to interview French professor again to check if their suspects were in class the day after Jeanne’s murder. He’s like I don’t take attendance but if you give me names I can tell you if they were there. Chuck? Present. Did he talk to him? He seemed distracted, didn’t talk much, and the professor assumed he was hungover. But the first time they interviewed the professor he said he was a good kid, did well, etc. and now he’s a “slacker with a hangover.” and he doesn’t remember who was in class until they name names? Suspicious.

Both suspects are confirmed to not have a low sperm count. Jeffries makes a joke like, “Remember when, John?” to Munch. Love a good semen joke. Riley is free to go, Chuck is being held until they can confirm his alibi with his mom.  Cragen says they should confirm first because he wasn’t honest about his relationship with Jeanne right away.  Which I don’t fully understand if his sperm count excludes him? I don’t know. Mom comes in and in an interrogation room confirms he came home when he said he did. He always has a curfew and Mom’s rule is academics first, then extracurricular activities. And Cassidy is like, big-time college basketball is an extracurricular activity? She’s like he has potential to do more than that. And really, the men just don’t get it, because then Munch is like he is one of the best players, period, he has the potential to make more than anyone in this building in one week. Cragen pulls Munch out of interrogation, and Munch is like nothing we do to him will compare to what his mom would if he did something wrong. And that’s on black mothers. No nonsense. Evidence doesn’t point to him, Chuck is free to go. Though it appears that Riley raped her after the Sweet 16 game, we still don’t know who killed Jeanne.

Benson and Stabler are back on campus interviewing Shelly again and she’s saying the French professor had been turning up randomly in places where Jeanne was, the library, bookstore, etc. An avid reader. Sure. They also talk to the chaplain again who is like “these situations end up being a student’s word against a respected professor” and that he’d already talked to professor about changing his behavior. Stabler is like dude this is stalking, maybe harassment in the second degree, with priors, menacing in the first. And the chaplain is still not buying it, he’s like “that’s in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it?” And Benson has a great line, doesn’t miss a beat, leans down to his level: “No, Father… it’s in the eyes of the district attorney.” YEAH. Tell ’em. And then just a lovely little detail, the clock chimes across the quad. Time’s up.

Back at the precinct, the squad has done some digging and Captain Cragen is catching ADA Abbie Carmichael, a character from the OG Law and Order, up to speed and trying to get a warrant.  We find out that Professor Russeau has a history of this type of creepy behavior, going back to him in college, in a fraternity. The woman woke up with his dick in her mouth. He uses cop speak, but that’s what happened. Since then he’s had some other bad behavior that I can only assume there wasn’t enough evidence to corroborate, as Captain Cragen calls them a “long string of Maybes.” Abbie comments that his file reads like a history of sex crime legislation. “What did we call it before we had legal terms for it, like date rape or sexual harassment?” Cragen responds, “Boys will be boys?” She asks if there have been any arrests and Cragen is like you say the word and there will be. She’s like I need a murder weapon.  The squad is going to re-canvass the crime scene and search his home and office. Now we’re getting somewhere.

Cut to Stabler dropping Maureen off at school. She’s still mad, Stabler isn’t apologizing, but wants to make up with her. He doesn’t want to not be able to speak to someone that he loves. Maureen is like , I promise I didn’t do anything wrong, and he believes her, but she still shouldn’t have lied to him. And she said she was just afraid, but so was he. He sees horrible things every day, the next case could be her dead body. Which is overboard, like I get it but she’s still a child. His anger is coming from a place of worry and wanting her to be safe, but you also don’t need to be that honest with a child about the realities of your job that you chose to do. But Maureen apologizes and they make up.

Back on campus, Benson and Stabler are in front of a memorial for Jeanne. Stabler is like don’t ever let people do this kinda shit to the place where I die or I’ll haunt you. And Benson is like yeah okay noted. In hindsight, I wonder if Olivia made mental notes like that through all the years they were partners. How many things and pieces of him did she keep filed away in her brain? Like the one episode where they find out they share a blood type and could give each other a kidney. And all of Elliott’s little stories. I’m not an EO shipper. Whether they’re in love or not, they were partners. That’s more than work friends. That’s the person who has your back no matter what. That’s the one person you know you can trust. It’s fun to watch these older ones now after seeing them reunite in the more current seasons.

So they head to Russeau’s office when Stabler notices a piece of the building and they start playing out different attack scenarios. I always love scenes like this, I feel like they’re probably fun to shoot. They never found a murder weapon, so they still don’t know how Jeanne died. With some playful ribbing and talking through the things they do know, they figure out that the murderer didn’t hit Jeanne with something over the head but perhaps pushed her down the stairs and she hit her head against the building. Then they’re interviewing Russeau’s TA, she gives them his schedule. Jeanne’s schedule is identical to Russeau’s schedule. He was stalking her this whole time. They come up on him teaching outside on the lawn and they arrest him for Jeanne’s rape and murder. I love when they arrest people in front of a whole classroom full of students. Could you imagine watching your professor get arrested?

Back in interrogation, DA asks him to roll up his sleeve, he looks scared. He’s like I didn’t rape her. Benson lays it all out, says they’re going to match his DNA. Russeau’s attorney jumps in “you’re badgering my client, Miss.” and Benson isn’t taking any shit from him and is like “It’s Detective, not Miss.” This is Olivia’s fucking house, don’t y’all ever forget it. “Save your lawyering for someone who gives a damn.” Savage as fuck. They’ve got all the evidence they need to convict him. Russeau is like “I didn’t kill her. She was already dead.”

He was watching Jeanne like usual and she was with Chuck, he watched them fuck, he watched her leave, he watched her trip, and he watched her fall. He went over to her, carried her to the garden where she was found, and raped her. He calls it making love but it’s rape and she’s dead. What the fuck, guy. The cops are all disgusted. They stare him in the eyes, a look reserved for the worst of the worst sexual predators, and leave without a word. Then we see the chaplain get up and he’s disgusted too. Rousseau is like, “I make my confession to God.” Father doesn’t miss a beat, “make your peace with him then.”  Finally, he gets it. If only the rest of the Catholic priests and bishops and everyone who works in the Catholic Church could wise the fuck up. Russeau’s lawyer tries to cut a deal, but Abbie is a tough ADA and isn’t letting him get off easy. They’ve got enough evidence for three class A felonies. 

Back at Chuck’s house with his mom, Munch and Cassidy are visiting. Chuck is getting shit on in the papers for the suspicion.  There’s also a lot of basketball talk and I’ve just reached my limit on it and no one cares. Munch apologizes for how the investigation affected his schooling and career. Chuck says, “You’re a weird cat, Munch,” which I love, I think we should start referring to people as “cat” or “cats.” It’s also non-gendered! Munch tells him Jeanne’s rape by Riley is up for a grand jury and Munch is confident he’ll be indicted, “what goes around, comes around.” Chuck goes, “No it doesn’t.”  And he’s right, isn’t he?

~Executive Producer: Dick Wolf~

This would’ve gone very differently if Jeanne wasn’t murdered. Way more slut-shaming, way more comments about her drinking, etc. especially in a Catholic university. That doesn’t mean it was an easy case to solve. The university, despite having a religious affiliation, still tried to protect a predator. A man who should not be allowed to be around students with his history. He learned how to be careful. He found the holes in the system and exploited the shit out of them. And it worked. Until Benson and Stabler showed up! JK, but like kinda! Benson doesn’t let shit go, she’s like a dog with a bone. That’s a direct quote from Chief Dodds, in a later episode when she’s running the squad. Nobody sweats the details like Elliot. That’s a direct quote from Captain Cragen himself, in a later episode.

The foreshadowing I mentioned in the beginning? Technically, there were two offenders. Riley raped her two months before Russeau did. The school also tried to protect Riley. A white boy privileged athlete, who brings in revenue for their school.

Technically, Jeanne wasn’t murdered though. She had been drinking, she tripped, fell, and hit her head. Tragic, truly.  But if you want to, you could make the argument that Riley is responsible for her death. If he hadn’t raped her, she wouldn’t have started drinking excessively to deal with the trauma, maybe she wouldn’t have fallen. It says a lot about alcoholism too and how easy it is to start drinking in excess when you’re sad. Jeanne even had a good support system. She stayed with her parents in their nice ass house after she was raped. Her mother knew, her dad had to know even if he wasn’t explicit. The look on his face. He knew. She was seeing a therapist. She was trying to deal with it. I mean, what else was she supposed to do? 

And the school let it happen! On college campuses, acquaintance rape is the most common. It’s the guy you have class with, the guy you meet at a party, a friend of a friend, etc. School blames the victim, across the board, and in some cases, punishes the victim. A college administrators’ duty is to the school, not the students. Who is protecting students? 

Less than 8% of men in college commit more than 90% of sexual assaults (Don’t worry I have more stats. I’m also a data nerd).That means the men that do rape or sexually assault, are repeat offenders. So, men, when you see your buddy do or say some weird ass shit about or to women, fucking correct them or say something. Call out bad behavior. Even a simple, “Dude that’s messed up.” No one did that to Riley. At least the cops were able to arrest him for Jeanne’s rape.

Also, there’s this weird phenomena in the Law and Order universe where a rape trial happens immediately and so fast. It takes a year. That’s if it goes to trial. That’s if the survivor reports. That’s if campus police don’t step in first and bury it. And if it does get to trial, rape is a bail-eligible crime. It shouldn’t be, but it is. So while this person who is accused of a crime and the police have enough evidence for the DA’s office to proceed with a case, they could be out on bail, assaulting other people. I don’t think they ever say if Riley was remanded or out on bail. 

 OK but you might be thinking that this was just a, for legal reasons, fictional episode of a classic TV show, this can’t be what happens in real life, this was way out of proportion. So here are some statistics to put things in perspective.

Statistics:

I found the following statistics on RAINN’S website:

• College-aged (18-24) women are 3-4 times more likely to be a victim of sexual violence.
• 5.8% of students have experienced stalking since entering college.
• 13% of all students experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation (among all graduate and undergraduate students).
• Among graduate and professional students, 9.7% of females and 2.5% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation.
• Among undergraduate students, 26.4% of females and 6.8% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation.

It doesn’t appear in this episode BUT I would be remiss to not mention:

• 23.1% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) college students have been sexually assaulted.

Also, these statistics look great for campus police and are painted in a positive way, which makes me suspicious:

• 86% of sworn campus law enforcement officials have legal authority to make an arrest outside of the campus grounds.
• 86% of sworn campus law enforcement agencies have a staff member responsible for rape prevention programming.
• 72% of campus law enforcement agencies have a staff member responsible for survivor response and assistance.
• 70% of campus law enforcement agencies have memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with local law enforcement.
• Among 4-year academic institutions with 2,500 students or more, 75% employ armed officers, a 10% increase in the last decade.

Like it’s great that all of this is true, but if the people within campus police don’t do anything when sexual assault is reported, then it doesn’t matter.

From <https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence> 

I also watched a great documentary on HBOMax from 2015 called The Hunting Ground. It’s a really great film, very informative, and so perfectly shows the problem of sexual assaults on college campuses for exactly what it is. Greed. Here are some statistics from the documentary. I tried to take their sources down too, but I’m still learning, so I may not have cited this perfectly. 

• 88% of women sexually assaulted on campus do not report. (2000, 2015 studies)
• In 2012, 45% of colleges reported zero sexual assaults. 
• Percentage of S.A. claims found to be false:
  • 8% – 1992
  • 3% – 2005
  • 2% – 2006
  • 7% – 2008
  • 5% – 2014

They also got real specific and called out some big-name colleges:

• Harvard – 2009-2013 – 135 reported S.A.s, 10 reported suspensions
• UC Berkeley – 2008-2013 – 78 reported S.A., 3 expulsions
• Dartmouth – 2002-2013 – 155 reported S.A., 3 expulsions
• Stanford – 259 reported SA, 1 expulsion
• UNC – 2001-2013 – 136 reported S.A., 0 expulsions
• UVA – 1998-2013 – 205 reported S.A., 0 expulsions (183 expulsions for cheating and honor board violations)

Now, I hear the straight men who are still reading this, and we all agree that it’s not all men. 

• Less than 8% of men in college commit more than 90% of sexual assaults. (2002)

Take it a step further: 

• Repeat offenders commit an average of 6 or more acts of sexual assault. (2002). 

Well what are the police doing about it? I’m glad you asked. 

• Only 26% of rapes reported to the police in the U.S. actually led to an arrest, and only 20% are prosecuted (2010).

Well the school must be doing something about it? For the ones that actually do have merit? Wrong. 

• Actual sanctions for S.A. at universities. meaning the school actually believed the survivor:
  • Columbia University – suspended one semester (I mean you’re doing better than the rest of these guys but it gets worse)
  • University of Indiana – suspended over summer vacation (what?)
  • Yale – suspended for one day (not surprised at this one at all)
  • UCO Boulder – $75 fine
  • University of Toledo – $25 fine
  • Brandeis – a warning (K.)
  • University of Colorado – assigned a paper to reflect on your experience. (nice try)
  • Occidental College – construct a poster board listing 10 ways to approach a girl you like. (I’d really rather you didn’t. Also this isn’t elementary school)
  • Occidental College in LA – 50 hours of community service at a rape crisis center (absolutely not)

You might also say, but Kelsey, you also came pretty hard at the university and their basketball team. It’s a little Catholic school I’ve never heard of in NYC. Just how much money could be at stake here? And not all athletes are rapists? Even in the episode, Chuck was innocent and Riley was the bad guy! None of the other athletes were raping women? You’re wrong again, I’m afraid. 

• Less than 4% of college men are student athletes. They commit 19% or more of reported college sexual assaults.

Also will reiterate this one from earlier: 

• Less than 8% of men in college commit more than 90% of sexual assaults. (2002)

In one of the cases covered in the documentary, we were also dealing with an assault by a college athlete. Student athletes are treated like celebrities. Carrying an entire school on their shoulders. Responsible for tons of revenue for their school. They’re 18 years old. They are given permission to assault women. Case and point, that goddamn hostess program in the episode. Fucking trash. 

Oh and if after all of this you still have hope that universities have any hope of redemption? Try again:

• 95% of college presidents say their institutions handle sexual assault reports “appropriately.”

And yet,

• More than 100 colleges and universities are currently under federal investigation for their handling of S.A. complaints. 

I rest my case. 

Resources/Organizations:

If Jeanne’s story resonated with you or if you want to help victims of sexual assault, please consider donating to RAINN.  They also have a 24 hour hotline for survivors to call in. The number is 800-656-HOPE (4673). 

Also, pay attention to your friends, be an ear or a shoulder to cry on, watch their drinks and how much they’re drinking. I know it’s cool and fun to drink in college, it’s new and exciting. I did it, too. I get it. But there’s also an inherent problem with the way our society views and treats alcohol. It’s extremely addictive and binge drinking is very dangerous. Even if you’re over 21, it’s dangerous. Just be careful, y’all. 

Recommended Documentaries/Reading:

• Missoula by Jon Krakauer
• The Hunting Ground (2015) – streaming on HBO Max