2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the editor
Issue date: 8/21/07 Section: Editorials
MU resident feels hall mishandles assault case
An incident occurred last spring semester in my dorm that I feel Miami University mishandled in a fashion that put many students in danger, and the student body needs to know how the school handles such dangerous situations. Just before spring break, one of my female friends living in Tappan Hall let one of her male friends, with no romantic interest, come into her room as many of us have done before. Disgustingly, though, this boy who appears timid around girls, tried to rape her that night. Luckily, she was able to stop him before he violated her completely. She later told a graduate hall staff member about the incident and was taken for a rape test and police questioning. She decided to press charges against the offender. The astounding problem with this case, though, was that the boy remained in the dorm until nearly the end of the semester without any notification of the incident to the female residents of the dorm. I understand the school's liability issues of publishing his name before the case was finished, but a nameless warning could have been sent out to Tappan residents that an accusation was made by a female resident against one of our male residents.
Being a Tappan Hall resident and knowing this girl, I made sure to tell all the girls I knew, but it was concerning that many went without knowing there was a possible sex offender living upstairs. This was not the type of boy a girl would normally worry about, and he was let into the dorm room the same way most of us let people into our room when they knock on our door.
It is inexcusable that the school allowed this boy to roam the dorm and campus for over a month without any sort of protection for the student body. It makes me worry about what else is happening across campus that we don't know about. Weeks later, the university hearing finally took place-he was found guilty of attempted rape and removed from our dorm, but remained on campus to finish the semester-his last at this university. Still, no one was ever warned of his perversion.
Christina M. Dragoo
dragoocm@muohio.edu
An incident occurred last spring semester in my dorm that I feel Miami University mishandled in a fashion that put many students in danger, and the student body needs to know how the school handles such dangerous situations. Just before spring break, one of my female friends living in Tappan Hall let one of her male friends, with no romantic interest, come into her room as many of us have done before. Disgustingly, though, this boy who appears timid around girls, tried to rape her that night. Luckily, she was able to stop him before he violated her completely. She later told a graduate hall staff member about the incident and was taken for a rape test and police questioning. She decided to press charges against the offender. The astounding problem with this case, though, was that the boy remained in the dorm until nearly the end of the semester without any notification of the incident to the female residents of the dorm. I understand the school's liability issues of publishing his name before the case was finished, but a nameless warning could have been sent out to Tappan residents that an accusation was made by a female resident against one of our male residents.
Being a Tappan Hall resident and knowing this girl, I made sure to tell all the girls I knew, but it was concerning that many went without knowing there was a possible sex offender living upstairs. This was not the type of boy a girl would normally worry about, and he was let into the dorm room the same way most of us let people into our room when they knock on our door.
It is inexcusable that the school allowed this boy to roam the dorm and campus for over a month without any sort of protection for the student body. It makes me worry about what else is happening across campus that we don't know about. Weeks later, the university hearing finally took place-he was found guilty of attempted rape and removed from our dorm, but remained on campus to finish the semester-his last at this university. Still, no one was ever warned of his perversion.
Christina M. Dragoo
dragoocm@muohio.edu
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