I was shocked and deeply offended by Professor Dumm’s article published in The Student last week under the title “Elephant in The Room.” I would like to take this opportunity first to debunk Dumm’s conspiracy theory with regard to the Sexual Misconduct Oversight Committee and then to discuss the effect of his statements about athletes. I will not respond in depth to the claims about athletes’ propensity to believe rape myth and perpetrate rape except to say that while the committee was aware of the studies he cited and was unimpressed by them.
Last week, in an article entitled “Elephants in the Room,” Professor Thomas Dumm accused the Amherst College Special Oversight Committee on Sexual Misconduct of having deliberately overlooked scientific evidence that students athletes were disproportionately likely to commit sexual assault.
Last week Professor Thomas L. Dumm wrote an article for The Amherst Student entitled “The Elephant in the Room,” concerning the Special Oversight Committee on Sexual Misconduct at Amherst and their questionable exclusion of the intersection between athletics and sexual respect issues on campus in their official report on sexual respect released recently. As per usual, the comment board on The Student website quickly overflowed with spewed vitriol and poorly thought out, overly simplistic criticisms.
I am the father of a senior student-athlete (in fact, a football player) at Amherst, and I have just read the opinion piece from Professor Thomas Dumm. I was deeply offended by almost every point raised in his piece and am extremely concerned about the impact that his series of false stereotypes and grossly irresponsible innuendo may have on my son and so many others like him. I am also concerned that such ill-informed statements might taint the perception of a school that we have come to love and respect.
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As a male student-athlete and football player, I was deeply concerned and, quite frankly, offended by “The Elephant in the Room.” I respect and completely agree that sexual misconduct on the Amherst campus is a serious issue that needs to be addressed thoughtfully and urgently. You will never hear me disagree with that fact on that point. However, what I do object to is that male student-athletes are being unfairly targeted by baseless claims, gross generalizations, and sexist insinuations.
