Dear President Martin,
As some of you may or may not know, the deadline for Amherst Select Internship Program is fast approaching. So the PCA’s thought we would dedicate this week’s article toward the program; what it is, who’s eligible and how the application process works. Hopefully, after you’re finished reading, all your lingering questions will be answered.
I am not a member of a fraternity. Nor do I think that frats are an absolutely essential component to our conversations about sexual respect at the College. I am, however, a student worker in the Archives and Special Collections within Frost Library, which gives me familiarity with something of which many Amherst students are ignorant: institutional memory.
I was very surprised to receive the e-mail sent by President Martin on October 18twith the subject line “President Martin’s Statement on Sexual Assault.” This email led me to the first-person account written by Angie Epifano published in The Amherst Student the day before that. I was horrified and dismayed reading her account of what transpired following her May 2011 assault. Her letter eventually led me to Dana Bolger’s website, “it happens here,” and her blog posting at ACVoice. In Ms.
It was the Sunday night before class, and confusion reigned supreme on campus. With Hurricane Sandy set to make landfall in several hours, students stayed up late waiting for information about classes the next day. Confused Facebook messages flew back and forth. Some students announced defeat in the waiting game and decided they were just going to skip class for their own safety in spite of forthcoming news.
Trigger warning: this piece discusses visceral details of sexual assault.
The frequency of sexual assault on American college campuses derives primarily from tolerance of sexism and sexist acts and widespread ignorance regarding rape.
Dear President Martin,
I'm sure you've received plenty of backlash, both in public and in private, in regards to the culture of sexual violence that has been so prevalent at Amherst College throughout its history. I, a Mount Holyoke student, write to you to tell you I am truly beyond appalled at your administration's lack of an appropriate response to this issue. In fact, more than your lack of appropriateness, I am appalled at the events brought to light in an op-ed by Angie Epifano that was published in The Amherst Student on Oct. 17, 2012.
