By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
AMHERST - At a meeting intended to quell growing concern following a recently publicized report of a past sexual assault on campus, school officials heard from several outraged students Thursday, some of whom shared their own stories of rape and the red tape that kept the alleged perpetrator from being punished.
Fighting back tears, UMass sophomore Erika Tabur begged Dean of Students Jo-Anne T. Vanin and Jean Kim, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, to review current policies regarding on-campus sexual assault, after describing how she and her friends were among those victimized.
Before a sympathetic and vocal gathering of about 50 people, Tabur, 20, said she and one of her friends both dated a sexually abusive male student and had "terrible experiences" when seeking help from UMass police and deans at the college.
"I was told verbatim by a detective that 'the guy is a jerk and unfortunately being a jerk isn't against the law,'" Tabur said, adding, "I've come to terms with it. I understand this is a gray area because we both dated him, and it's not like someone came out of the bushes and attacked somebody."
Also sharing her experience was Amanda Molina, 22, a first-year graduate student who spent four years at the college as an undergraduate. She said she was drugged and raped in a dorm room during her junior year.
"I don't know anything about the university's disciplinary procedures with this, but when I went to the UMass Police Department for help, I felt harassed and revictimized," Molina said.
Vanin, who fielded questions at the meeting, admitted that the reported sexual assault was mishandled by faculty members and that an egregious error occurred when a dean at the college chose not to seek her opinion when handing out a deferred suspension as punishment.
"Unfortunately I have to sit here before you and acknowledge that in recent history we had a case that came to the office of which the outcome, for me, was unacceptable," Vanin said. "That is a very difficult thing for me to say, because I take great pride in the work that my office and my staff does. This outcome is completely unacceptable."
Although she was unable to release new details about the case, Vanin announced that the student accused of sexual assault no longer lives in any on-campus residential building and will not be allowed back on campus in the future.
"That should provide some comfort to students, but it does not take away the fact that this situation was handled incorrectly," Vanin said, adding "I wish it was possible to go back and change it, but I cannot do that. What I can do is everything I can in my role as dean to ensure that this will not happen again."
Another student upset with how college administrators handled the reported sexual assault was sophomore Roy Ribitcky, who asked Vanin why school officials "are so scared of prosecuting a rapist who admitted to his crime?"
"Who is this guy? Is he the chancellor's son? Is he one of your sons? Is he an all-star athlete?" Ribitcky asked. "Why are you too scared to get a rapist off of our campus?"
When asked how her office would regain the trust of students and parents of incoming students at the college, Vanin said it would be done by making sure a similar mistake isn't repeated.
"With this incident front and center, my office has lost a lot of trust," she said. "It is going to take the work that we do moving forward and the way that we handle future cases to earn that trust back."
Also speaking at the meeting was UMass Police Chief John Whitehead, who reminded those in attendance that the sole reason this case didn't result in a legal trial was that the alleged victim didn't want to pursue criminal charges - and that she still has that option.
"Obviously I can't predict what this person may do in the future, but there is no indication that he poses any immediate threat to the campus," Whitehead said.
Vanin and Kim also announced plans to form a special commission, made up of campus faculty members and five students, that will be charged with reviewing the school's current policy regarding sexual assaults.
The commission, Kim said, is expected to be formed following the college's spring break and is to submit a finalized report to the dean of students office by November.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
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