On January 18, Brock Turner, a 19-year old student and swimmer at Stanford University, was seen by two passerby students raping an unconscious and intoxicated woman (ABC7). When Turner saw the students, he tried to run away from the scene, but was chased and tackled by one of the witnesses, who proceeded to hold him down while police were notified of the incident.
This is not the first time that a student has been raped on a college campus, and this is not the first time that an article has been written about such an incident. To many readers, this article already looks all too familiar, and reads like a sort of equation. Reporter talks about a rape that happened at a college campus. Reporter mentions that the police were notified of the incident. Can you guess what comes next? Ah yes, reporter criticizes the school’s less than admirable reaction to the crime.
Well, guess what? I’m going to praise Stanford’s response to this incident. That’s right, folks. A university responded to a rape report appropriately and responsibly. Turner reportedly “voluntarily withdrew” from the university on Tuesday. Translation: the school gave him an ultimatum; withdraw or be expelled. This is safe to assume, considering Stanford banned him from stepping foot on campus. After all, it’s kind of difficult to attend your classes when you are forbidden from going anywhere near them.
There is no doubt that anybody who thinks that it is okay to engage in sexual activity with a person without mutual consent is, for lack of a better word, a scumbag. Nothing can change that fact. However, it is comforting to see that there are people in this world who are taking a stand against scumbags and fighting for justice to be served to them on a silver platter. I applaud the students who intervened when they witnessed a woman being raped, and think that a standing ovation may be in order for how Stanford reacted to the incident. Let it be known that this case is a perfect example of how a school should respond to one of its students raping someone. I can think of a few schools who should be taking notes.