On April 30, 2015, in the National Football League Draft, Jameis Winston was the number-one pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He won the Heisman Trophy and had a remarkable college season with 26 wins and one loss. He went on to win NFL Rookie of the Year in 2016.
He also allegedly raped a woman.
But they didn’t talk about that.
On January 25, former Florida State University student Erica Kinsman finally settled her lawsuit against the school for $950,000. She alleged that she was raped by college football star and fellow student Winston. The lawsuit was on the grounds of the school not giving her due protection under Title IX; the school’s police department took 10 months to test Winston’s DNA and, even after it came out positive, didn’t file charges against him. He remained a star in the eyes of his friends, industry professionals and Florida State University. Many believe that Winston sexually assaulted a woman. This is not an isolated incident. Students are getting sexually assaulted on college campuses all over the country and we need to start actively acknowledging it.
In May of 2014, the federal government released a list of 55 universities under investigation for Title IX violation. Number 12 on that list is Florida State University. Keep going down the list and you’ll see Harvard, Princeton and Dartmouth among other renowned institutions. Then you’ll finally get to #39 and see it glaring at you: Binghamton University.
In dorms, bars, off-campus houses and other places, students of all genders are being violated and hurt. A huge problem is that people are often unable to identify sexual assault. Sexual assault doesn’t have to be violent and occur in a dark alley — although that still happens. Sexual assault is when two people are in an intimate encounter, one is substantially more inebriated than the other and there is a lack of basic coherence. Sexual assault happens when she isn’t in the mood but you had to keep asking. Sexual assault is the absence of consent.
People also refuse to acknowledge and address assault. We don’t want to talk about it because the issue is too sensitive or because we can’t relate to it. And because there is no discussion, there is no urgency among administrators and peers for adequate resources and support for victims. We also live in a culture that prioritizes the reputation of a school, athlete or anyone else over basic human rights and the physical and emotional safety of a victim. When Winston sexually assaulted Kinsman, he was the athlete whose future could’ve been at risk; she was considered a whore, a slut, “the most hated girl in Tallahassee.” Have we forgotten who the real victim is?
If we want to see victims taken seriously, we need to see a change in campus climate. People need to talk about sexual assault. A nationwide initiative called “It’s On Us” was created in an attempt to promote awareness through identification and intervention. What exactly is on us, though? It’s on us to prevent sexual assault and be a resource for people affected by it. As a school, BU needs advocacy that students can count on, a rape crisis center for victims to go to and communication with our newly appointed Title IX coordinator. We should have walls lined with literature and posters to make students aware of campus resources. We should receive surveys by email so the people affected by this hideous phenomenon can anonymously talk about their experiences and show us what has been going wrong for too long.
The fact of the matter is that one in four girls in college will be sexually assaulted. And when that girl is sexually assaulted, she won’t go to administrators, she won’t go to our school’s rape crisis center, she won’t go to an advocate. Where she will go is to her dorm, where she’ll bury her face in her pillow and cry herself to sleep for that night, and far too many nights after. I, for one, think it’s on me to change that. It’s on all of us.
Raaga Rajagopala is a sophomore double-majoring in economics and French