Eckerd College President: You Can Stop Rape By Not Drinking Or Having Casual Sex

[Miles Archer]

Eckerd College President: You Can Stop Rape By Not Drinking Or Having Casual Sex

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/25/eckerd-college-president-rape_n_6221136.html



On Sunday, Eckerd College President Donald Eastman sent an "open letter" to all students and faculty urging students to cut back on alcohol and casual sex in order to prevent sexual assault. He says that by doing so, students will address the "nexus of problems" surrounding sexual assault.

"You know that these incidents are almost always preceded by consumption, often heavy consumption, of alcohol, often by everyone involved in them," the Florida college president wrote. The full letter was published by the Current, Eckerd's student paper.

Eastman condemned casual sex, writing that "No one’s culture or character or understanding is improved by casual sex." He added that "those who are virtuous are happier as well as healthier," and referred to how "Western Culture" values virtue.

"I was trying to say that we would have a healthier and less dangerous campus if people drank less and took their sexual relations more seriously," Eastman clarified in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times.

[ladjf]

1. How to naive morons such as Eastman get selected for such important positions? nt

[Hari Seldon]

2. I don't know about STOPPING rape

but alchohol does seem to play a role in a lot of crime.

I think a lot of crime would go away if we didn't have places where people could drive to and once there become so inebriated that they may commit or become the victims of crime.

I hope this isn't victim blaming, because that isn't my intent.

[jberryhill]

3. That is why there was no crime in the 1920's

[Hari Seldon]

4. Except for the bootlegging I guess

[still_one]

7. yup, that was what boardwalk empire was all about. What is troublesome about the Eckerd college

president's comments is that he is actually justifying rape for those who engage in alcohol use, and what he describes as casual sex.

Gee, with that logic if a women walks down the street with a short dress, and gets sexually assaulted, I would suspect he would blame it on her attire

[CTyankee]

5. rape is about males asserting power over females. It is not about two people having

consensual sex together when they have been drinking.

[Hari Seldon]

6. What do you call it when

men have forced sex with other men?

[CTyankee]

10. rape, of course, but what is your take on why some men would rape other men?

delve into that question a bit...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

8. but we have been told time and time again here

that an inebriated person cannot give consent... what's the answer to that? cause i am pretty damned sure that college kids (especially but not exclusively) are gonna keep getting drunk and keep on fuckin'...

sP

[Lee-Lee]

9. No, sex with a person too intoxicated to give consent is rape

Rape is many things under the law.

It also is not just a crime committed by men against women.

[CTyankee]

11. Your first answer is correct and I agree.

men raping men is an act of aggression against the perceived "weaker" man and that is also that rapist's assertion of power over what he perceives as feminine. Why is a man calling another man a p**** considered such an insult?

[Initech]

38. As Homer Simpson says: "To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

[Recursion]

12. The worst thing is, it's good advice. Here's my attempt at rephrasing it in a better way.

Alcohol is a powerful drug whose biochemistry is still not entirely understood. Many people partake of alcohol moderately as a fulfilling part of their lives. Nonetheless, young adults who are unfamiliar with alcohol have a demonstrated risk of multiple types of injuries from inappropriate consumption. Federal health guidelines limit drinks to 4 in one night and 14 in one week, with at least two days a week with no drinking. As the President of your college, I strongly urge you to adopt those guidelines at least as a start, until you are familiar with alcohol's particular affects on your body and mind. (And obviously, since the drinking age in Florida and the rest of the US is 21 I am afraid I must insist that underclassmen not drink, in accordance with the law.) If at any point you feel you have a problem with being unable to control your drinking of alcohol, you can visit the counseling center completely anonymously, or you can come by my office with complete amnesty if you prefer.

Furthermore, there is a dangerous nexus between alcohol and sexual assault, that reveals itself in multiple ways. The plainest is this: the most common "date rape drug" in use worldwide is alcohol. Far, far too many of our students (and particularly female students) are already victims of sexual assault. Maintaining control of alcohol consumption is not by any means a panacea, but in addition to the health benefits it also prevents alcohol from being used as a drug against you.

While we are talking about sexual assault: sex is a beautiful and wonderful thing, and statistics tell me that most of you will probably engage in it while you are here. If you will take a codger's advice for a moment: please, please, please be careful. You're of an age that you know about diseases and pregnancy and their prevention; that's not really what I'm talking about. Sex is possibly the most powerful force in human life, in some ways. But as with anything powerful, it can be dangerous. You will have many opportunities to have sex in the next four years, and some will be more felicitous than others. Trust your instincts, trust your feelings, and most importantly only have sex if you trust your partner.

One more note on that: consent. It is only sex if there is affirmative consent. If that consent is not granted, it is not sex, it is violence. And the transformation from sex to violence, from the most beautiful to the most horrible aspects of human behavior, is possibly the most tragic and reprehensible transformation possible. Regrettably, we see that transformation all too often on college campuses, and Eckerd is not immune from that. While sexual violence affects all persons, it is unequally balanced from a gender perspective: men are more frequently the perpetrators, and women more frequently the victims. So, I would like, as a man, to address the following paragraph to the men matriculating at our fine college:

As a man that, I hope, you at least partly look up to: I must insist that you only engage in sex when you have the explicit and clear consent of your partner. This is what a real man does, and I expect no less of you. I am coordinating with the residence assistants and Greek liaisons to get this message out, and my office is always open for any questions whatsoever that you have.

I would also like to address the following comment to all students, male or female, who experience sexual assault: We at Eckerd take you seriously, and we will do everything within our power for you. If you are a victim of sexual assault, please speak up immediately. Talk to your RA, your Greek leader, a professor, or a student affairs representative. We will not dismiss your problem, and we will listen to you. If none of these avenues work for you, my office is Room X in Building Y. The door is always open to students and it is a Safe Space for any concern.

Thank you for coming, blah blah blah.


There we go. I offer this speech freely to any higher ed administrator who wants to copy it.

[CTyankee]

13. what is telling is that the Eckerd president did NOT phrase it the way you did.

He should certainly have known better and if not, I can't see how he deserves to be a college president.

I am shaken by the fact that my granddaughter was considering Eckerd if she did not get into her school of choice,the College of Charleston, which she did get into and now attends. A good friend of mine went there and loved it. She is a very strong feminist and is outraged that her colllege's president would besmirch her alma mater in such a fashion.

I hope more and more schools will adopt the language you include here, instead of laying all the responsibility of avoiding rape on women.

[Recursion]

15. Hell, maybe I should float it out there; my mom is still a dean of students

and she might know colleges that could use it

[Recursion]

16. Oh, and go cougars!

I used to live in Spartanburg and I love Charleston...

[CTyankee]

17. I was there for Parents Weekend to see granddaughter. She loves the C of C. Her home is in

a suburb of Boston, so she wanted warmer weather. What I found out was that C of C has lots of students from MA. It seems to be a very popular school for New England kids!

We had a great stay in Charleston. I must say that the hospitality was just outstanding.

[raccoon]

24. Great post. nt

[Le Taz Hot]

14. ARRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

[LeftinOH]

18. He may sound like an old fogey.. but he is correct.

There is such a thing as "hookup regret", as in "OMG, I was really drunk.. I can't believe I did it with what's-her/his-name". We have all heard this line from others, or maybe said it ourselves.

In college, I was astonished at (what I perceived to be) the lack of moral compass and self-control exhibited by some of my peers.

President Eastman states that the situation might improve if "people drank less and took their sexual relations more seriously." He is NOT suggesting that young people don't drink, or that they don't have sex.

And yes, poster Recursion (above) said it a lot better.

[CTyankee]

19. The problem is that his temperance lecture and his "sexual relations" lecture are being done in

the context of stopping rape. While such talks may indeed be useful, he should not have linked them with rape which is a crime of violence. Recursion did state it better.

[Johonny]

23. 40-50% of vioent crime involve alcohol so it is not so dumb

Rape generally follows other violent crime in this trend. It impairs judgement of the victim and the perpetrator. While it won't STOP rape. It is a simple solution that likely would reduce instances where people confront each other under impaired judgement. Solving the complex issues involved in violent crime is hard, but when writing about simple things people can do to avoid either being raped or committing rape I don't think it is exactly stupid to point out alcohol is a huge contributing factor in many rape cases. Life is about not putting yourself into bad situations. It is not that a bad situation might not happen to you anyways, but simple things can help you avoid them. If someone asked me what can I do to stay out of bad situation I'd tell them the same thing as this guy: stay away from situations with large amounts of alcohol.

Will stopping alcohol consumption end violence? No one seems to be even very good at stopping alcohol consumption. I doubt most people will listen to his advice. As for casual sex... if the man figures out a way to prevent people from having sex, he deserves a prize

[Jamastiene]

35. Rape is not "hookup regret" or "sexual relations."

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Wow! That Was So Simple!

Simple solutions from a simpleton

[csziggy]

21. Eckerd College was originally Florida Presbyterian and still has ties to the church

But I am surprised this guy sounds as though he is still living in the time before the college was ever founded!

My oldest sister graduated from Florida Presbyterian in 1968 and I went there for my freshman year (1970-71). Back then it was a pretty radical, liberal college. There were only about 1100 students when I was attending and it's still a tiny college (about 1800 students according to Wikipedia).

[CTyankee]

25. My friend who went to Eckerd went on to get a Master's at Yale Divinity School. She is also

a deacon in her Episcopalian church, giving communion to shut-ins.

[csziggy]

37. It is/was a great school

My oldest sister went on to get her Master's at Duke, then her PhD at University of South Florida and became an associate professor at USF before her death.

I didn't stay at Florida Presbyrterian since I had no intention of going on for an advanced degree and every counseling session was about what to take to be ready for my Master's or Doctorate. It was the year after I left that Jack Eckerd donated a bunch of money to the college - since the Presbyterians were no longer supporting them as completely - and they decided to change their name in his honor.

[Initech]

22. Yeah that's the "if you don't own a gun you're less likely to get shot" argument.

[cyberswede]

26. You can stop rape by locking everyone alone in their rooms 24 hours a day, too

...which is about as equally likely to happen.

[WinkyDink]

27. Or...Rapists can stop raping. (Are merchants blamed for shop-lifters? Are banks blamed for robbers?)

[Rex]

30. IKR!? Why do some men treat this simple understanding like it is rocket science?

Don't rape. It is that easy.

[WinkyDink]

32. Heh. I changed it, but now what the hey: Males can stop raping!

[Rex]

33. Well since almost all rape is done by males, I think we need the message the most.

Seriously, I will NEVER buy someone claiming they were too drunk, stoned etc.. to realize they were violating another person.

[Jamastiene]

36. +10,000,000,000 n/t

[Rex]

28. So what about the women raped and murdered in the college parking lot?

She just too drunk to find her car fast enough?

Seriously, I get what he is trying to say but he is full of shit if he thinks rape only happens at frat parties. What would really cut back the raping of innocent women, is for guys to not be monsterous assholes when they get a stiffy and find a passed out women on the couch.

I don't care how drunk somebody gets, they STILL know rape is the ultimate violation of another persons rights and body. NOBODY is that stupid...no excuses.

[L0oniX]

29. Eckerd College has a local reputation for being a party college. Does this dolt know that?

Apparently he does ...so he spews this shit. He might as well be saying women should stay at home or they risk being raped.

BTW I have 3 female Eckerd students who crew for me racing my 27' sailboat.

[joeybee12]

31. Wow! Is it really that easy! Great...problem solved!

Now what's his solution for world hunger!!!

[maxrandb]

34. Great

someone who hasn't been laid in 20 years telling young people about sex.

[Warren DeMontague]

39. The guy has a yellow bow tie with polka dots on.

By definition, he's not qualified to offer advice to anyone about getting laid.

[CTyankee]

41. CLUE-less.

[mythology]

40. He can help lower the amount of stupidity in the world by not speaking (ever again preferably)

What a dumbass.

Yes, being intoxicated makes one easier to victimize, for any number of crimes, but it also doesn't mean that an intoxicated person deserved to be the victim of a crime, nor is it a necessary precondition to being the victim of a crime.

I wonder how some people manage to remember to feed themselves, or not walk in front of buses given the utter lack of intellectual thought they display.