Missoula

It’s always hard to read real life stories about issues that sting, such as rape on college campuses, welcome to Jon Krakauer’s latest investigative journey into the University of Montana’s sexual assaults on their campus in Missoula, the name of the city where the incidents occurred.  Krakauer asks the questions whether campuses should actually be handling the cases, as these assaults are against the law, and believes it is better handled by law enforcement agencies, though his exposé shows how inept both the Misssoula police department and the local district attorney’s offices are in handling the cases that emanate from the campus, which is the heart of the town.  While there are numerous alleged campus sexual assaults at UM, Krakauer focuses on two incidents in depth, the alleged assaults by two UM football players, Beau Donaldson and Jordan Johnson, both very high profile cases in which the victims come forward and decide to press charges against the two men.  In both cases the reader is provided the facts surrounding the cases (which in Johnson’s case are in disagreement, while in the Donaldson case he admits the rape).  After learning of the details in the case, the court proceedings, interviews from the case, and finally the findings and community response are discussed.  In both cases the accused want to blame the victims, and the community supports the two men over the women….  (it is a sad state of affairs when a woman feels so scared for her life that she can’t go forward through a court proceeding because of the backlash she will endure.  Krakauer is presenting one of the biggest challenges facing our college system, behavior that is so egregious, that the question on how an institution handles is under constant scrutiny… and frankly, it should be.  Krakauer ably notes that alcohol is the root of the problem.  Our society has yet to adequately address the abuse of alcohol on college campuses, best outlined in a four part story in the Chronicle of Higher Education last spring.  The series of article notes that this age old problem has not changed even though much money and attention has been spent on addressing it, yet there is no reduction in binge drinking, sexual assaults on campus, nor how parents have changed their opinion on the problem.  Krakauer also presents the latest changes in legal expectations of colleges’ response to sexual assaults and his thoughts on how in some cases the response can be quicker and more efficient than our judicial system, but public opinion and politics, in the case of the Board of Regents in Montana, aren’t always the way they should be.  The book is a frightening reminder of the scale of the problem and the various political realities of the power that the college athletics has on “hometown fans.”  As a college administrator, Krakauer presented a balanced overview of both sides of the issue.  This is a mandatory read for all entering college men and women.  NYU’s consent education process is one example of a well-thought out response in getting the word out that No, means NO.       http://www.nyu.edu/life/safety-health-wellness/sexual-respect.html Thanks for bringing this issue to the forefront.