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Gambill was raped by her ex-boyfriend, another UNC student, and then went public about what happened to her. She allowed for her name to be used in reports. She did interviews. She talked about her case. She never mentioned the name of her alleged rapist.
Apparently, UNC thinks a rape victim should keep their mouth shut because heaven forbid a rape victim wants to publicly talk about it to raise awareness that a crime happened on campus. THE HORROR.
Gambill joined a group on campus with 64 other students and teachers to file a complaint that the university was pressuring students to underreport sexual assault cases. She received an email from Elizabeth Ireland, the Graduate & Professional Schools Student Attorney General, alerting her of a possible Honor Code violation and that she is now facing expulsion for “disruptive or intimidating behavior” against her attacker.
You know what’s more disruptive or intimidating? RAPE. I am so unbelievably disgusted by UNC’s actions here and so impressed with Landen Gambill for not backing down.
She told Jezebel, “The reason why I’m so vocal about this isn’t because I just want justice for my case. I want to make sure no one else has to go through this if they want to report an assault to the university.”
Rape is NEVER the victim’s fault. The fact that a victim is facing expulsion from school as a result for reporting and discussing her attack is just so beyond me. Behavior like this from universities and administrators and the belief that if you don’t hear about it then it didn’t happen is so wrong.
According to RAINN, 54% of rapes go unreported. With administrations like UNC, it doesn’t surprise me that victims are afraid to come forward.
If I met Landen Gambill, I would give her a big hug and thank her because she is going to make a difference.
What do you think about UNC threatening to expel Landen? Do you think it’s fair? Tell me in the comments.
Oh and another university thinks you should vomit to avoid rape
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According to the article, the rape allegation went through the school’s honor court first. Is this the same as taking it directly to the police, and if not, why not? Seems weird to have a school deciding matters on something as serious as rape.
It’s not! That’s what’s so disgusting about the “honor court’s ruling”. Most schools give the rapist slaps on their wrists so they don’t raise awareness of vile acts on their campus. But they don’t think of when these stories get out and call for public outcry. Plus ALWAYS go to the police first. They are trained to fight for victims, not shame them or encourage the perpetrators.
As expected, people are frothing at the mouth despite not really understanding the facts of the situation.
The broad strokes of the situation are this: She accused her ex-boyfriend of rape. The boyfriend was found not guilty by the school’s honor court. She didn’t like that decision and filed a lawsuit against the school. She continues to hold press conferences and publicly bang the drum over how “unjust” it all is. Her ex-boyfriend complained that she was creating an intimidating environment for him. A STUDENT AG filed honor charges against her in response to this.
I see nothing inherently wrong with any of this. You had your hearing, and you lost. The next step is to go to the police with your accusation if you think you were wronged. The school owes you a hearing, but it doesn’t owe you a conviction. Accused students have rights too and due process must be followed. It’s really just about sour grapes at this point, and I think she’s enjoying the chance to publicly play the martyr.
It should also be noted that Gambill is a Gender Studies major. You know, that “discipline” that encourages perpetual female victimhood? Just sayin’…
Your argument for ‘due process’ doesn’t count because that isn’t the court of law. She ‘had her hearing and lost’ isn’t right because the school more than likely wants to ‘put it behind them’. So to say she had a chance is way off base. A chance would’ve been her talking to the police. And I think it’s important to spread awareness, even if you’re shut down by the administration of anyone else. This happens all the time. Someone you love could fall victim and I KNOW you’d be outraged. So saying ‘perpetual female victimhood’ is so very offensive, because if this happened to you, you’d be disgusted to have someone say your claim is fake.
This is reported completely inaccurately…
I attend UNC. I know Landen, somewhat.
She is NOT facing expulsion. She received a stock letter that all students get when somebody accuses them of an honor code violation. The stock letter lists off a number of possible punishments, ranging from a written citation to expulsion. It is highly unlikely she will be expelled. A bunch of random websites keep perpetuating the lie that she misrepresented on facebook, and it’s gotten way out of hand.
Further, she is not being accused of an honor code violation for reporting her rape. The accusation, whether it is valid or not, is for going public with a private hearing. Though she never identifies her accused rapist, everybody who is facebook friends with her (she has like 700) knows she dated this guy, and knows that is who was accused. Her original honor court hearing DID NOT CONVICT her ex-boyfriend of raping her. Nobody knows why because it is confidential. I repeat, nobody really knows if he actually raped her OR the contents of the hearing. I’m not saying he did or he didn’t, but the entire world is jumping to some conclusions without any facts whatsoever. That doesn’t help anybody, including Landen and other rape victims.
I do think it’s absolutely ridiculous that rape cases are held by a mere honor court instead of proper criminal authorities, and I think this system is broken and needs to change. But please stop ruining the reputation of my university by inaccurately reporting the situation.
Hi Samantha, thank you for your comment! We are reporting on facts that we get from the news, which include quotes from Landen about the case. All information I gathered on this topic indicates that Landen is facing expulsion.
This article is not meant to ruin a university’s reputation. Unfortunately, these situations happen frequently on college campuses and there is often an attempt to silence victims as to not upset the university. The fact that Landen is speaking out allows for other victims to know that it’s okay to come forward and report what happened to them.
We want victims to know that it’s never their fault and that they shouldn’t feel guilty or be punished for talking about it, which is exactly what Landen is doing.
I support Landen’s attempt to speak out for rape victims and I applaud her bravery in that. I obviously do not support victim blaming.
I also don’t support criminalizing my university, which is simply trying to do the best it can in a terrible situation. UNC isn’t disgusting, even though it has made some mistakes. Her rapist was found not guilty; they can’t kick him off campus for not being convicted of rape. Landen can take the case to the criminal court and get him properly convicted, THEN he can get expelled. The honor court is run by students, not university administrators. It was Landen’s ex-boyfriend that filed the charges against her, NOT the university.
But she really, truly isn’t “facing” expulsion. That’s just not true. All “the sources” you got your reporting from are also wrong. They’re getting swept up in the media firestorm and hanging on the sensational parts of the story because that gets web traffic.
Here:
http://campusblueprint.com/2013/02/27/misunderstandings-surround-gambill-case/
The most relevant part:
“According to the student conduct website on Honor System Procedures: “If the Honor Court finds a student has violated the Honor Code, it will apply a sanction that reflects the University’s goals to educate the student, protect the community, and redress any harm caused by the student’s act.” While expulsion is an option, it is not the only one. According to Grayson, expulsion is rarely utilized as a sanction. Additionally, Gambill will have an option to appeal the Honor Courts decision.”
I do think the story merits reporting, and I know it happens on campuses, including my own. I just want it to be reported correctly, which I realize is a losing battle because nobody cares to know the facts. They just want to sound off about the issue.
Further, UNC was in the middle of moving sexual assault cases out of the honor court system when Landen’s case came through. That is very unfortunate timing and it is terrible this happened to her, but it also means that UNC was working to fix the problems it’s being accused of before this all happened. The new system should help prevent situations like this in the future. We’re making strides. Nobody is reporting on that, either.
We can only have a productive conversation about all of this if everyone knows the facts.
This is disgusting. UNC is pathetic. Maybe a lawsuit would shut them up, certainly a thought.
if she didn’t even mention her attacker’a name, then what exactly is wrong with this by the college’s viewpoint? i say any girl should speak up because she has that right to
Wow. I can somewhat relate to this post because half a month ago I finished the proceedings to find my rapist, another student at my university, in violation of sexual misconduct and other charges. From the very beginning I was told that it was HIS enrollment status at the university, not mine, and out of respect for him and his privacy, that I shouldn’t talk about the case. Sadly, the university finding him in violation did not do much for my piece of mind, it’s still taking a while for the sense of empowerment I was promised.
However, if she is making sure that she does not release his name, I don’t see what the issues with her making her story known are. Of course, his friends and family and her friends and family may be able to assign him to the crime, but it’s not like she’s just pointing fingers. A decision was made, HE was wrong, and to know that some big tv host like Bob Beckel can say, “When’s the last time you heard about rape on a college campus?” makes her telling her story that much more important. 1 IN 4 college women will experience an attempted or “successful” sexual assault while in college. 1 IN FRIGGIN 4. That means that if you know 4 girls at the same college, you can bet your bottom dollar one of them will face some type of violation before they graduate. Statistics ain’t pretty, but they’re true. I wish I was strong enough to tell my story more, to make people believe these statistics, and facilitate some type of change. I applaud Landen Glambill for erasing the shame usually associated around sexual violence, I hope she gets a big booty of an apology from UNC and them some for the added hell they have made her endure.