I want to thank The Daily Collegian for publishing an editorial on sexual assault. It scares me how casually students at this school talk about rape, as if it is something that could never touch them. It saddens me to say that most people on campus actually know someone who has been sexually assaulted, whether they realize it or not.
People on this campus don’t know the power of their words. I so often overhear people casually say things like, “that test raped me.” They don’t realize the weight of what they are saying, or the likelihood that someone around them has been sexually assaulted. I’ve honestly been wanting to write this letter to the Collegian for a while now.
I’m in a position where people often come to me after being sexually assaulted, and the number has spun out of control since July. I want to ask the student body to step up and admit there is a problem. Nobody is untouchable. Rape can happen to anyone. And please remember to never blame the victim. The message should not be “Don’t get raped” — it should be “Don’t rape.”
Madeline Chandler
senior-media studies and women’s studies
