Bless Them Spelman Women

Students protest Spelman's silence on rumors of rape
School to launch 'presidential initiative', won't confirm reports

By JEFFRY SCOTT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/21/06

About 150 women gathered Wednesday at Spelman College to protest alleged reports of the rape of two students.

Spelman officials declined to confirm a widespread rumor that two Spelman students were raped by Morehouse college students but issued a statement announcing the launch of an initiative to raise awareness of sexual violence.

Both schools are part of the Atlanta University Center on the west side of downtown Atlanta.

The schools are considered sister and brother colleges. Spelman is all-female; Morehouse is all-male.

In response to a rally and march staged Wednesday morning by the Spelman student organization Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Spelman college president Beverly Daniel Tatum issued a four-paragraph statement Wednesday afternoon.

The statement didn't address the rumor specifically.

"As you may know, there is widespread concern on the Spelman campus about sexual violence in the Atlanta University community," the statement read.

"This concern is appropriate because according to the Bureau of Justice crime statistics, every two and a half minutes, someone is sexually assaulted in the U.S. and one in six American women has been the victim of sexual assault."

The statement said the school is launching a "presidential initiative" to examine the problem of sexual violence and exploitation and raise awareness of the problem. Spelman spokeswoman Renita Mathis declined to comment beyond the statement; the school police department referred reporters to the public relations office.

A representative for Morehouse could not be reached for comment.

Around campus a few women were wearing white T-shirts bearing in big bold letters the words "Your Sister Was Raped" and "Did I Deserve Rape?"

Tonia Washington, a 20-year-old junior, said she went to an FMLA meeting Tuesday night to plan the Wednesday march.

Students gathered at the Spelman conference center, then marched to Morehouse to protest what they said was a lack of response by school officials to the alleged rapes.

"The school has not kept us informed," said Washington. "These rapes have happened, and they [Morehouse] are our brothers, our brother school, and we are their sisters. It's outrageous."

Spelman officials declined to give any details of the alleged rapes and whether an investigation is underway.

Jason Robinson, 19, a Morehouse student who also takes classes at Spelman, said school officials have behaved responsibly: "There isn't any accuracy in what's being said," he said.

"We don't know the details. But I do know that rape is not tolerated at Morehouse College."