Recently, Winthrop University released a set of online training courses centered around sexual assault and the use of drugs/alcohol.
In the spring of 2021, Winthrop students gathered outside DiGorgio Student Center in protest of how Winthrop administrators were handling reports of sexual assault. Following the arrest of Charles Prince in 2020, Winthrop students assumed that the university was ready to start taking these allegations seriously. However, it appears that the university has once again taken the wrong action.
Following the April protest, interim president George Hynd sent out a letter to the Winthrop community. In this letter, he assured that Winthrop administrators were “actively listening to students to gain a better understanding of their perspectives.” Meetings with students were held, and a course of action was set into place for the upcoming year. No one expected the plan of action to be largely tone deaf.
On Sep. 2, Kimberly Faust, Winthrop’s Title IX coordinator, sent an email inviting students to complete an online course of training videos similar to “Not Anymore,” a Wingspan series of videos dedicated to educating students about peer pressure and consent. The new series of training videos is specifically centered around sexual assault and other forms of abuse – substance abuse, stalking, domestic abuse, etc. This latest addition to the saga of Winthrop’s sexual assault did not sit well with the Johnsonian staff.
Immediately following the announcement for these videos, Johnsonian staff members voiced their concerns. Lyn Horton, the Johnsonian’s podcast editor, called the decision to release the videos “silly.” “It isn’t clear how seriously they are going to handle sexual assault cases that actually happen.” Horton said. “Prevention is good, but not when it isn’t backed up with actionable stuff on part of Winthrop.”
While students need to be educated on topics such as sexual assault and substance abuse, this new set of training videos does not exactly give students accurate information. The presentation of these videos relies heavily on victim blaming, as seen by one of the videos titled simply “Sexiness.” In this video, the narrators warn students of dressing provocatively lest someone gets “the wrong idea,” and warns students of going to parties where they can be taken advantage of.
Scooter Mistretta, the podcast’s assistant editor, was particularly disturbed by the lack of information surrounding male survivors of sexual assault. The videos were largely targeted to female students, but what about the male-identifying people who are thrust into similar situations? “This is so utterly irresponsible,” Mistretta said in reference to the gender disparity.
An employee of the Johnsonian who wishes to remain anonymous is horrified at the lack of diversity in these videos. “It’s 2021, the default should not be straight, cisgender couples. Queer assault happens daily, but nobody seems to notice because it is still considered ‘taboo’ to be anything but straight or cisgender. When will our reports get taken seriously?” While the videos are more inclusive than the original “Not Anymore” series, it is the videos’ implication that male students are always the aggressor, while female students are always their targets.
Overall, the Johnsonian staff is outraged that this is Winthrop’s “solution” to repeating issues involving sexual assault. It is especially frustrating that this is a response to student concerns, but was done, seemingly, without the approval of students. Taylor Sallenger, the assistant news editor, is displeased with this turn of events. “When Winthrop starts including students in their decisions, then I will know peace.”
It is unclear what Winthrop’s next steps will be in the case of bringing justice to campus. Regardless of the future, this present solution is not enough. For now, all Winthrop students can do is wait for the next administrative announcement and take matters into their own hands.
So many amazing points made in this article. I have had many problems with the Not Anymore training and as a senior, I wasn’t able to see what new changes/updates have been made to the program. I’m not surprised by the victim blaming, lack of diversity for queer survivors, and lack of representation for male survivors at all. Classic Winthrop. Thank you Johnsonian staff for bringing awareness to these issues!!!!