University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan on Monday acknowledged the role that excessive drinking and a social scene dominated by parties at fraternity houses have played in sexual violence on campus.
After a handful of recent high-profile stumbles by university leaders talking about the intersection of alcohol and sexual assault, Sullivan spoke about the issues in a way that did not appear to blame women.
Comments by other presidents that did appear to place some blame on rape victims were met quickly with criticism online and via social media. Yet response to Sullivan's remarks has been, if not praised, at least not widely criticized in the hours following the speech.
Her speech to students Monday was the latest of several campus-wide letters and statements regarding the fallout from a Rolling Stone article published last month that described a brutal on-campus gang rape. The article also was highly critical of what it described as a campus culture that turned a blind eye to sexual assault.
Sullivan said that university leaders know much of the student population drinks and that binge drinking is a problem.
"Alcohol does not cause rape, but alcohol is often a tool of the predator," she said.
Women and men should know what they're drinking and where their drink came from, and women have to understand that their usually smaller body weight means that smaller amounts of alcohol will have a bigger effect on them, she said.
"The predators certainly know this," Sullivan said. "Serving sweet-tasting but high-proof punches to women, while the guys sip a few beers, is often described as the prelude for taking advantage of the women."
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/12/02/u-virginia-president-discusses-next-steps-sexual-assault