Editorial

We'll get the girls out: Other views

USA TODAY8:04 p.m. EDT May 13, 2014

What others are saying about Nigeria's kidnapping and educating girls.

Goodluck Jonathan, president of Nigeria: \"We promise that, wherever these girls are, we'll surely get them out. One good thing (is) that there's no story that any of them has been hurt in terms of injured or dead. … I express my empathy to the parents and the relatives and of course the guardians of these girls. We are all fathers or mothers. ... It's traumatizing; it's quite painful. But let us reassure them that we'll get their daughters out.\" OUR VIEW: A Nigerian education

Michelle Obama, first lady of the United States: \"Girls who are educated make higher wages, lead healthier lives and have healthier families. And when more girls attend secondary school, that boosts their country's entire economy. So education is truly a girl's best chance for a bright future, not just for herself, but for her family and her nation. And that's true right here in the U.S. as well. … So I hope the story of these Nigerian girls will serve as an inspiration for every girl — and boy — in this country. I hope that any young people in America who take school for granted, any young people who are slacking off or thinking of dropping out, I hope they will learn the story of these girls and recommit themselves to their education. These girls embody the best hope for the future of our world … and we are committed to standing up for them not just in times of tragedy or crisis, but for the long haul.\"

George Will,syndicated columnist: \"I do not know how adults stand there, facing a camera and say, 'Bring back our girls.' Are these barbarians in the wilds of Nigeria supposed to check their Twitter accounts and say, 'Oh oh, Michelle Obama's very cross with us, we better change our behavior'? Power is the ability to achieve intended effects. This is not intended to have any effect on the real world. It's a little bit like (what) environmentalism has become.\" Harry Reid, Senate majority leader: \"Nigeria has missed opportunities to collaborate with international partners to fight terrorism, instead carrying out its own operations often with a clumsy disregard for human rights. The Nigerian government has also been disastrously slow in responding to incidents like the kidnapping of these girls. I urge Nigeria to use all of its resources and accept

international assistance to bring the abductors to justice and return these daughters to their families.\"

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A view from campus on sexual assaults: Column

Emmaline Campbell7 a.m. EDT May 13, 2014

What I learned in my senior thesis research and as a friend of two victims was disturbing.

I know a student at the University of Chicago who was sexually assaulted by someone who lived in her dorm but did not report it for months out of fear that he would retaliate. I know another woman who was assaulted by her boyfriend and the college refused to take her complaint seriously.

When I started college four years ago, I thought I knew what campus life was all about. What I didn't know was that one in five female college students are sexually assaulted before they graduate — the estimate in a recent White House report. Sadly, that percentage hasn't changed in 20 years.

To better understand why this problem wasn't being taken more seriously at my college and so many others, I decided to explore the topic in my senior thesis. What I learned in my research and as a friend of assault victims was deeply disturbing.

On college campuses, it can be hard to find justice when students are assaulted by their classmates, their friends, or their boyfriends. While stories of assaults are plentiful, stories of perpetrators who have been held accountable are scarce.

At the University of Chicago, survivors of sexual assault have been turned away from pursuing disciplinary options against their perpetrators. The school's Disciplinary Committee has rejected other claims, leaving perpetrators on campus. Because of systematic problems, the university is under investigation by the Department of Education. None of this should be surprising.

Colleges also can be in the difficult position of being both the prosecutor and defense attorney. If the perpetrator is also one of the college's students, the college must also provide him with assistance for the disciplinary process. The federal agency that oversees this issue hasn't done any better. The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which monitors university responses to sexual assault, has been unsuccessful because its method of dealing with universities that violate federal requirements is inherently flawed. Each investigation can take months, and it culminates in a \"letter of finding\" which reveals all of the violations found and all of the requirements the department will be imposing on the university to bring it into compliance.

These letters of finding could be a valuable resource for helping universities to learn from past mistakes, but they are not made readily available to the public. The department has refused to publish them online.

In light of the department's record of ineptitude, the White House's recent announcement that it would take on the issue is reason for hope. It has the clout to blow past the obstacles that have held back the Department of Education. The White House can speak directly to college students through social media, as it did last month with the YouTube video \"1 is 2 Many,\" featuring celebrities such as actor Steve Carelland public figures such as Vice President Joe Biden.

The White House can also pressure the Department of Education to finally do its job, as evidenced by its directive that the department publish — for the first time — a list of all of the colleges currently under investigation.

Those are critical first steps, but even the power of the White House can only begin to chip away at the layers of bureaucracy that have worked to silence sexual assault.

As I was working on my thesis, I was frustrated that the system was so egregiously ineffective and thousands of college students were suffering as a result. It's great to see students speaking up and the White House getting involved, but we shouldn't be complacent. We all need to take advantage of this moment to keep this issue in the spotlight. We can't let another 20 years go by without progress.

Emmaline Campbell, a Law, Letters & Society major, graduates from the University of Chicago in June, and will attend the University of California at Berkeley School of Law in the fall.