2000s Timeline

A new batch of predators inspires a new batch of student advocates.

Jan 2000

Date Rape Drugs on Campus

The Wellness Center is alerted by the Collective for Women’s Issues that flunitrazepam, sold as Rohypnol, is being deployed to incapacitate students. The administrator says she’s heard this, too, and suggests that concerned students should post warnings around campus. 

Feb 7, 2000

First Carleton Edition of Vagina Monologues

Collective for Women’s Issues joins national campaign against violence against women with a production of the play by Eve Ensler, first presented in New York with celebrity performers in 1998.

Feb 25, 2000

Students Possibly Roofied and Definitely Rolling

Students likely drugged with Rohypnol, or date rape drugs, at the Ebony II party on January 29. Potential victims are asked to report to the Wellness Center. RAs report “heavy and conspicuous use of the drug Ecstasy” at Evans’s Bubble Party, and sponsors are under investigation. Dean of students Mark Govoni sends a letter of concern to the community about drug use.

April 25, 2000

Take Back the Night 

Wellness Center joins an international observation of Take Back the Night with five days of activities, including a mock date-rape trial and a candlelight march. 

May 12, 2000

An “Educational” Response to Sexual Assault

A German professor and member of SHARE notes that unlike sentences meted out by the criminal justice system, consequences for sexual assault at Carleton “are designed to be educational and preventative.”

June 10, 2000

President Bill Clinton Delivers Commencement Address.

Sept 28, 2000

FDA Approves Medical Abortion Drug

Mifepristone, or RU-486, remains unavailable in Northfield.

Sept 29, 2000

Sexual Assault Policy Rewrite Under Way 

The college is working with a sexual harassment consultant to refine the policy’s terminology in hopes of avoiding problems that arose last year. Also under review: consensual relationships between students and faculty or staff. 

Oct 13, 2000

Sexual Assault Adjudication Review

Dean of students Mark Govoni proposes that cases be heard not by deans but by a separate judicial board with special training in the nuances of sexual misconduct. The subcommittee for Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Resource and Education (SHARE) will make recommendations to the College Council. 

Oct 20, 2000

Sexual Harassment Board Ratios Debated

Carletonian editors suggest that the proposed sexual harassment adjudication board include students.

Jan 19, 2001

Roofie Alerts Rise Again

After a student feeling "near paralysis" spends a night in the hospital, Dean Govoni warns students about the presence of drugs on campus and reminds them how to obtain confidential support if they’ve been drugged.

Feb 12, 2001

Sexual Harassment Role Pondered

CSA asks students for input regarding the possible hiring of a sexual harassment advisor to provide counsel on legal and logistical matters.

April 20, 2001

Police Chief: We Should Be Notified When Crimes Occur on Campus 

Carleton currently "lets the victim decide if they want to report an incident to the police," but the chief points out that retaining knowledge of a criminal offense is punishable under state law. 

Jan 6, 2002

Boston Globe Launches Series on Church Sex Abuse Coverup

The Spotlight Team reveals Catholic Church payoffs to victims of child-rapist priests.

April 15, 2002

Women's Nordic Ski Team Files Complaint 

Three months after announcing the elimination of men’s and women’s Nordic and alpine skiing, Carleton is warned by an attorney who’s the parent of a student that the college is in violation of Title IX: women account for 52.3 percent of the student body but only 43.2 percent of the school's varsity athletes. 

May 3, 2002

Better Info for Incoming

Students collaborate on a comprehensive resource for incoming freshman. “Women at Carleton would have no idea what paths were available if they were raped or assaulted,” says one. And “I certainly would not have known that the Wellness Center offers birth control pills for three bucks a pack.”

Oct 4, 2002

Plan B Available in Campus Bookstore 

Carletonian explains that unlike the highly controversial RU-486, Plan B is not an “abortion pill” and writes, “Two small pills that have recently been in high demand,” are available for $8 on campus. 

Jan 31, 2003

“Stop Coddling Rapists” 

Students write that CSA should rescind funding for the Carleton Literary Association Paper (CLAP) because at a time when “rape is a hot-button issue at Carleton,” the CLAP is advising men “to get girls drunk and do their worst.”

Feb 21, 2003

Sexual Assaults Underreported

A student writes in, “If we get only five or six reported rapes this year at Carleton (and I refer to both male and female victims), that could be the tip of the iceberg.”

April 25, 2003

Anti-Rape Installation

As part of Rape Awareness Week, Campus Advocates Against Sexual Harassment (CAASHA) put barricades on the walkway from Sayles Hill to the library that are flashing messages about sexual violence, such as “1 out of every 3 women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime.”

April 25, 2003

Abortion Loan Fund Mandate Expands

The Collective for Women's Issues decides to offer financial support to any students who get pregnant and intend to give birth. 

July 2003

Abortion Rights Curtailed in Minnesota 

The state enacts the so-called Women’s Right to Know Act, which increases stigma and shame for women seeking abortions by requiring them to undergo a mandatory delay and receive medically irrelevant and politically biased information about the procedure from their providers.

Sept 15, 2003

Students Protest Pawlenty 

Objecting to the invasion of privacy in the recently passed Women's Right to Know Act, some students demonstrate at the governor’s Carleton convocation speech.

Oct 24, 2003

Sexual Harassment Confidentiality Restored

Reversing requirements in place since 1991, student wellness advisors, gender and sexuality associates, and resident assistants are no longer required to report it when the hear about incidents of sexual harassment, though they are encouraged to discuss them with supervisors.

Nov 14, 2003 

Birth Control Subsidies Available

Dean of students Mark Govoni announces decision to use $5,000 from Wellness Center and dean’s office funds to pay up to 50 percent of birth control costs for students with a

demonstrated financial need. 

Jan 23, 2004

Student Advisers Allowed to Advise on Crime

As with the student sexual harassment advisors established in the late 1980s, student advocates can once again help survivors understand and pursue legal remedies after assaults.

Feb 28, 2004

Dorm Room Invasion

Security reports that an intoxicated student broke into another student's room and was repelled by her and her roommate. They say, “Reports were filed with the proper authorities.”

May 24, 2004

Policy Problems Persist

Two representatives of the Sexual Harassment & Sexual Assault Resource & Education Committee (SHARE) explain how the policy has been amended to make it easier to understand. College Council says the definition of sexual harassment is still unclear but passes the policy anyway.

May 24, 2004

Campus Drinking Spurs Investigation

After an unprecedented number of cases of alcohol poisoning this year, dean of students Mark Govoni presents his report on campus drinking, along with plans to make all college-sponsored activities alcohol-free and to provide more substance-free living spaces.

Oct 29, 2004

Alcohol Consumption Drives Out Dean

Govoni says he’s worn out by the high number of incidents involving alcohol poisoning that occurred last year, “including the near-death of at least one student."

Jan 5, 2005

Date Rape Drugs On Campus Again

A campus email warns students about the likely presence of Rohypnol, GHB, and Ketamine on campus and advises them to watch their friends for telltale symptoms.

Feb 16, 2005

Government Promotes Abstinence 

Under President George W. Bush, federal funding for abstinence-only education triples that of 2001.

May 6, 2005

Rape Is Still OK if the Victim Is Drunk

Three anonymous students tell the paper what they went through after being sexually assaulted, with one who was attacked at Carleton saying, “I had to tell a man old enough to be my father about the graphic sexual details of that night.” Investigations can result in a finding of violation, no violation, or "no finding," which can occur if both parties were intoxicated at the time of the incident. Her rapist was let off because she had been drinking when he assaulted her.

May 23, 2005

Two Attempted Abductions and Sexual Assaults

An all-campus email says Northfield police are investigating and reminds students of the availability of 24-hour escorts on campus. 

Oct 28, 2005

Glorifying Predatory Behavior

Members of CAASHA object to misogyny in campus publications, writing, “Virtually every issue of the Carl and the CLAP this term has contained an article with sexual references to ‘drunk freshman girls.’" 

2006

Me Too Founded

Tarana Burke begins the Me Too organization to support Black women and girls victimized by sexual violence. A decade later the name is attached to an international social movement.

Feb 17, 2006

Rape and Assault “Gray Areas”

Four panelists "put a face on rape and sexual assault at Carleton." One describes going to the hospital after being drugged, another says he was in the room at a party when a female student was raped. Another mentions the policy at Antioch College, which since 1991 has required explicit consent for sexual activity (see 1990s National Spotlight).

May 19, 2006

College Council Revisits Sexual Misconduct Policy

Members disagree with proposed updates, calling it “unfair” that any drunken sex, regardless of relationship status or previous commitments, would be considered non-consensual. In general, they believe that the policy is violated often.

Sept 22, 2006

Rape Jokes

Writer objects to racist Carletonian feature satirizing the recent gang rape of a Black stripper by the Duke lacrosse team, writing, “This isn’t satire—it’s just a good, old-fashioned misogynistic rape joke with a strong undercurrent of racism.”

April 21, 2006

“Sex Play” Replaces Assault With Stalking 

The annual new student presentation changes its sexual assault scene to one about a man stalking his ex-girlfriend, with the company explaining that stalking is “a much more common type of harassment on campus than physical violence.”  

Sept 29, 2006

Sexual Assaults on the Rise at Carleton

The annual security report says sexual assaults have doubled twice in two years from three in 2003, to six in 2004, to 14 in 2005. Some call this evidence that more students are coming forward, but in fact, most reports come from the Wellness Center. 

Oct 13, 2006

“Somebody Was Raped”

A campus email again warns about date-rape drugs. Carletonian editors urge the community to commit to women’s safety, writing that the college is “more concerned with liability than with student safety."

Nov 10, 2006

Northfield Hospital Improves Services for Sexual Assault Victims

After a senior is unable to get a rape kit done at Northfield Hospital the day after she was drugged with GBH and then raped, nurses’ hours are extended to ensure that a specialized examiner is always available. Carleton offers to reimburse the hospital if it will begin testing all sexual assault victims for date rape drugs. Although there is an “automatic feedback loop to the law enforcement,” says a doctor, “police are not required to get involved unless the patient wants to press charges.”

April 13 2007

The Price of Birth Control Pills to Triple
The Deficit Reduction Act, which went into effect in January, erased the incentive for pharmaceutical companies to distribute low-cost medications at colleges and universities. Planned Parenthood will continue to offer free birth control to students and low-income women, as well as exams and tests. 

April 18, 2007

SCOTUS Upholds Criminalizing Abortion

In Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood the Supreme Court allows Congress to ban certain second-trimester abortions without having to make exceptions for patients’ health.

May 25, 2007

“Why Are Carls Above the Law?”

“Outside of the Carleton bubble, people convicted of sexual assault go on a sexual predators list that's public information,” a student writes. At Carleton, “Unless the survivor transfers, she can't get away from the person who hurt her.”

Summer 2007

The Lens: Lenient Punishments Let Predators Stay

In its second year, the award-winning national magazine on culture and politics started by Carls runs an article on campus rape arguing that there’s a flaw in Carleton administrators’ commitment to “educational” procedures following campus assaults. Trying to teach predators the error of their ways while they remain on campus puts other students in peril. 

Sept 21, 2007

The “One in Four” Program

Students recruit for a Carleton chapter of the One in Four Program, a nationwide campaign to stop sexual violence by focusing on “empowering young men with the knowledge, skills, and support systems needed to become active participants in the prevention of rape, and trustworthy and receptive friends for victims of rape.” (For information on the origins of the name, see 1980s National Spotlight.)

May 3, 2008

Dorm Room Intruder Flees

Security takes report from a female student who woke up to discover a man in her room.

Sept 25, 2008

Chalked Messages Around Campus Decry Rape Culture

Sexual Assault Survivors and Supports (SASS) take responsibility for graffiti and posters about sexual  assault and the failures of Carleton’s internal complaint and adjudication processes. (See Carleton Spotlight.)

Sept 25, 2008

Results of Campus Climate Survey Released

Initiated by the Diversity Initiative Group primarily to identify issues with race, culture, identity, and equity, the survey also addressed sexual harassment and assault. Six percent (77 respondents) said they were sexually harassed at Carleton and 2.2 percent (34 respondents) said that they had been a victim of sexual assault at Carleton. But 568 respondents (37.3 percent) said they knew someone who had been a victim of sexual harassment at Carleton and only about 50 percent express faith in the process of adjudication.

Sept 28, 2008

“Nobody’s Satisfied”

The Gender and Sexuality Center hosts a discussion of the anti-rape chalkings, where an associate dean of students says, “What I’m hearing through this process is that students want a greater partnership in the politics and practices surrounding sexual misconduct.” 

Oct 17, 2008

Complaint Process ‘Inadequate”

Explaining the chalkings, Sexual Assault Survivors and Supporters (SASS) write, “Carleton knowingly houses rapists on campus. We are unable to ‘live, learn, work and pursue [our] interests’ at Carleton because of this constraint.”

January 2009

Community, Equity and Diversity Initiative (CEDI) Launches

Carleton creates a standing subcommittee of the College Council to address issues identified through the 2008 campus climate survey. 

January 2009

Julie Thornton Begins as Associate Dean of Students

She will be working with the RAs, as well as students in crisis or in need of support. 

Feb 6, 2009

Formal Student Leadership Requested

The members of a proposed Student Leadership Council would “represent each administrative division of the college (CSL, OIL, etc.) to foster communication and collaboration.”

Feb 6, 2009

Sex Ed for Students by Students

The Gender and Sexuality Center sponsors a comprehensive program with student sex educators trained in the Our Whole Lives (OWL) curriculum, designed by Unitarian Universalists.

April 2009

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

President Barack Obama designates April as a time to discuss sexual assault and prioritize prevention.

April 2009 

Adjudication Too Top-Heavy

In a standing room only meeting prompted by much-discussed campus assaults, about 80 students decide to coordinate a letter-writing campaign appealing to the dean of students and the president’s cabinet to address the issue of cases being adjudicated by only one person, the dean of students. Because of this practice, appeals to the JHB are common.

May 8, 2009

Take Back the Night Events

Gender and Sexuality Center presents a weeklong series designed to prevent sexual violence and foster a supportive environment for survivors. 

May 2009

Sexual Assault Policy Workshop

Students, faculty, and staff gather in the Alumni Guest House to discuss how to change policies and processes on sexual misconduct, particularly to tease out differences of opinion in the community on confidentiality and punishments.

June 2009

Policy Wish List

Students present the dean with a list of proposed revisions to the sexual misconduct policy in such areas as support services, transparency, confidentiality, sanctions, appeals, and legal questions. 

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Sept 2009

Sexual Assault Policy Task Force

A committee begins meeting weekly, reviewing Carleton’s history of sexual misconduct, comparing its sexual harassment policy to those of similar institutions and evaluating statistics and student reflections on the process.

Nov 6, 2009

Is Carleton a Consequence-Free Community?

A student writes that because punishment for any kind of destructive behavior is lax, people who commit sex crimes “implicitly recognize that late-night misadventures will be forgiven and mended by sunrise.”