Lorenzo Basilio/Daily Nexus
A group of students headed by survivors of sexual assault Alejandra Melgoza, Lexi Weyrick and Melissa Vasquez staged a 13-hour sit-in of Chancellor Henry T. Yang’s office from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning to demand specific policies to improve the handling of sexual assault cases, concluding the night with a signature from Yang ensuring the enactment of 13 policies that favor survivors.
Yang, along with Acting Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Mary Jacob and Senior Associate Dean for Student Life Debbie Fleming, agreed to consider immediate suspension for perpetrators, implement a minimum sanction for sexual assault crimes and immediately remove perpetrators from university-owned housing. In addition, administrators decided to take steps to increase staff diversity and implement faculty training on cultural and identity sensitivity. Yang committed to cover full travel expenses for Melgoza, Weyrick and Vasquez to speak at the May 20 UC Regents meeting in San Francisco and approved eight additional demands. Melgoza, Weyrick and Vasquez will meet with Yang again on Monday to present a budget and discuss details and execution of the agreements.
Second-year Chican@ studies and history of public policy double major Melgoza said Yang and administrators met the demands with only a few changes to the wording.
“All the demands are going to be in print … and the whole school’s going to see them,” Melgoza said. “We made a few adjustments, but just on the wording and on the jargon of everything. They were pretty concrete demands, and they met them.”
Melgoza said she looks forward to attending UCSB as an ordinary student knowing there will now be policies to sanction sexual assault offenders and provide support to victims.
“It’s been such a part of my life throughout my college experience that I don’t remember what it’s like to be a normal college student,” Melgoza said. “I’m excited to see what that will look like, where I will be fighting for other students.”
It’s been such a part of my life throughout my college experience that I don’t remember what it’s like to be a normal college student. I’m excited to see what that will look like. – Alejandra Melgoza
Gaucho Consent Co-Chair and second-year sociology major Weyrick said the group will continue to organize and push their demands to the UC level to ensure system-wide sanctions for perpetrators of sexual misconduct.
“This is clearly the beginning — not the end — for us,” Weyrick said. “We have a meeting on Monday set up and the Regents-wide meeting will be big for some of these [demands] that we can implement on a UC-wide basis outside of just UCSB.”
Weyrick said the group communicated with various organizations to accomplish their goals, initiating conversations about gender representative safety programs with Isla Vista Foot Patrol and establishing a survivor fund for sexual assault victims.
According to Weyrick, one of the most important accomplishments of the sit-in was a mandate ensuring the removal of students from residence halls if they are found guilty of sexual assault.
“I think the biggest victory was understanding the power of student activism, there’s so much here that we accomplished.” Weyrick said. “If we were just three students sitting in an office … they wouldn’t have [been] taken as seriously, so I feel like the credit needs to go to the bodies that came here and chose to work with us and help us.”
Fourth-year sociology major Melissa Vasquez said the administrators met the initial demands the group had when they began the sit-in.
“We came here with something in mind and administration wasn’t trying to hear us out and stuff,” Vasquez said. “We were able to put our foot down and be able to get our demands met, and we had something in mind when we got here and we left with it, too, so it’s kind of really exciting.”
John Clow/Daily Nexus
Yang said he was grateful students and administrators were ultimately able to work together.
“I appreciate the opportunity to hear the survivors speak and also that students have come up with proposals for solutions,” Yang said. “We will continue to refine these solutions.”
Associated Students President and fourth-year sociology major Ali Guthy said in addition to the approved demands, the university should develop a sexual assault policy specific to UCSB.
“UCSB doesn’t have our own sexual assault policies. We rely on the UC-wide policy, which I think is really problematic, given that every campus has our own unique circumstances and things that need to be considered,” Guthy said. “We really need to develop policies that are specific to UCSB, that are consistent, that we can all adhere to.”
Guthy also said while she cannot speak to the experiences of sexual assault survivors, their stories were compelling and demanded administrative attention.
“I am concerned for the survivors’ well-being and that everyone is being treated fairly in a consistent manner, and, to me, it seems that our university has failed to meet those basic standards for procedures … the cases we have been hearing today are very compelling,” Guthy said.
Third-year sociology and black studies double major Mohsin Mirza said he believes the university does not have appropriate measures in place to support survivors of sexual assault.
We were able to put our foot down and be able to get our demands met, and we had something in mind when we got here. -Melissa Vasquez
“What we saw, it’s the power of student action, student activism,” Mirza said. “We have a serious problem with how sexual assault is handled, with how survivors are treated by administration, by Judicial Affairs and by students on this campus.”
Mirza said the group will continue fighting to ensure the university enforces the sanctions against sexual misconduct offenders.
“When they come here and occupy this office and when the supporters of them join them for over 12 hours demanding the changes happen, we were able to make that difference,” Mirza said. “Hopefully, the school’s going to be much better off, and we’re going to keep pressuring the chancellor and administration that they honor the agreements they made tonight, but it’s a historic win.”
Mirza also said as next year’s A.S. External Vice President of Statewide Affairs (EVPSA), he will ensure the office continues to work on long-term sexual assault policies.
“Next year, we will be working on making sure that these demands and more changes to make these policies much better will be put in place,” Mirza said. “But many of the changes should be coming very quickly.”
[Correction: This article originally stated Alejandra Melgoza is a second-year Chican@ studies and political science double major. However, Melgoza is a second year double majoring in Chican@ studies and history of public policy.]
I sincerely hope these “new” policies will include due process and won’t be implemented based solely upon an accusation. If that proves to be the case however, I would urge anyone penalized to take the accuser and UCSB to court for a very painful lesson.
Reposted from facebook reply to the same man, Jason Garshfield, who carries on his brave crusade to defend the fragile rights of men everywhere: Here’s your one last shot at acting like a human though I don’t think you deserve this effort because you won’t appreciate it: Sexual assault deprives victims of the life, liberty and property you appear to care so much about and the burden survivors face in defending themselves against these crimes and getting justice is tremendous – your preferred methods (requiring direct physical evidence or outside witnesses) would guarantee that the vast majority of crimes of… Read more »
Totally procrastinating my homework right now, but meh: “Sexual assault deprives victims of the life, liberty and property.” From an objective point of view, sexual assault does none of these things after the fact. Several minuets of your life have been stolen, several minuets of liberty, but no property. “the burden survivors face in defending themselves against these crimes and getting justice is tremendous” One DNA sample, hair, fibers, or fingerprints on your belongings. Not particularly tremendous if you went to the authorities right away. We can’t start convicting people based on nothing more than the word of one person.… Read more »
Are you kidding me??!! As a man, you have no right to voice your opinion on this issue. You are not the one who has to carry mace/pepper spray every time you leave your house in fear that you could get raped. Your lack of empathy for females is appalling. NO, they should not be FORCED to provide police reports and present DNA evidence after being subjected to a brutal attack. Nor should they be forced to testify in court. That is like asking a soldier with PTSD to relive a battle in front of an audience. But you know… Read more »
Frankly, perhaps Fox News is right-public university students are undeserving of constitutional rights, especially free speech. Your rant is that of a moron. Of course victims must report and cooperate with investigators. Otherwise their claims have little credibility in my book. Just like the endless hate crime allegations that turn out to be made up. It’s my opinion there is shared responsibility when the woman gets so drunk she can’t look after herself. I find it difficult to be overly sympathetic when some coed gets wasted to the point she’s found passed out in an alley at 5:30 in the… Read more »
In rereading the article I noticed that Yang agreed to “consider” implementing the demands. That translates to “I really don’t have to do this stuff but I get these annoying pests out of my office.” The “pledge” to hire culturally diverse staff likely runs afoul of Prop 209 which bars preferential hiring based on race in California. This incident will be more fodder for Fox News-just like the UC Davis “divest from America” and the UC Irvine “ban the flag” votes.
Uh no. Wrongful accusations undermine our entire system of justice. They are always worse than perpetrators going free.
And, as a man, I will voice my opinion on any issue I want. You don’t have to agree with it or even listen to it, but you can’t stop it either. Sorry cupcake.
“…the worst thing that happens is a few people get wrongly accused…” Wrongful accusations can be incredibly harmful as we have seen in numerous recent instances in our national media. It is simply ignorant to dismiss potentially ruining someone’s life so carelessly. Victims shouldn’t have to provide DNA evidence or testify in court? Honestly, have some respect for the right to due process and our justice system as a whole. Also, someone doesn’t have a right to voice their opinion because of their sex? Do you realize how hypocritical and backwards that statement is PARTICULARLY as a woman? Get a… Read more »
You might want to talk to the reporters that covered this event. Immediately getting in people’s faces after showing up last minute and taking selfies at the sit in was pretty unprofessional.
If someone was taking selfies, that is stupid. I get it, it’s Yang, but not the time for that. However, I disagree with the whole “getting in people’s faces” part of your critique. They are reporters. That’s kind of what they are supposed to do.
Did a single one of these proposals mention due process for the accused? I’m all for severely punishing rapists, but only if the accused has been found guilty after a fair trial.
My point exactly. However these folks don’t care about piddling things like due process. They want the campus to kick someone out solely based on accusations. Doesn’t fly with me at all.
To be fair to them, this is a bigger issue than just a few activists at our campus. This issue dates back to at least 2011, when the Obama Administration published a Dear Colleague letter telling all schools receiving federal funding to use “preponderance of evidence” rather than “proof beyond reasonable doubt” in adjudicating sexual assault cases. I fully support removing rapists from university housing, for instance, but only rapists who have been convicted after a fair trial and not simply deemed “guilty” by a school tribunal unqualified to deal with sexual assault (a concern also expressed by RAINN). I… Read more »
Jason-again I agree. It’s been my experience that campus administrators are ill equipped to deal with any sort of Title IX compliance or judicial affairs issue. My CSU campus was held liable to the tune of $50 million in several jury verdicts a few years ago. Of course the administration argued it had been totally in compliance with Title IX but the juries felt otherwise. Leave dealing with alleged rapists to those who know what the hell they’re doing-law enforcement, the DA, and the courts.
See this is why even though I’m poor, I will still vote republican. Because as a white male, I don’t think the Democrats care about my constitutional rights.
I don’t think has anything to do with democrats/republicans. This is far left of any democratic policy and I think most mainstream democrats would agree with you on this one.
The standard for all UCSB actions on student conduct has been `preponderance of evidence’ forever. Every instant from the Roosevelt Administration through the current administration. Has nothing to do with any 2011 letter. UCSB has no power to imprison or deny liberty or property anyone; that is the role of our courts. But attendance at UCSB comes with an agreement to abide by the student conduct code, and the threshold for guilt for an action violating that code is preponderance of evidence. Always has been. If you don’t like that threshold, you can attend a different University. Adjudicating a dispute… Read more »
What exactly is “sexual assault” as imagined by the mob making these “demands”? Sexual assault is a serious crime, usually a felony punishable by long periods of incarceration in prison. An accused person of sexual assault has a state and federal constitutional right to have such charges tried by a jury on proof beyond a reasonable doubt. A mob can pound chests and make demands to college administrators. Maybe it makes them feel good about themselves, maybe it even makes them feel somewhat holy. We are still a nation of laws, not of men (or womyn) or the mob and… Read more »
Joan-I was chatting with a friend yesterday at a graduation reception. He’s involved with any number of progressive groups in our locality. He remarked that he’s convinced many of these folks are in fact mentally unbalanced. I think it’s a mixture of that and a desire to destroy our country. While there’s still things that should be worked on, in truth conditions for women and people of color are dramatically better today than they were 40 or 50 years ago despite what the loons want to believe. I have to agree with you Joan that UCSB needs to drop these… Read more »
“hate and narcissistic hysteria and paranoia about rampant sexual assault on campus.”… I strongly disagree with this sentiment. There is a significant amount of sexual assault on campus and in IV, and it is simply not well handled. Victims are put on trial. We can do a lot better and we should. “ I have to agree with you Joan that UCSB needs to drop these nonsense majors (e.g. Women’s Studies and such) and get back to traditional higher education. ” Scientific inquiry was regarded as a nonsense major in the best universities 500 years ago. Overall, the study of… Read more »
Longtimer, I’ve heard for decades how rampant sexual assault is on college campuses, yet proof has never been shown. The study the current crop of advocates like to cite has been discredited due to its rather expansive definition of sexual assault. Joan is right-the group that occupied Yang’s office is in fact a mob and their actions and views deserve NO consideration at all.
As for the majors Joan and I reference: there is nothing scientific about any of these. They were created in the 1960s and 1970s to placate the social justice warriors of the era. Since then, by and large, they’ve been used to convey racial (and sexual) hatred and sedition. If you’re so approving of mob action you wouldn’t object if the Klan started lynching blacks again, Longtimer?
Proof is in innumerable surveys that you are averting your eyes from. Jon Krakauer’s recent book `Missoula’, where it is conservative white heterosexual girls from Montana who are the victims of gang rape and prosecutorial lethargy would be good place for you to start learning something. Just because a mob occupied Yang’s office doesn’t mean their cause is without merit. Just because John Brown made an illegal attack on Brown’s Ferry doesn’t mean slavery was good. I’m not endorsing mob action but neither should the presence of mob action stop the addressing of legitimate problems. There is plenty of excellent… Read more »
Harper’s Ferry, whoops.
Surveys? I remember well what one of my stats profs said-numbers can be made to say anything someone wants them to. The only survey I’d pay any attention to isn’t a survey but the FBI’s annual crime report numbers for college campuses. Or to put it another way, if there’s no police report documenting it it didn’t happen as far as I’m concerned. If victims want to be taken seriously they have to cooperate with the justice system. End of that discussion. You’re obviously fine with situational ethics-the end justifies the means and all that. You’re subscribing to the same… Read more »
If you really believe numbers can be made to say anything, then please empty your bank account and send me the $, I assure you the numbers will say you still have enough money to survive. You avert your eyes and ignore the many cases (and convictions) in Missoula documented by Krakauer. By white, conservative, heterosexual women. And the police would both strongly discourage women from pressing charges, and would hit on the women reporting. My own sister went to BYU… a male neighbor would masturbate by her window. She reported it, and the police officer asked her if she… Read more »
Good job guys, Glad to see people bringing attention to this important issue on campuses.
I see the social justice idiots went up and bombarded the Regents the other day. Hopefully the Regents smiled and then showed them the door. I chatted with a couple of faculty the other day. They had very little nice to say about Melgoza. According to them Yang has been held in ill repute on campus almost from the time he became Chancellor. His agreeing to even consider Melgoza’s nonsense has concreted his rep as pretty much a joke.