President Sullivan's message on 2014/11/25 to University community regarding the November 2014 publication in Rolling Stone magazine of "A Rape on Campus" (later retracted)

Teresa Sullivan

2014-11-25

Dear Members of the University Community: 11/25

Last week, students, faculty, and staff were invited to attend my annual Holiday Open House at Carr’s Hill on December 4th from 4:30 to 6:30 PM. I write today to announce that I am changing this event to a community dialogue at Carr’s Hill, on the same date and time. This will be an opportunity for us to talk openly and candidly about sexual violence in our community and the underlying cultural attitudes that may engender it. During the dialogue, we will have trained facilitators at Carr’s Hill to help guide our discussions.

Later in the evening is the Lighting of the Lawn ceremony – symbolic of shining light in dark places. The dialogue at Carr’s Hill will be a time for serious examination of an issue that we care about deeply and personally. I realize that mere discussion of a problem is not the solution, but by discussing the issue of sexual violence with candor and compassion we can take further steps toward substantive solutions.

My hope is that our dialogue on December 4th will lay the groundwork for fundamental change and the eventual purging of sexual violence from our University, so that we will have a genuine cause for celebration in the future.

To RSVP, please click here.

Teresa A. Sullivan