IRRESPONSIBLE, RECKLESS, report nevertheless reveals Major UT Title IX problems (not what you think)

"And Absalom spoke to his brother Amnon neither good nor bad. For Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar."
2 Samuel 13:22

Yesterday, Campus Reform had a highly sensationalistic report about a recent Title IX conviction at UT-Austin.  It was the worst piece of sexual assault "reporting" we've seen in awhile.  As agenda driven narrative, it was the right-wing equivalent of the original Aziz Ansari report.

Yet, for all that, it still revealed a major problem.

You can read the report here, otherwise we've going to dive in.

-------

Here's the crux:

The student—who requested anonymity—graduated in Spring with a JD. During his time in law school, a female student filed six Title IX complaints against him over two years: three for harassment, two for stalking, and one for violation of a no-contact order.

[Note: Emphasis added.]

Seriously...six complaints?!?  Stalking?!?  Violation of a no contact order?!?

It could be that this guy is completely innocent.  U.T.-Austin certainly has a record of railroading guys through Title IX.  But six complaints is pretty dadgum suspicious.

Campus Reform makes no attempt to determine the facts of the case.  Instead, it takes the accused at his word when he says his conviction was "very questionable."  With all due respect, it's...difficult...to take someone at their word following six separate complaints.

In each of the previous Title IX cases at UT-Austin, we had a reasonably decent grasp of the facts.  Each involved a single complaint against the accused.  Each showed significant evidence of lawless activity on the part of the University.

That's not the case here, and a guy with six complaints is not the hill on which this website wants to die.

The incoming Vice President of the Young Conservatives of Texas' UT chapter says it best:



Agreed.

That being said....

-------

...there's the matter of what happened next:

In addition to placing him on disciplinary probation for the fall 2018 semester and forbidding him from having further contact with his accuser, Zamora sentenced the student to “watch the film 'The Mask You Live In'…and write a reflection paper” on “your definition of masculinity and how it has been informed.”

He was also told to “identify gender role stereotypes/concepts and how [these] have impacted your relationship with women,” and to “define your idea of ‘healthy masculinity’ and describe what active steps you can take today to encourage healthy attitudes around masculinity at all levels of society.”

“Be advised that this [reflection assignment] may not serve as a defense of your actions, but as a reflection of what you have learned about yourself through this experience,” wrote Zamora, adding that the paper should be 5-6 pages, double-spaced.

This has produced predictable right wing commentary about "political correctness" and other pre-existing narratives.  But it misses a larger point: Following his conviction, the accused was sentenced to watch a movie and write an essay.  That's it.

"Toxic masculinity," or not, that's ridiculously weak; it's the modern day, woke, equivalent of saying "go to your room and think about what you've done."

Either the guy is guilty, or the guy is innocent:

• If he's guilty, he should face real consequences.

• If he's innocent, he be should left alone.

Watching a movie and writing an essay is neither.

-------

A note to our conservative friends: The "toxic masculinity" aspect of this is certainly dumb, but if you think that's the biggest problem here then you seriously need to reexamine your priorities.

-------

Then there's this:

[U.T. Austin press flack Shilpa] Bakre also said there is no standard procedure for how sanctions are determined when asked whether other students found guilty of violating the same policies have been sentenced to similar “healthy masculinity” reflections.

That's the actual problem with all things related to sexual assault policy at U.T.-Austin: They're making it up as they go along.

-------

Here's the other tragedy: U.T-Austin's Title IX program is poorly enough run that they're eventually going to step in it again.  Jumping the gun on cases like these are the equivalent of crying wolf.  It'll only hurt your credibility in the long run.

-------

Bottom Line: Nobody's covering themselves in glory....