Sexual Misconduct Explored by School Survey

A survey of the student body on sexual misconduct and the sexual climate at Exeter conducted by The Exonian last week revealed that older students were more likely than younger students to have become less trusting of the administration in the wake of The Boston Globe’s coverage of sexual misconduct at the Academy. 85.59 percent of respondents in the senior class said that they have lost trust in the administration, compared to 79.49 percent of uppers, 73.13 percent of lowers and 59.66 percent of preps who felt the same way. The survey also showed that upperclassmen were less approving of the Academy’s response to the Globe articles than underclassmen, and were more likely to think that the Academy has a sexual misconduct problem.

“I think that with Exeter being a place that claims to be extraordinary and full of exceptional people, we need to hold it to an exceptional standard. I think I’m justified in expecting more from it [than I would another secondary school].”

612 of 1060 students completed the survey in full, 164 of them preps, 200 lowers, 210 uppers and 241 seniors. 51.62 percent of respondents identified as female and 45.78 percent as male, while 2.6 percent of respondents identified as either agender, genderqueer, genderfluid or nonbinary.Of the 612 respondents, 54 percent reported a sexual misconduct problem at Exeter. 60 percent said that, if they or a friend were a survivor of sexual assault, they would feel either unconfident or very unconfident that the school would properly handle the situation. 51 percent said that, in such a situation, they would feel either uncomfortable or very uncomfortable going to a counselor. Furthermore, 44 percent felt unconfident or very unconfident that the school would responsibly handle the situation. Of the 52 respondents who identified as sexual assault victims and have not reported their assaults, 47 answered that they would not consider coming forward.Interim co-Director of Student Wellbeing Tina Sciocchetti acknowledged the difficulty of drawing conclusions from the data given the nature of the questions. For example, she noted the confusion present in the question about there being a sexual misconduct at Exeter because “problem” can be interpreted in several ways. Questioning the validity of the results, Sciocchetti said, “I can say with confidence that my experience in handling any matters of potential sexual misconduct since early September does not comport with the numbers reflected below.” She continued, saying, “to the extent the results actually reflect a reluctance to report sexual misconduct, I strongly encourage anyone who believes he or she has been a victim of assault to come forward.”Since last spring, the Globe has published a series of articles on cases of sexual misconduct at the Academy, including one released last summer about a case involving two members of the class of 2016 that occurred during the 2015-2016 school year. In response, the administration has made several changes to student rules and the school’s administrative structure. The school has also created a new position, the Director of Student Wellbeing. Dance and theatre rehearsal spaces and art studios are no longer open to students without faculty supervision.Lower Lydia Anderson was made ill-at-ease by the revelations from the Globe articles. “It was uncomfortable to know that something like that had happened, and it was a secret and they had handled it so badly.”Senior Kelechi Nwankwoala’s views of the administration were unchanged by the Globe articles. Recalling past stories he had heard of students experiencing similar trouble with the administration in cases of sexual misconduct, Nwankwoala explained that the recent developments had served only to bring the issue to the forefront of his mind.The news was especially striking to preps, to whom the articles served as an introduction to student culture on campus before they arrived. “The first time I encountered sexual culture at Exeter was when I got that email about the article,” prep Asha Alla said.For some students, the administration’s response and exposure to campus life has helped to remedy any distrust in its ability to handle cases of sexual misconduct.Although prep Saskia Braden was concerned by the news stories published over the summer, her trust in the school has improved as a result of the measures taken. “I think the administration has reacted amazingly well since the Boston Globe article came out.”Prep David Kim expressed a similar sentiment, feeling that the school has been transparent and honest in their response. “I trust the administration...Their intents are still sincere. They’re not hiding anything,” he said.Many upperclassmen, on the other hand, remain dissatisfied with the school’s response to the Globe articles.Nwankwoala recognized that handling sexual misconduct is difficult, but called on the school to rise to the challenge. “I think that with Exeter being a place that claims to be extraordinary and full of exceptional people, we need to hold it to an exceptional standard. I think I’m justified in expecting more from it [than I would another secondary school].”For senior Charis Edwards, the administration’s reaction to the Globe’s coverage has affected her perspective of the school more than the initial coverage did. “I think that my mixed feelings about the administration have come even more from the response on campus after the article and the fear, even more than the article.”Edwards was specifically upset because she felt that the administration was not transparent about the changes it has made. “I’m really disappointed in the administration’s lack of communication on the changes that are happening...I think it’s just irresponsible and it makes it look like the administration is just trying to take the back alleys when I don’t think they even are.”Some upperclassmen also observed a double standard present on campus; while students are encouraged to engage in healthy sexual relationships, these students feel the school does not provide a clear way for them to do so.Senior Claire Dauge-Roth, president of the Exonians Against Sexual Assault, observed a contradiction in how the school’s administration dealt with student sexuality. While the school implicitly acknowledges that student sexual activity occurs, no safe space is provided for such activity. “There are condoms in the health center, but the only time that you can have the other gender in your dorm is during [visitations] where the door is open so you’re obviously not going to have sex then.”Edwards felt that the school’s response hasn’t adequately addressed the campus’ root problem, but rather addressed the symptoms of an unhealthy sexual culture. “If people are inclined to engage in sexual misconduct, I don’t think that being in a different building is going to change that root issue,” she said.Although the Academy provides mandatory education and programming on healthy sexual relationships, Edwards felt that there was “a lack of education on how to not be ashamed when having a discussion on sexuality, and therefore how to be honest when talking about sexuality.” She pointed out that conversations on healthy sexual relationships must come hand in hand with those on unhealthy sexual relationships. “If everyone can be open about what they are doing then we can talk about what we’re not doing, and the grey areas,” she said.Dauge Roth expressed a similar view. She felt that the conversations taking place on campus around unhealthy sexual relationships should be supplemented by those on healthy sexual relationships: “They’re telling us what’s bad but what is good?”Upper Charlotte Polk felt that this lack of discussion led Exonians to avoid questioning the status quo of the sexual culture and climate. “We normalize a lot of things on this campus that really aren’t normal and should not be normalized.”Describing a conversation with a female friend, Polk recalled that the friend had felt “dirty and gross” after a sexual encounter. “You shouldn’t come out of a sexual encounter feeling terrible about yourself. That’s not something that should happen,” Polk said.While Dauge Roth felt that great progress had been made towards remedying issues in the campus’ sexual culture, she felt that there remained room for change. “You get touched under the table. People are rating other people... I don’t think we have a campus where everyone takes the little actions that are the foundations of rape culture seriously.”