By Julie Kristian
Contributing Writer

On America’s college campuses, 66 percent of sexual assaults on women are perpetrated by males who play aggressive sports, according to the Feminist Majority Task Force for Women and Girls in Sports.

The recent release of these statistics prompted Wesleyan’s Feminist Majority to sponsor an open discussion about college athletes and sexual assault on Tuesday, Oct. 12 in the Woodhead Lounge.

"We wanted to foster an open dialogue between a few athletes and anyone else who wanted to come," said Lindsay Goldman ’01, co-chair of Wesleyan’s Feminist Majority.

Goldman explained that the discussion was also an opportunity to increase campus awareness and involvement in Take Back the Night.

"We wanted to get males involved in... Take Back the Night, to have them able to do something rather than march because a lot of guys don’t feel comfortable with that," she said.

The event was conceived and organized by Goldman and Christopher Jeffries ’01, with the cooperation of Feminist Majority co-chair Angela Steward ’00.

"It really didn’t take much. We just decided we wanted to do it, we sent out a bulletin, we put up posters and that was it," Goldman said.

Eighteen students attended the discussion, including males and females, athletes and non-athletes.

Goldman and Jeffries co-facilitated the event by asking questions to generate discussion.

Students questioned whether the nature of aggressive sports is linked to the greater number of perpetrators of sexual assault among athletes.

"It’s not the sport, but the camaraderie. It’s a good thing, but in a group, men can come to do things they wouldn’t do on their own," said Danielle Feris ’02.

"I think we live in a culture which glorifies athletes and that there are some women who will be willing to throw themselves at these athletes," responded Ryan Tookes ’00.

Students disagreed over whether sexual violence could be legitimately linked to specific groups or activities.

"[Sexual violence] is not a singular experience, it’s engraved on us... it’s a cultural experience. In our communities, towns, and schools is where we can support certain relationships and certain power structures," Feris said.

"It comes from somewhere...it comes from societal experience," Steward agreed.

The discussion broadened to include the idea of sexual assault in the larger context of society. Students described actual and hypothetical instances in which they were confronted with uncomfortable situations related to sexual aggression.

"You have to look at it from a male perspective, that they may not know what they’re doing," Tookes provided. "I’ve had girls whistle at me while I’m running, and it made me feel somewhat uncomfortable, but I knew that they didn’t mean anything by it."

Students also discussed fraternities and their projected correlations to athleticism and sexual assault

Some students voiced concern about the University’s perceived increase in emphasis on athletic excellence.

"I think the fear is where we’re letting things slide. I’ve heard that especially in this frosh class, there are much higher amounts of football players... it shows a different value system," said Sonia Silbert ’02.

Towards the end of the discussion, students stopped describing problems and started to search for solutions.

"What do people think can change this?" asked Rigel Massaro ’03. "It’s great to talk about this, but what can we do?"

"Take sports off television," one student proposed. "Eliminate the celebrity of being an athlete. I don’t think it’s contact sports, I think it’s a hero thing."

Although no clear answers were uncovered, Goldman said she thinks the event succeeded in serving as a space where students could freely exchange ideas.