Oxy Faculty Demand Campus Sexual Assault Policy Reform in Wake of Rape Allegations

Editor's Note: As of May 5, the total number of signatories to the open letter was 135. The list below has been updated accordingly.

Barely two weeks after six young women held a widely publicized news conference about how they were allegedly raped while they were students of Occidental College and how college authorities failed to take appropriate action following their complaints, as many as 110 Oxy faculty members signed an open letter to the college administration, calling for sweeping reforms in the college’s sexual assault policy.

The letter, a copy of which was e-mailed to Eagle Rock Patch Wednesday, reads as follows:

We, the undersigned Occidental College faculty, reaffirm the right of all students to live, work, and study on a safe campus where equity prevails.

We, the undersigned Occidental College faculty, recognize and commend the courageous efforts of the members of the Occidental community who are working to ensure that sexual harassment, sexual battery, sexual assault and rape have no place in our community.

We, the undersigned Occidental College faculty, agree with OSAC that there must be changes to the sexual assault policies, there must be procedural integrity in hearing board cases, there must be additional resources for sexual assault and rape survivors, and that there must be significant, on-going sexual harassment, battery, assault and rape education for all students.

We, the undersigned Occidental College faculty, vow to work constructively and tirelessly to transform the policies and underlying culture of Occidental College toward the elimination of sexual harassment, sexual battery, sexual assault and rape. 

Sincerely,

Jamie Angell

Arthe Anthony

Heather Banis

Renee Baran

Natasha Behl

Linda Besemer

Roger Boesche

Elizabeth Braker

Carolyn Brighouse

Ron Buckmire

Thomas Burkdall

Larry Caldwell

Anthony Chase

Tsung Chi

Mary Christianakis

Lan Chu

Phoebe Dea

Allison de Fren

Nancy Dess

Danielle Dirks

Peter Dreier

Greg Drummond

Robert Ellis

Salvador Fernandez

Sharla Fett

Daniel Fineman

Brian Fitzmorris

Heng Lam Foong

James Ford

Broderick Fox

Debra Freas

Alan Freeman

Regina Freer

Douglas Gardner

Nina Gelbart

Irene Girton

Alicia González

Thalia González

Robert Gottlieb

Susan Gratch

Susan Grayson

Felisa Guillen

Laura Hebert

Mary Beth Heffernan

Caroline Heldman

Marcia Homiak

Maryanne Horowitz

Andrew Jalil

Jane Jaquette

David Kasunic

John Kern

Sanjeev Khagram

Brian Kim

Alan Knoerr

Edmond Johnson

John Lang

Desiree LaVertu

Brandon Lehr

Carmel Levitan

Jan Lin

Jennifer Logan

Adelaida Lopez

Mary Lopez

Bruno Louchouarn

Heather Lukes

Amy Lyford

Linda Lyke

Frank Lynch

Donna Maeda

Deborah Martinson

Martha Matsuoka

John McCormack

Laural Meade

Lynn Mehl

Carina Miller

Karen Molinder

Warren Montag

Robert Moore

Richard Mora

Clair Morrissey

Linda Munson

Andre Myers

Paul Nam

Leila Neti

Eric Newhall

Gretchen North

Cheryl Okumura

Gloria Orozco

Jocelyn Pedersen

Juergen Pelzer

Zoe Phillips

G. Simeon Pillich

Roberta Pollock

Dan Pondella

Julie Prebel

Alexandra Puerto

Marcella Raney

Movindri Reddy

Walt Richmond

Jaclyn Rodriguez

Martha Ronk

Derek Ross

Stuart Rugg

Dylan Sabo

Arthur Saint-Aubin

Anne Schell

Gary Schindelman

Bhavna Shamasunder

Michael Shelton

Andrew Shtulman

Samuel Solomon

Ronald Solorzano

Lisa Sousa

Eileen Spain

Linda Stark

Damian Stocking

Marla Stone

Eric Sundberg

John Swift

Clarence L. Terry, Sr.

Nalsey Tinberg

Saul Traiger

Dolores Trevizo

Horacio R. Trujillo

Andrew Udit

Kristi Upson-Saia

Mark Vallianatos

Lisa Wade

Kirsten Wandschneider

Kenjus Watson

James Whitney

Dale Wright

Jean Wyatt

Désirée Zamorano

Amanda Zellmer

Related: Oxy Rape Victim Says She ‘Encountered Lots of Barriers’ Coping With Her Trauma at College

• Click here to read details about an April 18 news conference at which six Oxy students, including Logan, read statements about their alleged rape or sexual assault.

• Click here to read about an April 19 "Sleepover For Sexual Assault Awareness" at the Occidental College campus.

• Click here to read a series of recent open letters from Oxy President Veitch to the campus community regarding the sexual assaults scandal.

• And click here to read first-person "Survivor Stories" of rape posted by Oxy students on Oxy Sexual Assault Coalition, a website that is helping revolutionize campus anti-rape activism across the nation.