Survivor and Solidarity Sit-in: Students Protest Lack of Administrative Action
Sierra Davis, Harley Woods, Quinn Bonney, Ana Risano | September 30, 2021
Quinn Bonney
RJ Chittams, director of Resident’s Life, conversing with sit-in participants about their concerns of Title IX and administration policy.
Students held a sit-in at Dodge House on September 24 to express communal concerns regarding Title IX and share their experiences. The purpose was to protest the treatment of sexual assault survivors on campus. New students Carowyn Brecon Schumann, Tyson Lewis and Isabella “Izzy” Hyde organized the event.
Schumann, a first-year at Warren Wilson College (WWC), arrived on campus with expectations of it being a safe environment for LGBTQ+ students. However, she noticed something was off once the school year began.
Schumann began seeing protests at larger schools that were happening across the United States. These schools, though some having upwards of thousands of students, were protesting with as few as five open Title IX cases. Schumann knew of five students who were accused of sexual assault in her few weeks of being on campus, and saw many of their peers feeling unheard when navigating the matter of sexual assault on campus.
Before the sit-in, the WWC app, a social media platform for students and staff, had its posting function suspended due to escalating claims regarding fellow students and administration. A meeting was called afterwards to discuss campus concerns regarding Title IX, according to RJ Chittams, associate dean of student life and director of residence life.
After the app was suspended, Schumann took action and printed fliers for the sit-in. At the meeting, they passed out these fliers.
“I think the reason I (organized the sit-in) was because I knew it was the right time. I saw that people were angry and I didn’t want to lose that momentum,” said Schumann.
Quinn Bonney
Students, Izzy Hyde and Stella Banowetz embrace after sharing their individual stories and voicing their opinions about current Warren Wilson policy.
During the sit-in, students were invited to share their experiences and explain why they think administration has faltered in the past.
“I’m appalled at how this college treats its victims, and victims of sexual assault,” said Schumann. “Warren Wilson has fostered an environment where abusers are more safe than the victims and that makes no sense. It feels like the administration is trying to give false hope to take action when they put together that Title IX meeting on Wednesday of which the student body was only given forty minute notice. We deserve better than this.”
Another first-year student, Kana Parker, echoed their disdain for administration.
“We as a student body need to hold the whole administration accountable, not just RJ and Tacci, not just the people who handle Title IX,” said Parker. “The administration as a group needs to address this now. We as a community should be able to feel safe on campus; I shouldn’t have to always be turning around, looking around me to see who’s walking behind me. This school claims to pride themselves on safety, so hold yourself accountable and do it; make this campus safe … not so many people should have fallen through the cracks.”
Many grievances with how WWC handles cases of assault on campus were aired, including survivors being displaced from their homes instead of their abusers.
“We are all meeting here today because we all care as a community,” said Tyson Lewis, a first-year student. “... We need people to not be kicked out of their houses because their rapists are living near them. We need to make sure their lives are not displaced because of their rapists. We can’t have an equitable solution where every single time the victim is the one that is going to be moved out. ”
Though many students understand the gravity of Title IX and why the institution can’t circumvent the legislation, students also see the slack that can be picked up by WWC. One student spoke on how the school can help fellow students and staff members support each other through the Title IX process.
“We need student-led infrastructure,” said one student in attendance at the sit-in. “We need supplemental student-faculty led infrastructure to help support students in the process of reporting their Title IX cases, in the process of them getting their shit together after having gone through something terrible and just in the process of reaching out to the people that can help them …”
Chittams, having worked at many universities previously, agreed that there is much work to be done and noted that this was the first school he has worked at where students are not a part of the conduct process.
Quinn Bonney
Jax Owens, a Warren Wilson senior, vocalizing their story to students and staff present.
After the sit-in, Chittams shared actionable tasks that he gathered from students. While flipping through his notes, Chittams listed off support groups for those who choose to report, more investigators and decision makers, getting people through trainings faster and background checks when applying for the school.
Schumann also shared that she was shocked in the aftermath of the sit-in, noting that administrators were pulling them and other organizers aside to discuss further work in addressing the problems at WWC.
“I feel like (the sit-in) genuinely worked, which surprised me because normally with something like this you have to protest a lot,” said Schumann. “This is a systemic issue, and it’s been like this for a long time. The fact that we got any momentum on the first go is just really surprising.”
As time passes from the sit-in, students are now waiting to see what action will be done by the school before another protest takes place on October 2. Though it’s still in recent memory, Schumann is hopeful about the impact of the sit-in but reminds students that they’re continuing until the demands of safety are met.
“I don’t think major steps have been taken yet,” Schumann said. “But I have my foot in the door now. And if it doesn’t work, I’m going to schedule another. I’m not going to give up; I have four years, so I’m going to protest all four years.”
Jeri Moneyheffer, a first-year WWC student, shared their reflections on the sit-in as well, saying that there was an overwhelming amount of support felt that day. Along with this, Moneyheffer explains that the student body is not going to stop.
“The administration needs to realize that we’re going to start a ruckus if we don't get heard,” said Moneyheffer.
Below are the set of demands from the sit-in:
Anyone with confirmed assault cases be removed from campus.
Anyone with accusations confirmed or not cannot be put in a position of power (peer group leader, work crew leader, etc).
When a student is given temporary housing because of an assault, the assaulter is moved and not the survivor, unless the survivor wants to be moved.
For further information or support:
24-Hour Crisis Hotline: (828) 255-7576
Information & Referral Textline:
Text VOICE to 85511
Envié VOZ a 85511 por Español
24-Hour Hotline: (828) 254-0516
Queer Resource Center - qrc@warren-wilson.edu
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on October 1, 2021 to remove an ambiguous quote. The quote was taken out and paraphrased in order to relay clearer information to readers.