Listed below are just a few of the many supportive e-mails I have received from alumni, students, parents, and employees of the University willing to share their thoughts and experiences.  I Thank You for your kind words of support and encouragement and ask that you continue to spread the word about this website to influence the Administration to concur with parents, alumni, and students and change policy so that the only acceptable sanction for violent crime and sexual assault is dismissal from the University.

Dear Survivors in the UVA Community,

We are the members of Sexual Assault Peer Advocacy (SAPA), a new organization at UVA.  Our mission is to foster a community at UVA that better supports sexual assault survivors by educating the student body about how to help a sexual assault survivor, advocating for survivors in the community by working to better adjudication processes and resources, as well as working with survivors to help them reintegrate into the community after such a traumatic experience.  Our goal is to act as an organized and public voice for people who are all too often silenced whether it be by those few men and women who commit rape and sexual assault, by best friend who refuses to believe it happened or blames the survivor, by judicial and administrative processes that question behaviors and actions, or by a society that stigmatizes.  It is our mission to make sure that no one is ever silenced; it is our mission to make sure that you are never alone in your recovery.  If you would like to have a trained Sexual Assault Survivor Advocate contact you or would like more information about our group or our presentation, please e-mail sapa@virginia.edu.  We are here for you.

 Sincerely, 

Kyle Boynton, President
Christine McCarraher, Vice President
Drew Barrett
Mary Elliott Coleman
Morgan Cosby
Katie Cristol
Virginia Frischkorn
Annie Hylton
Ashby Leavell
Katie Mahan
Bridget Mahoney
Anna Murray
Vanessa Olivar
Michelle Polo
Mia Ritzenberg
Jules Schneider
Tara Setliff
Manu Singh
Minoo Sobhani
Nikki Whitmire

I wanted to give my encouragement to you in your effort to make rape an Honor violation at the University.  I struggled with this conflict in UVA.'s Honor Code during my time at the University.  I am happy that someone is finally taking steps to do something about this and I wish I had done more on this subject while at UVA. 

A close friend was raped by another student, who was found guilty by the Sexual Assault Board.  The punishment he was given was basically a restraining order, saying that he could not go near her while on Grounds.  I was appalled, saddened, and deeply offended by this decision.

As a result of this "punishment", I lost all faith in the University and its supposed high morals.  How can you be expelled from school for looking at someone else's test but be found GUILTY of RAPE and be allowed to keep your full status as a student?  It does not make sense to me and I do not see how it makes sense to the administration.  The University's Honor Code wants to make a community of trust, but how can it do this when it
protects people who violate and humiliate its members?

In short, I applaud your efforts and offer all my support.  I will be following this endeavor in the Cavalier Daily and through your website, and I am copying this e-mail to Dean Sisson and am posting it as feedback on the Honor website so that they may know the feelings of a recent University graduate. 

CLASS OF 2003

I just wanted to let you and your daughter know that I admire your courage and resolve on this issue. Too often women are not brave enough to come forward and talk about their experiences. And yet, it shouldn't be an act of bravery! When I was robbed at gunpoint, no one questioned my desire to report the incident and have the perpetrators prosecuted. The fact that so few women come forward is a sign that society still has a long way to come in the way sexual assault is treated.

I hope you continue to speak out and take action. I also hope your daughter is successful in the long (but hopefully fulfilling) recovery process. I hope the administration's lack of respect and action does not affect her emotional recovery and her eventual success as a student. I also think she is lucky to have a mother who is so caring and dedicated. I think it is evident that you raised a woman who is confident enough not to blame herself for the reprehensible actions of another.

You daughter sounds like an incredible young woman, and I wish you both the best.

I think what you have created is incredibly honorable and an amazing service to the UVA community. I am a graduate of the class of 99. I was date raped while in high school, though I never reported my attacker out of fear that I would be judged, that it was somehow my fault because I was not a virgin and I was under the influence of alcohol. Responses like the one University officials and the Commonwealth Attorney have provided you only perpetuate this fear amongst victims. I applaud your efforts and wish you and your daughter comfort in dealing with this terrible atrocity.

Good Morning-I just read the story in the CD today. I am completely blown away. Especially by the U's ways of dealing with this. Mediation? Are you kidding me?? That your daughter would have to sit down with this guy and MEDIATE? And that a person can get thrown out of UVA for cheating but not for rape? I don't have any stories about rape, but my dealings with the administration are many. They really just don't give a damn-about students or employees. I admire your courage for putting up this web site and your daughter's courage for reporting this. In this town, UVA, law enforcement, lawyers are all members of the good old boys club. It is truly disgusting and I have to fight it every day. Employees here are constantly sexually harassed and I'm sure assaulted too. But are afraid to report it for fear of losing their job. I applaud you and support you. I hope your daughter is ok; I say a prayer for her.

Hello.... I'm a 3rd year, male, in the college and I wanted to thank you for you efforts in this field. I've been active in peer education in the topic of sexual assault and other forms of relationship abuse since my freshman year of high school, but had never really had to deal with the issue until recently, when one of my good friends was assaulted. It's amazing how nothing can prepare you for how to handle it. The people she talked to in administration were great to her, though she chose not to go before the sexual assault advisory committee, or whatever it is called. She did, however, press charges, which were thrown out in court.... The story is a little more detailed than that, but I just wanted you to know I think it's great that you're doing what you are. My only apologies are for the circumstances leading up to it. And to your daughter, it's not your fault. Please don't ever forget that.

I am in total agreement with you and hope that the University will review the Honor Code to include horrific violations of sexual assault....

Some one very close to me was the victim of a sexual assault at the University. The perpetrator was suspended, but only because he had done the same thing or worse on other occasions. Overall she was satisfied with the University's support resources, but she was horrified at the difficulty of getting sanctions levied against him.

I can't encourage you enough. Making all violent crimes an Honor offense is of utmost importance. You are doing the absolute correct thing. It will be difficult to effect this kind of change at such an image conscious school. There is, however, an enormous amount of strength and righteousness in this student body...Support may be slow in coming, but it will come.

God bless you, your daughter, and your family. Thank you for speaking up for all of us.

This morning I, as with many other students, read the article on the front page about your arguments. I completely and totally agree with you. Reading the article, I felt as though it was my mother talking to me. I can't believe they tore down the flyers that were put up - I never saw any of them. I understand that the University doesn't want the negative attention, but I also understand that you want your daughter's rights to be exercised. I'm glad that you have put this out into the open - now the University officials are forced to deal with it, rather than just sweep it under the rug like the fate of many other cases have probably had. As for the University asking your daughter whether or not she was sure she wanted to go through it, is just protocol, I believe. Some girls actually have backed down on charges because they were informed of all the consequences of having to go to court and an interrupted life in general, and they felt that all of that drudgery was not worth having the guy MAYBE get suspended. But I disagree - it is our body and we have EVERY right to protect it and fight when we feel as though it has been violated. I hope that everything goes exactly how you want it. Too many times these matters are looked over and considered trivial. I'll keep an eye out on the Cav Daily every day, hoping to see some good news.

I just wanted to say that you're doing wonderful work. I can't even imagine how hard it must be, but this is a true service to many. Best of luck.

I applaud your efforts. I know too many women who have been sexually assaulted, including myself. I know women who are victims of domestic violence as well, most will not come out for fear of reprisal, fear of losing their standing. But most of all, I think women fear THE NOTHING. THE NOTHING is what happens to many women who come forward. The NOTHING may be people in power who appear not to care about this heinous crime, it may be those who find some way to blame the victim, or who swallow the victim up in so much red tape and give the perpetrator so many loop holes and chances that NOTHING gets done and there are no consequences. This gives societal and university sanction to a grievous crime. Rape should be an Honor offense; the people who perpetrate these crimes have no Honor. This university prides itself on fostering Honor and Integrity in its students, but allows rapists, abusers, and sexual assault perpetrators to remain here and graduate with the Universities prestigious name. To stop the violence, we need to take control, and we need to be taken seriously- and we need more people like you and your daughter. Thank you for your efforts, they do not go unnoticed, you are not alone in this fight.

I had no experience with rape until college. I knew very little outside of the occasional lecture from a worn out high school PE teacher, and the oh so intense after-school-specials. But that all changed in college when a close friend confided that she had been raped. The term 'victim of rape' took on a brand new meaning. Suddenly it wasn't some far off concept; it was the reality that out of a class of 3000, 345 of the women were victims of rape. That's an epidemic. One that the University could have a deep impact on given the opportunity.

When I read news reports coming from Colorado, and even Virginia Tech, about certain key football players being allowed to practice after rape accusations, I'm enraged. The simple fact that is that there is no excuse for rape. There is no formula where "well, it might, sort of, be okay...It might, sort of, not be rape." It doesn't exist. When forgetting to cite a source could put a student in an honor trial so fast their head would spin, while a rapist roams the grounds seems absurd. And yet, this is the current structure.

Thank you so much for your strength. Know that you are instilling strength in others, and inciting action. Your daughter is a very brave woman. Under no circumstances should she be made to feel otherwise. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. My thoughts are with you both.

I read the story and heard about this phenomenon at our school through Student Council…I'm a 4th year in the Engineering School. I completely agree with the position of the website. Sexual assault can and should be apart of the honor code. It might be hard in the face of tradition, but it's necessary to stop even one sexual offender.

Your portrayal of the administration's attitude towards rape rings true to our daughter's outrage when she attended a sexual assault workshop sponsored by the University. My daughter felt there were two strong messages during the workshop.

          First, women students who refrain from drinking are unlikely to become
          victims of rape.
         
          Second, young man accused of rape must feel really terrible.

Clearly, this mentality puts the responsibility for the crime on the victim, not the criminal. We applaud the courage of your web site. This is one of many issues that need to be addressed in universities throughout our nation. Increasingly, our institutions of higher learning appear to be led by people with their heads in the sand, rather than with badges of courage on their chest. Thank you for taking a stand!

Before last year, I had never met a victim of rape or sexual assault. Then, suddenly, three close friends were victimized on different occasions, one in particular by another UVA student. I could not possibly understand what those women were - and still are - going through. I cried with them, and prayed for them. I hurt so much for them, especially after the University failed to take action against one predator in particular. He was guilty, and he knew that others were aware of his unforgivable actions. He walked the Grounds freely, knowing he would not be punished by the university. She also walked the Grounds, but with a broken spirit and an dark shadow of grief - all the while knowing that he was free and the burden of proof was placed upon her. An unanticipated, unjust, irrevocable, and misunderstood burden.

He was allowed to graduate with only a slap on the wrist - his deeds will be forgotten, and he may very well forget his deeds. She will always remember the pain and the humiliation wrought by this vile human being. Things are better now, but they will never be "right" again. How can she, or the other two girls, ever forgive the administration for not supporting her? How will others, such as myself, who were merely bystanders yet well aware of the injustice of the whole situation, ever respect such a hypocritical administration? It devalues the prestigious pedestal that this institution so highly places itself upon.

It is high time that the "blind eyes" of both students and administrators are opened to the atrocities and repercussions wrought by sexual assault. We are all touched by it, somehow. It is an issue that MUST be addressed immediately. I applaud your courage and your daughter's, and the courage of those who have been victimized and rise to meet the challenge that each new day brings. You all are truly an inspiration. May you find peace; Bless you.

I just wanted to let you know that I am in complete and total support of your efforts to stop sexual assault at the university. … A close friend of mine has been plagued by a situation that she was unwillingly put in last year. She was dating an older male student and everything was fine until one morning she woke up, drugged and groggy, to the realization that she had been raped the night before. I received tearful phone calls and took part in late night talks, all the while wondering how she had the strength of character to go through something, with her head held high, that completely and totally ripped her apart.

I realize that sexual assault is a common occurrence at the university and since my friend's awful experience last year, more of my friends have come to me saying that they have also been assaulted by university students. Why is this behavior condoned? When will administration wake up? I believe that it is time we made them do so. So if there is anything I can do to further your cause, please let me know. Thank you for standing up and fighting - it's helping more people than you know. I admire your daughter's courage.

Contact uvarape@cox.net 
Created to support all UVA Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault.
Site Information last updated on 30 Aug 2007.