Lincoln University President Robert Jennings Blames Women For Rape

Stories of sexual assault on college campuses have been all over the news lately, especially with regards to college athletes who sexually assault women being given a kind of pass because, you know, football … or basketball … money. But, Robert Jennings, president of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, says we cannot blame the rapists, but we should sometimes blame the women because they ask for it.

"Men treat you — treat women — the way women allow us to treat them. When it comes time to make that final decision, we’re going to go down the hall and marry that girl with the long dress on.  And let me tell you why I know I’m right about it. I’m right about it because we had on this campus last semester, three cases of young women, who after having done whatever they did with the young men, and then it didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to turn out, guess what they did? They then went to Public Safety and said, ‘He raped me.’” — Robert Jennings at, of all places, at Lincoln's All Women's Convocation in September

Trouble is, what Jennings seemed to have been saying doesn’t appear to be true. Michael Noone, the first assistant district attorney in Chester County, says he has never heard one single report of rape at Lincoln from the last semester, and the one allegation of attempted sexual assault was dropped because "it could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt."

But that didn’t stop Jennings:

“When you allege that somebody did something of that nature to you, you go to jail. I don’t care how close they are to finishing the degree, their whole life changes overnight. Why am I saying all this, ladies? I’m saying this because, first and foremost, don’t put yourself in a situation that would cause you to be trying to explain something that really needs no explanation had you not put yourself in that situation.”

He’s victim blaming and victim shaming; it’s a woman’s fault if she gets raped because she was in a place where she shouldn’t be, like in public, or dressed in a way she shouldn’t dress because men cannot control their sexual urges when a woman dresses provocatively — as in wearing clothes — and so if they rape her, well, she was kinda asking for it.

All of Jennings’s comments were caught on videotape during the conference, but now, of course, he’s claiming that they were edited and taken out of context:

“No one would ever discourage a young woman on this campus from reporting a sexual assault. In fact, I emphasize to them how serious that allegation is and that the university takes it very seriously and so does the federal government and so does the court.”

And yet at the very meeting where he made his outrageous statements, there was a presentation for female students to show them how to dress; they were told not to show panty lines or wear dark bras under white shirts because that means they want to be raped.

And if they dress like that, and if they are raped, then it is their fault, and they shouldn’t press charges because they might ruin the life of a college male who’s close to graduating.

For its part, Lincoln University said that the point of the convocation was to help female students make "informed decisions about dating, in an effort to protect them from some males who may mislead them," and noted President Jennings "holds the same kind of conversation with male students in their convocation."

Bully for him that he talks to male students about the subject, but you know he also tells those students that just because a woman looks like she wants to be raped, and goes to a place where she’s likely to be raped, doesn’t mean they should rape her.

Now, to be fair, I’m sure there are cases of women who cry rape when it wasn’t rape, but that is not the norm, and that does not ever mean you blame any woman who says she was raped. You investigate, fully, and then you punish the perpetrator, either the rapist, or the woman who lied about being raped. You do not simply lump every rape allegation into the “She Asked For It” or “She’s Just Pissed Because He Never Called Back” category.

And Jennings should be ashamed of himself for suggesting that, and he should step down immediately. It’s a disgusting tale he’s telling.

Now, of course, Jennings is no longer playing the “out of context” game and has issued an apology … of sorts:

"My message was intended to emphasize personal responsibility and mutual respect. I apologize for my choice of words. I certainly did not intend to hurt or offend anyone."

He didn’t intend to offend anyone.

Note to Robert Jennings: It should have gone like this:

“I’m sorry I offended anyone with my remarks. I’m sorry I hurt anyone. I.Was.Wrong.”

That’s an apology.

via NCRM

Repost: Thirteen Years Ago, 10:03 AM EST, Flight 93, Shanksville

United Airlines Flight 93

Christian Adams

Lorraine G. Bay, Todd Beamer, Alan Beaven, Mark K. Bingham, Deora Frances Bodley, Sandra W. Bradshaw, Marion Britton, Thomas E. Burnett Jr.

William Cashman, Georgine Rose Corrigan, Patricia Cushing

Jason Dahl, Joseph Deluca, Patrick Driscoll

Edward Porter Felt, Jane C. Folger, Colleen Fraser

Andrew Garcia, Jeremy Glick, Lauren Grandcolas, Wanda A. Green, Donald F. Greene, Linda Gronlund, Richard Guadagno

Toshiya Kuge

CeeCee Lyles

Hilda Marcin, Waleska Martinez , Nicole Miller

Louis J. Nacke II

Donald Arthur Peterson, Jean Hoadley Peterson

Mark Rothenberg

Christine Snyder

John Talignani

Honor Elizabeth Wainio, Deborah Ann Jacobs Welsh, Kristin Gould White

School Musical Canceled Becaue It's Gay

Back in May of this year, Principal Jesse Smith of the South Williamsport Jr/Sr High School in Pennsylvania dashed off a $1935.00 check to order the licensing rights for the musical Spamalot to be performed at the school next spring. Then, without warning, the play was off.

And when people began to question why the play had been cancelled, speculation arose it was because the musical contained a same-sex wedding scene and, you know, gay. Principal Smith, who’d sent the original check, vehemently denied that the cancellation had anything to do with homosexual themes except … lie.

In addition, Mark Stamm had claimed that, even though the play was cancelled, it was never really scheduled to be performed, even though the school had spent nearly two-thousand dollars securing the rights to perform the musical.

Then Keystone Progress, using Pennsylvania’s ‘Right to Know’ law found a series of emails between Principal Smith, school musical director Dawn Burch, and Superintendent Mark Stamm making it quite clear that the only justification Smith ever gave for canceling the Spamalot production was its “homosexual themes.”

In emails sent by Principal Smith to Dawn Burch, he voiced his concerns about two issues in the script: “a guy sending another guy a message on girl’s underwear and a gay wedding being performed.”

Dawn Burch, who had a copy of the script and had read it through twice, replied that there was no underwear-sending scene in the script, and, as for the “homosexual themes” she replied: “I am fully aware of their place in the script and am not certain what offense they create” since marriage equality had recently arrived in Pennsylvania.

Smith then made it clear that he was “not comfortable with Spamalot and its homosexual themes for two main reasons:”

1] Drama productions “are supposed to be performances that families can attend” and that “this type of material makes it very hard for that to take place.”

2] Controversial productions “put students in a tough spot.”

He said he didn’t “want students to have to choose between their own personal beliefs and whether or not to take part in a production.” He also said homosexuality does not exist in a conservative community such as South Williamsport.

Wow, then it must be the only place in the entire world that is queer free, eh? 

Dawn Burch, apparently aware that Principal Smith was pushing his own anti-gay agenda onto the production, reached out to Superintendent Stamm to tell him how shocked she was by Smith’s decision: “It is extremely disappointing that homosexuality would be the basis of not approving a show.” She also suggested that, by cancelling the show, that “this is how we raise children to be haters.”

Stamm, though, was firmly on Team Bigotry, saying “[Principal Smith’s] decision is sound” and so the play was off; the two grand flushed away.

Dawn Burch put away her plans for Spamalot and met again with Smith to select a new musical, but by this time the story had gotten out and a local news station, WNEP, as well as Think Progress reached out to Dawn Burch, Principal Smith and Superintendent Stamm for a comment.

Stamm apparently replied that the school wanted performances “to be appropriate for the student performers and audiences” and then asserted, again, that the play was only in consideration—the existence of that check had yet to be revealed. School Board President John J. Engel Jr. also claimed that homosexuality did not enter into the decision to cancel the production, but that they had merely decided it was not an appropriate show because … gay.

Look, let me make this queer for Smith and Stamm, et al: there was no issue with the play in the beginning; the school paid to license the rights to the play so it was planning to perform it; it wasn’t ‘under consideration’ because two-thousand dollars had already been spent and you don’t spend that kind of money on an ‘if.’ It wasn’t until Smith and Stamm got wind of the same-sex wedding scene that they decided, these two men and no one else, that Spamalot was inappropriate for the students and for a town where The Gays don’t exist.

And I’ll go back to what Dawn Burch said, because it’s true: by cancelling this play it sends a message to the students at the school that being gay is wrong, that same-sex marriage is wrong. This decision reinforces that sense of hatred, bigotry and intolerance on yet another generation.

It’s time that stopped.

via ThinkProgress

Update Central: Crsytal Moore, Frank Schaefer, Kristene Chapa

Earlier this week the people of Latta, South Carolina finally had their say about Mayor Earl Bullard’s firing of openly gay police chief, Crystal Moore, and they spoke loudly and clearly.

Moore was reinstated to her position and Earl Bullard, the mayor who fired her because she was gay — and because she questioned his ethics — was stripped of some of his powers. See my original post HERE.

The voters passed a referendum changing the governing structure of Latta from “mayor-strong” to “council-strong," which gives the town council the ability to rehire Moore, and while the ballots still must be certified by this Friday, the council plans to make the rehiring of Moore its first order of business.

Bullard, who has been mayor since December, started this whole mess back in April when he fired Moore after giving her seven reprimands. Moore maintained that she had done nothing wrong, and that the reprimands were the first she had received in 20 years. 

Shortly afterwards, though, a council member released a recorded phone call in which Bullard went on a homophobic tirade saying he preferred to leave his children with a raging alcoholic than with someone whose "lifestyle is questionable."

And the town, who long felt Moore was the best person, male or female, gay or straight, for the job, fought back, with hundreds of townspeople rallying for her reinstatement. Bullard denied that he fired Moore because of her sexual orientation, and there was no concrete proof — even though there was that damning phone call — that that was his motivation, but many people in Latta felt Moore's firing was personal.

Now she’s back, and the mayor is a little less powerful, all in a tiny town in, of all places, South Carolina.

UPDATE UPDATE ... via Bilerico ... 

In a desperate bid to thwart the will of the town council, Mayor Hubbard scrambled announced this morning that he's hired a new police chief before the council's vote could be certified. Stay tuned.

h/t to BloggerJoe.

via: HuffPost Gay Voices

Late last year, Frank Schaefer, a former Pennsylvania pastor was convicted of breaking church law when he officiated at the 2007 same-sex wedding ceremony of his son and his son’s partner. Schaefer’s son had asked him to perform the wedding — held not in a Methodist church but at a restaurant — and Schaefer did not publicize the wedding. The story came out in April 2013, when a member of the congregation learned of the ceremony and filed a complaint. See my original post HERE.

Now, however, a United Methodist Church appeals panel has overturned a decision to defrock Schaefer and the church has been ordered to restore his pastoral credentials. The panel called the jury’s punishment illegal under church law and said that “revoking his credentials cannot be squared with the well-established principle that our clergy can only be punished for what they have been convicted of doing in the past, not for what they may or may not do in the future.”

“I’ve devoted my life to this church, to serving this church, and to be restored and to be able to call myself a reverend again and to speak with this voice means so much to me.”—Frank Schaefer, who says he will continue to work for LGBT rights “with an even stronger voice from within the United Methodist Church.”

The ruling can be appealed to the Methodist church’s highest court, and the pastor who prosecuted Schaefer, the Reverend Christopher Fisher, said he has not made a decision about an appeal.

Hopefully Fisher has seen that the times are changing, and that the church, even the Methodist Church, needs to change as well. Otherwise, when the change does come, he’ll be seen as the pastor who stood on the wrong side of equality.

via: LGBTQ Nation

One night in 2012, girlfriends Mollie Olgin [right] and Kristene Chapa [left] went to Violet Andrews Park in Portland, Texas so Olgin could show Chapa were she’d been baptized. See my original post HERE.

They encountered someone who allegedly forced them down a steep incline, tied them up, and then shot each girl in the head. It wasn’t until morning that a couple out for a walk found the two girls; Mollie Olgin had died during the night but Kristene Chapa was alive.

The gunshot initially left Chapa unable to sit or stand, with the bullet piercing the part of her brain controlling movements on her left side. Thankfully, today, she has recovered those abilities though she is still undergoing physical rehabilitation.

Better news, though, is that a suspect in the case — David Malcolm Strickland [right] — was arrested last week by US Marshals and Texas Rangers in San Antonio; his wife, Laura Kimberly, was also arrested. Strickland faces charges of capital murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated sexual assault; his wife faces charges of tampering with evidence.

“I hope that it gives them some closure knowing that this person is taken off the street. It is one day before the two-year anniversary. We've been working very hard to make sure we get him as soon as possible. A series of fortunate events has led us to this point and I'm just very happy that we could help in — at least at this point — in bringing him to justice.”— Portland Police Chief Gary Giles

Nothing will bring back Ollie Olgin, and nothing will erase the memory of what happened that night to Kristene Chapa, but now, at least, the person responsible appears to have been arrested and will stand trial.

via: NBC News