“I never, ever would have expected this”

[neoteny]

Brown University Student Speaks Out on What It's Like to Be Accused of Rape

[...]

The Kopins say they remain strongly supportive of the goal of a more effective response to sexual assault. Yet Liz Kopin, who says that talking to her son about Sclove's charges was "the most painful conversation I could ever imagine," also acknowledges that the experience has changed the way she views sexual assault allegations. "To have someone misconstrue a situation, perhaps because of a prior assault or abuse, and then make an accusation in such a process where she can destroy a young man's life--stunning," she says. "I never, ever would have expected this."

[...]

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The primary dogma of "a more effective response to sexual assault" is that "women never lie about rape". When Mom said Sclove "misconstrued the situation", she violated that dogma. As Irving Kristol said: "conservatives are liberals who got mugged by reality".

[dr e]

Let the young man complain about her false accusation and see how far he gets.  No one would listen. Let mom speak up and things are different.  I wonder what would happen if it had been dad speaking up?

[neoteny]

This case is a major clusterfuck.

Kopin accepted his one year suspension. Then Sclove started to raise hell about her having to go to school while her 'rapist' is on campus, too (due to a year overlap, would have Kopin returned this September). Then on April 26, Klopin made a statement through his lawyer that he withdraws from Brown permanently and "does not intend to engage in a public debate on this issue". Then -- apparently on May 11 and 22 -- Sclove lodged a complaint with the US Dept. of Education Office of Civil Rights that Brown University violated her Title IX rights with regard to how it conducted the sexual misconduct investigation. That prompted Kopin's lawyers to send a long letter on June 11 to the same Dept. of Ed. Office of Civil Rights in which they attack Sclove's (often changing) version of events ... basically saying that Scove is full of shit, she's mining public outrage against Kopin and sympathy for herself by aggressively lying about what happened ("misconstrue [the] situation" in Kopin's mom's words) and if Brown U. made a mistake in the sexual misconduct investigation, then it was about failing to provide Kopin with a "truly fair and impartial hearing", which would have concluded -- according to Kopin's lawyers' belief -- that he violated no Brown policies.

Scove self-identifies as a "social justice activist". It seems to me that she's trying to jump-start her career in that field (and possibly score some coinage from Brown) by turning herself into the "poster victim of campus sexual misconduct" (both by a male and by the school). She even managed to get Sen. Kristen Gillibrand's support -- and the backing of a crusading Senator isn't something to sneeze at.