Our lawyer says it does not necessarily reflect our opinion

[Shadylookin]

Recently I had to go to a mandatory meeting for my university over the subject of Sexual Assault and Rape. Though i find it sad that at 18 people still need to be told that rape is bad, I wasn't bothered by it since many universities have similar required meetings. Before the 2 speakers got up on stage we we're told that they did no necessarily represent the view of the university. Now this might pass for an infomercial at 3am when you don't have to watch, but at a university at a meeting you are required to attend how can you possibly get away with not accepting responsiblity?

Of course this was also when i knew i was in for a load of garbage. making a pass on a girl at a party became the equivalent of being jack the ripper. The second part was totally about a woman's moral right to an abortion. now i happen to be pro choice as most know by now, but I don't feel it is an appropriate topic at a mandatory meeting about sexual assualt(at least not the moral implications of it).

Then we went on to the next person. essentialy it was about the white devil, and how society has crushed her self esteem through fasion magazines(she was overweight) and the fact that 30 years or so ago there was no black barbie.

...your thoughts?

 

[ybbor]

wow, a mandatory pro-choice lecture? was there equal time? has a pro-life speaker been invited? is that legal?

 

[Irish Caesar]

What school is this?

A private one, I hope...

 

[Shadylookin]

wow, a mandatory pro-choice lecture? was there equal time? has a pro-life speaker been invited? is that legal?

no there was no pro-life speaker, and both sides should have gotten the same ammount of time which for a meeting about sexual assault should have been no time at all. I actually saw a few women get up and leave during it. I'm not sure about the legalities however, I just wanted peoples opinions and thoughts about it

What school is this?

A private one, I hope...

no it's a public university, I'd prefer not giving out the name for my own privacy sake

 

[TheBladeRoden]

Man, sounds like something my old college would do, but they'd officially endorse the speaker's views.

 

[A'AbarachAmadan]

The colleges actions are wrong on many levels its unbelievable. I probably would have left or bantered with the speakers, even on subjects I agree on. I do think fashion magazines idolize unhealthy skinny, but to whine about it is just as ridiculous; it is even more ridiculous to make you listen to such dribble in a mandatory meeting.

 

[Irish Caesar]

no it's a public university, I'd prefer not giving out the name for my own privacy sake

Fair enough.

How do they make such a meeting mandatory? Was it part of a class?

 

[Shadylookin]

Fair enough.

How do they make such a meeting mandatory? Was it part of a class?

it was a required meeting all income freshman had to attend. they stuck 3000 of us in an auditorum a week before classes started.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Ah, orientation?

Yeah, not much you can do about that, I suppose...

Of course, there's not a damn thing the school can do if you decided to not attend, but before becoming a freshman, even, it's not like you'd be comfortable enough with the place to complain.

 

[luiz]

Then we went on to the next person. essentialy it was about the white devil, and how society has crushed her self esteem through fasion magazines(she was overweight)

Would she rather have magazines idolizing obese women like herself instead of skinny girls?

Fat women are ugly, I don't read fashion magazines and yet this is all too obvious to me. She crushed her self steem by eating tons of cheeseburgers or something along those lines. It's amazing how "society" can always be blamed for anything nowadays.

If I were you I would have walked out in a way to make sure that everyone knew I was walking out. That's what I do in my Uni when we are supposed to attend to idiotic lectures such as the one you describe.

 

[Leatherneck]

I would have got up and walked out, I'd also send an e-mail to Bill O'Reilly ... like him or not he loves going down Universities throats over just that kind of thing, if it's an American University.

 

[History_Buff]

Fair enough.

How do they make such a meeting mandatory? Was it part of a class?

And I'm interested in how they actually made you go. We had a play, but my orientation group leaders didn't feel like going, so they took most of the group to a liquor store and got trashed.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Personally, I don't do anything here that doesn't affect my GPA unless I feel like it.

But then, there was probably no way of knowing that this presentation would be a pile of fresh manure until after you sat through a bit of it, was there?

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Would she rather have magazines idolizing obese women like herself instead of skinny girls?

Fat women are ugly, I don't read fashion magazines and yet this is all too obvious to me. She crushed her self steem by eating tons of cheeseburgers or something along those lines. It's amazing how "society" can always be blamed for anything nowadays.

If I were you I would have walked out in a way to make sure that everyone knew I was walking out. That's what I do in my Uni when we are supposed to attend to idiotic lectures such as the one you describe.

wow, i think i agree with everything you just said.

i wouldve russled some papers and coughed a bunch too though

i mean, im pro choice to an extent but people shouldnt be forced to listen to that.

 

[Shadylookin]

Personally, I don't do anything here that doesn't affect my GPA unless I feel like it.

But then, there was probably no way of knowing that this presentation would be a pile of fresh manure until after you sat through a bit of it, was there?

all i knew was that it was supposed to be a mandatory meeting about sexual assault and rape. If this was the actual subject they discussed I wouldn't have had a problem with going. Of course I didn't realize until listen to this garbage that it simply isn't feasable to take attendence of 3000+ new people and skipped another mandatory meeting a couple of days later.

And I'm interested in how they actually made you go. We had a play, but my orientation group leaders didn't feel like going, so they took most of the group to a liquor store and got trashed.

they said the meeting was mandatory so i went. I realized later that they didn't take attendence more or less because it was physically impossible to do so in under 10 hours. my point however really isn't that it was an impossible rule to enforce, but that it was a technically required meeting and that the University attempted to not accept responsiblity for what their speakers said. Then they let it go way off topic into areas that had no business being discussed at a mandatory meeting.

 

[skadistic]

The uni. was wrong on so many levels its sickening. But its not unexpected.

 

[aussieboy]

Bleh. In HS in Califronia, they don,t give you the Mandatory Lecture until the end of the year.

BTW, That college has basically violated any principle of academic neutrality - so many, it's sickening

 

[El_Machinae]

It sounds stupid. You should, in fact, complain. Maybe tell the school newspaper. Find out who did the presentation, and complain to their manager. The Public Educator for a sexual assault centre likely answers to a boss; and the boss would probably have a better idea about what actual message should be told (and would be unimpressed with her centre losing face like this)

But, did you learn your lesson? Did you learn to get an implicit 'yes' before engaging in sexual acts? Did you learn that a woman can be too drunk to consent?

 

[nihilistic]

Before the 2 speakers got up on stage we we're told that they did no necessarily represent the view of the university. Now this might pass for an infomercial at 3am when you don't have to watch, but at a university at a meeting you are required to attend how can you possibly get away with not accepting responsiblity?

What might have happened is that the speakers might not be affiliated with the uni and they are more or less required to say that. So it's not about you getting away with irresponsibility but the school itself not geting caught up if they (which the school may have minimal oversight over) screw up.

My university hosted a similar even during orientation but I don't recall it being mandatory or talking about pro-choice or pro-life. All I remembered was the school's strange alcohol policy (that was somewhat important to me), and the ridiculous skit on how to apply the condoms and stuff.

 

[IglooDame]

Complain to the uni (or better yet, get a petition going objecting to the mandatory ideological spewing) in an attempt to get them to not use those lecturers in the future.