SAN FRANCISCO ― Campus policies put in place to prevent and respond to sexual assaults worked about as well as Stanford University officials expected, after a member of the school’s swimming team was spotted by a garbage bin on top of an unconscious woman.
Two graduate students passing by on bicycles interrupted the attack, chased down a freshman student and held him until campus police arrived. The student, Brock Turner, was arrested and agreed to withdraw from Stanford and never return rather than go through expulsion proceedings.
But with outrage brewing over the six-month jail sentence the one-time Olympic hopeful received last week, Stanford unexpectedly has found itself defending its prevention efforts and arguing that the case should be cited as evidence of their success, not failure.
“Stanford University did everything within its power to assure that justice was served in this case, including an immediate police investigation and referral to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office for a successful prosecution,” university officials said in a statement.
A judge who attended Stanford as an undergraduate sentenced the 20-year-old Turner to six months in jail and ordered him to register as a sex offender following his conviction on felony assault and attempted rape charges.
Like other U.S. colleges and universities, Stanford has been under renewed pressure from federal education officials, state lawmakers and students to improve the way sexual assault victims are treated and to ensure perpetrators face serious and consistent consequences.
When Turner began his short-lived career as a swimmer for the prestigious California school in September 2014, orientation sessions for new students featured a video of student-athletes discussing the issue and a talk by the provost on their rights and responsibilities as members of the Cardinal community. Stanford also required new students to complete online training over the summer that covered topics such as acquiring affirmative consent for sex.
