Sometimes I trick myself into thinking I live in a very tolerant and peaceful environment. During IntroDUCKtion four years ago, the organizers didn’t tell my group of wide-eyed freshmen about the climate of hate on campus, the number of sexual assaults or what the University was doing to change all of that.
They didn’t tell us, probably because they didn’t know these things were going on.
The problem is, when incidents happen, a small majority of students actually file reports with the Department of Public Safety. Since the beginning of the academic year, the Department of Public Safety has only received eight reports of assault, compared with 45 incidents reported to the Eugene Police Department.
Who knows how many rapes or hate crimes go on at this school? The FBI says rape is one of the most underreported crimes, with nine out of 10 assaults not reported. When survivors are so scared or shocked, the majority of them keep it from the authorities for a greater fear they will be publicly shunned, or nothing will come of it.
But bad things do happen on campus. A case in point is the ordeal a friend of mine went through two weeks ago when he was walking home from the bar, and two drunken bigots accosted him outside the Knight Library.
My friend, who is allowing me to print his story on condition of anonymity, said he had escorted a friend home on the east end of campus and was trekking back to his own place around 3 a.m.
He heard two inebriated men walking in his direction, espousing their views on homosexuals and the like. They were whooping and hollering, all the while sucking down liquor.
Then the pair caught a glimpse of the stranger walking past and unleashed their rage. They circled him like vultures, calling him a “fucking faggot,” among other ignorant terms. Then they pushed him back and forth, belligerent and angry shoves that threatened to evolve into something much more violent.
Luckily, they stopped themselves after a few moments of machismo muscle-flexing and continued on their way. My friend escaped the altercation unscathed physically, but scared as hell, as anyone — gay, straight, black, purple, whatever — would be after such a hateful encounter.
The two boys, described as “typical clean-cut, Abercrombie & Fitch kind of guys” may have been exercising their freedom of speech with their archaic views on homosexuality, but the pair went too far when the incident turned physical.
Despite all of the feelings of guilt, rage and indignity my friend experienced afterward, he has declined to report the incident because he says he couldn’t remember the faces of his assailants, and he didn’t think it would make any difference.
Going on file may not make any difference to him, but it would say something to the administration, and to prospective students looking for the tolerant institution I thought I attended. An institution located in a state that embraces such radical ideas as assisted suicide and bottle returns.
Let’s not forget, nearly 47 percent of Oregonians voted for Measure 9 three years ago. Not all of those voters are likely to be as aggressive as the pair who roughed up my friend, but I wouldn’t exactly call them open-minded.
Until people are willing to be educated about lifestyles different to their own, people like me will have to keep writing columns like this. If you have been assaulted, take control of your situation and let the authorities know. Because keeping silent only perpetuates the myth that these crimes don’t happen.