Paige Clifton-Steele, 2nd year, responds to LA Times article “Who killed Antioch? Womyn”
Hi Ms. Daum,
I’m an Antioch student who just finished her first year. I’m writing because I read your column “Who Killed Antioch? Womyn” in the LA Times, and I’m concerned about your comment on our SOPP, and the trend it (your comment, not our policy) represents. SOPP-era Antiochians are used to the assortment of media misperceptions that have, since 1993, asserted themselves in the face of all evidence and good sense. But in the wake of the announcement of our college’s closing, what used to be a puzzling phenomenon has become salt in the wound. You rightly note that the SOPP and public relations have had a shaky relationship. But you are incorrect to suggest that the policy is infantilizing, and offensive, if not strictly wrong, to characterize its historical context as “hysteria”. I’ll say groundswell, you can say hysteria, and we’ll still be talking about the same 200,000 some sexual assaults reported in ‘04-’05. Which, interestingly, is down 69% since 1993. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)