Author Archives: Caroline Tan

Graduate and professional students who are victims of sexual assault will soon have access to a new confidential support group, organized by the Sexual Harassment and Assault Response & Education Center. Lyvonne Briggs DIV ’12, who worked with SHARE Director Carole Goldberg to create the group, said she hopes the new initiative will provide a »

The Rhodes Trust’s knowledge of the informal sexual assault complaint against Patrick Witt ’12 has highlighted the challenges that the University faces in upholding its confidentiality procedures. Although administrators said all parties involved in formal or informal sexual misconduct complaints — including University officials, complainants and respondents — are asked not to speak about case »

The national fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi is putting its efforts to establish a Yale Alpha Sig chapter “on pause,” according to Geoff McDonald, the organization’s coordinator of chapter and colony development. McDonald, who began recruitment efforts on campus Jan. 9, said he left campus Jan. 29, 11 days earlier than scheduled. His departure brought a »

The recent controversy surrounding an informal sexual assault complaint filed against Patrick Witt ’12, along with the release of Yale’s first University-wide report on sexual misconduct cases last week, have intensified scrutiny of the University’s formal and informal complaint processes. At Yale, 43 of the 52 complaints filed between July 1 and Dec. 31 of »

As the University expands resources for victims of sexual misconduct, students interviewed expressed mixed opinions on how well the multitude of programs facilitates the process of seeking help. Students can use a variety of resources to address sexual misconduct — including Title IX coordinators in each of the University’s schools, the Yale Police Department, the »

On Friday, the Rhodes Trust provided its account of how Patrick Witt’s ’12 candidacy for the Rhodes Scholarship ended. According to the Rhodes’ statement, which University Spokesman Tom Conroy confirmed as accurate on Sunday, Yale told the Trust that Witt learned on Nov. 8 that his candidacy would require re-endorsement in light of a complaint »

One day after Sex Week 2012 launches this Saturday, students will have the chance to attend an alternative set of activities organized by a group of students who say Sex Week inappropriately emphasizes “sheer, gratuitous and physical pleasure.” True Love Week, sponsored by Undergraduates for a Better Yale College, will hold seven events between Feb. »

According to Yale’s first-ever report compiling all sexual misconduct complaints from across the University, 52 cases of sexual harassment, assault or other misconduct were brought to Yale officials between July 1 and Dec. 31 of last year. Open publication The report, released in a campuswide email from Deputy Provost Stephanie Spangler Tuesday evening, marks an »

Patrick Witt ’12 told the News Tuesday night that he decided to play in the Nov. 19 Yale-Harvard Game before he was notified that the Rhodes Trust had asked Yale to re-endorse his candidacy. In a phone interview, the former quarterback clarified his account after a story published in the New York Times last Thursday »

The New York Times and Patrick Witt’s ’12 spokesman have outlined conflicting narratives of how the former quarterback’s Rhodes Scholarship candidacy ended last fall. The Times reported Thursday that Witt’s Rhodes candidacy had been “suspended” because of an informal sexual assault complaint filed against him in September by a female student. Unless Yale re-endorsed Witt’s »

Two conflicting accounts have emerged over former quarterback Patrick Witt’s ’12 candidacy for a Rhodes Scholarship last fall. On Thursday, an article in the New York Times claimed Witt lost his chance at a Rhodes Scholarship because of a sexual assault complaint filed against him. But in interviews with the News on Friday, Witt’s spokesman »

Former quarterback Patrick Witt ’12 may not have had the option of pursuing a Rhodes scholarship when he announced on Nov. 13 that he would play in the 2011 Yale-Harvard football game, the New York Times reported Thursday. Citing interviews with six anonymous sources “with knowledge of all or part of the story,” the article »