Angie Epifano, a former student at
Amherst College, gained widespread media attention and millions of page views after she wrote an essay on her personal experience of
sexual assault that was published in the Amherst student newspaper, ''The Amherst Student''.
Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
and to form groups to reduce sexual assault on college campuses.
Background
In 2011, Epifano was a freshman at Amherst College majoring in African Art
African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the ...
history.NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
'' that she was invited to watch a movie by an acquaintance and fell asleep during the movie (she reported she had not been drinking
Drinking is the act of ingesting water or other liquids into the body through the mouth, proboscis, or elsewhere. Humans drink by swallowing, completed by peristalsis in the esophagus. The physiological processes of drinking vary widely am ...
).[ Her alleged assailant was never legally prosecuted or sanctioned by Amherst College.][ After some time and after seeing a second guidance counselor, she admitted to thinking about suicide][ and was forcibly admitted by Amherst College into a ]psychiatric ward
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
for five days.[ She returned to school just before the end of the spring semester after she placed a restraining order on the person she alleged committed the assault.][ She subsequently dropped out of Amherst College and started working on a dude ranch in ]Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
during the fall of 2012.[ It was during this time that she became frustrated that she had left Amherst College without attempting to improve the support system for victims of sexual assault.][ She decided to do something about it by writing an essay on her experiences of the assault, with other students, and of the sexual assault support system at Amherst College.][
]
Epifano's essay
On 17 October 2012, ''The Amherst Student'' published an essay by Epifanorape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
d by a male acquaintance on May 25, 2011, in a dormitory on the campus of Amherst College.[ Nine months after the alleged rape occurred, a friend suggested that she seek counseling.][ Within the first week of publication of the essay, it received over 370,000 hits.]
Response
Immediately following the publication of Epifano's essay, Amherst College began reviewing its policies for handling sexual assault cases, brought in psychological experts, assigned new investigators, and started a "sexual respect"[ Amherst President Carolyn "Biddy" Martin stated "We need to do everything in our power to become a leader in encouraging victims to report sexual assault".][ Amherst College formed a Special Oversight Committee on Sexual Misconduct, which produced a critical report][
In November, 2013, Epifano and an anonymous former female former student filed a 113-page federal sexual assault complaint under ]Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
.Clery Act
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or Clery Act, signed in 1990, is a federal statute codified at , with implementing regulations in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations at .
The Clery Act requ ...
. The complaints allege that Amherst and other schools violated Title IX by not providing a college environment that protects female students from discrimination and that the schools also violated the Clery Act by not keeping and making public information on campus crimes.
Criticism
Wendy Kaminer writing for ''The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' questioned how accurately Epifano could recall all of the events she reported in her essay.[
]
References
External links
Epifano’s essay
KNOW YOUR IX
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epifano, Angie
Living people
Amherst College alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Sexual abuse