Several hundred students, faculty and alumni at Miami University of Ohio (MUO) are protesting a speaking engagement from George Will, a Washington Post columnist.
According to the Huffington Post, the school has not said it plans to cancel the speech amid concerns over a piece he wrote about campus sexual assault. The protesting group, nearly 1,000 people, signed an open letter to MUO administrators requesting Will's invite be rescinded.
Will published his controversial column in June and notably used quotation marks for "sexual assault" and "survivors." Along with suggesting that being a victim of sexual assault has become a "coveted status," some of his comments seemed to belittle crimes of sexual violence.
Not long after his column was published, he appeared on C-SPAN for an interview to defend his work.
"As an institution of higher education, we stress the importance of engaging in open, respectful, intellectual dialogue about the challenges facing our campuses and our country," the university said in a statement Tuesday. "Members of our campus community may rightfully have questions about Mr. Will's writings on a number of issues and we support their right to pose those questions."
Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies released their own statement last week arguing that the school sends the wrong message to sexual assault victims by keeping Will's speaking engagement.
"He doubts the legitimate struggle of rape and sexual assault -- this is extremely harmful to survivors," the statement read. "Although he's not talking about this issue, his presence here sends the message that rape and sexual assault is not a big enough issue to turn him away from campus like other colleges have done."
The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights is investigation 85 schools for complaints that they mishandled sexual assault cases. Not properly investigating and adjudicating crimes of sexual discrimination is a violation of the federal gender equity law Title IX.
