Yale Alumni Open Letter: Ivy League School 'Reinforces the Rape Myth'

A group of 229 Yale University alumni published a critical open letter to their alma mater two years after the initial sexual assault case that sparked a federal investigation, the Huffington Post reported.

The letter first took issue with the school's use of the term "nonconsensual sex" to describe sexual assault and also that those found guilty received punishment no harsher than a written reprimand and were allowed to remain on the Ivy League School's campus.

Two weeks ago, a student group known as "Students Against Sexual Violence at Yale" (SASVY) voiced the same concerns and demanded a policy change at their school. Both the student group and the alumni letter are in response to Yale's semi-annual campus crime report, released July 31.

"By using the term "nonconsensual sex" in its Report, Yale appears to reinforce the rape myth that there are two tiers of sexual assault: "Real" sexual assault, perhaps perpetrated by strangers or with violence, and a less severe type of incident ("nonconsensual sex"), perpetrated by acquaintances or when drugs or alcohol are involved," the letter read. "Yale needs to be clear: Sex without consent is sexual assault."

Stephanie Spangler, Yale's Title IX coordinator, told the Huffington Post the school's definition of "nonconsensual sex" is a behavior considered to be sexual assault. She also said the school has an interest in protecting the accused and the victim's identity.

"Our intention is to be as precise as we can about the behavior without providing identifying details," Spangler said.

Following Yale's crime report, two petitions have been created on Change.org, calling for tougher penalties on sexual abuse perpetrators. One has gained 731 signatures and the other has gained more than 1,400.

"The report is an attempt to let the community know very generally what kinds of complaints are brought forward, where they are reviewed, and in very general terms, what are the outcomes," Spangler said, insisting the punishments are as harsh as they need to be.

Yale is planning to release in the coming weeks a series of hypothetical sexual assault examples to illustrate how each would be handled and how the perpetrators would be punished. The move is in response to critical comments made on "nonconsensual sex" offenders being kept on campus after they had been found guilty.