Rice maintains “happiest students” status by ousting unhappy students
Published: Thursday, November 29, 2012
Updated: Thursday, November 29, 2012 21:11
I have been trying to write this for a long time, but after reading Angie Epifano’s article in The Amherst Student, “An Account of Sexual Assault at Amherst College,” (Oct. 17, 2012) I felt the similarities between our situations reinforced the fact that certain flaws in university administrations need to be discussed.
I attended Rice from August 2010 to September 2011 and again from January 2012 to March 2012. From September 2010 to September 2011, I was physically, verbally and sexually abused by a boyfriend I had met during my first few days as a student at Rice.
In September 2011, my abuse got out of hand. Traumatized, I finally began to talk to the resident associates. With their encouragement (and a little bit of force), I reported him to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. Eventually, he was suspended from Rice University for the remainder of the academic year.
He lost his place on his athletic team, and his teammates hated me for it. Nobody knew what was going on. He called me a liar, and I had been so isolated for the past year that people did not know me at Rice except as his girlfriend. I was lonely and broken, constantly wondering whether I had made the right choice. I felt like I had betrayed my best friend. Nothing felt fair. Other students were blissfully ignorant and enjoying college, but for me, my undergraduate experience was already the worst time of my life. Assistant Dean of Student Judicial Programs Donald Ostdiek recommended I take a medical leave of absence from Rice so I could recover.
That fall, I went home and slowly began to heal. I filed for a protective order, was seeing a psychologist and had a steady job. I petitioned Rice for readmission for the Spring 2012 semester and was accepted due to my “successful recovery” during my time at home.
I returned to Rice in January 2012 and began receiving harassing emails from my ex’s friends. I took the emails to the Rice University Police Department, but they said nothing could be done.
On March 15, my ex parked his truck directly across the street from Duncan College. When I confirmed it was his truck, I called RUPD, sobbing and in shock. Two officers met me back at Duncan. They had the truck towed but told me there was nothing more they could do.
I asked RUPD whether I would be able to press charges because he had violated my protective order by coming that close to where I live. The officer told me they could not do anything because he had not hurt me “yet.” He also said I should not have been across the street because I could only be protected while I was on campus. It made me think — could I no longer leave campus? Was I not able to go out to dinner with friends or go shopping at the mall? And even though he had hurt me for a year, would they not do anything if he came near me unless he hurt me again first? I was extremely frustrated; they were not taking me seriously.
On March 22, I was asked to go to the Rice Counseling Center to meet a psychologist I had never seen before. She asked how I was doing, and I told her I was a little frustrated and stressed out because of my situation. She responded by saying that she thought I should be withdrawn from Rice. I was completely taken aback. The psychologist had me escorted to the Student Health Center, where I was asked to strip down to my underwear. A doctor and a nurse searched my body for any self-inflicted injuries. Every bruise was scrutinized. I told them I am just a clumsy person, but they did not seem to believe me.
I was asked to meet with Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson that afternoon. My academics were not in question; my grades were all excellent. The dean simply said it was Rice’s observation that I was not healthy enough to remain on campus. There was no room for discussion. When I asked for examples, arguing that my depression was under control until the “truck incident,” he told me he could not discuss specifics. He signed the papers for my forced withdrawal and dismissed me. I walked straight out of the building and sat on the ground outside. The Duncan master came to sit next to me. Still crying, I told him it was not fair. He told me he wanted me to come back next fall. He told me I was a role model for his daughter and for other women at Rice. But he did not change anything.
They gave me two hours notice to move all of my things out of my room. I turned in my key at the designated time, but I still had not packed everything. My roommate helped me move the rest of my stuff, but a head resident fellow saw us and threatened to call the police. I was supervised as I moved the rest of my things out. My roommate was shocked; she saw me every day and did not think I was unstable. Nobody had asked her whether I should be withdrawn from school. The rest of my friends had the same shocked reaction.
Rice did not refund any of my tuition.
Later that spring, I received the Duncan Edelweiss Award. It was an award for my “outstanding service to the community.” I laughed when I opened that package.
They wanted me to return for the Fall 2012 semester, but I could not go back to Rice after how I was treated. Returning in Spring 2012 had taken a lot of hard work. They took away everything I had built up during my spring semester: my academics, my leadership positions and my friends. As a freshman, I had assumed I would go to Rice for four years and graduate. However, my life has not gone as planned.
175 comments
this one instance may be the tip of the ice berg or just an isolated instance..but please know all the facts.
this is and could be close to the penn state debacle which has soured an other great univ..image although not the same even close to the same instance...
so know all the facts..trust rice to clear up and clean up this terrible ordeal and others if there be any??
even half of the young ladys story is true its too much...so have faith...it will be resolved and some one commented they hoped the medial get s wind of the incident..omg...media.it ll be so skewered it ll hurt all the good students..so please have a heart....lol..the truth will prevail..jerry
You are so right. It pains me to see someone run such an obvious smear campaign against the place where I spent the formative years of my life. What pains me more, is to see so many bright young minds accepting her story, which is so obviously flawed, as is. Rice helped me to look critically at the world and question obvious manipulation. Have they stopped, or is this a much deeper, generational symptom? Olivia, either put forth a convincing argument, or stop dragging Rice through the dirt. In doing so, you disrespect all of us.
- Did the University turn a deaf ear to Ms. Hansen's claims of abuse? Did her masters and RAs tell her to keep quiet about the alleged abuse?
- Did the university refuse to dole out punishment to the accused? Did Rice act to protect an athlete from negative repercussions?
- Was Ms. Hansen forced to leave Rice the first time, by Dr. Ostediek? Does Olivia believe her initial leave of absence was without benefit (i.e., that it didn't allow her to "heal" and "recover")?
- Did RUPD ignore Olivia claims in connection with the "truck incident"? Did they indicate that they would not protect her to the full extent of their jurisdiction?
- Did Rice refuse to allow Olivia back after her first leave of absence? Did Rice prohibit her return in the fall of 2012, after her second (forced) leave of absence?Rice forcibly withdrew Ms. Hansen in March 2012 on account of her not being "healthy enough to remain on campus." Something prompted Rice's actions, the complete facts of which are unlikely to be revealed publicly. But what we do know is this: (1) Olivia acknowledges having a history of mental health issues, which previously caused her to withdraw from the university to seek treatment; (2) the University determined that Ms. Hansen needed to be examined by a psychologist and medical professionals on March 22, 2012; (3) during that examination, a physician was skeptical that bruises on Ms. Hansen's body were, as she claimed, the result of clumsiness; and (4) finally, Ms. Hansen implicitly acknowledges that, due to the "truck incident" on March 15th, her depression was no longer "under control" on March 22nd.Attending Rice is not a right, but a privilege. Our's is a private institution. In order to protect students, faculty and the greater Rice community -- both from themselves and from others -- Rice must be able to removing persons from campus. It seems to me that the University had every right to remove Olivia when it did and, moreover, that doing so was entirely reasonable given the facts as Olivia presents them.A final thought: the headline above borders on yellow journalism. I expect better from Rice's paper and I hope the Thresher expects better from itself.
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