The Campus Rape Frenzy: The Attack on Due Process at America's Universities

by K.C. Johnson, Stuart Taylor Jr.

In recent years, politicians led by President Obama and prominent senators and governors have teamed with extremists on campus to portray our nation’s institutions of higher learning as awash in a violent crime wave―and to suggest (preposterously) that university leaders, professors, and students are indifferent to female sexual assault victims in their midst. Neither of these claims has any bearing to reality. But they have achieved widespread acceptance, thanks in part to misleading alarums from the Obama administration and biased media coverage led by The New York Times .

The frenzy about campus rape has helped stimulate―and has been fanned by―ideologically skewed campus sexual assault policies and lawless commands issued by federal bureaucrats to force the nation’s all-too-compliant colleges and universities essentially to presume the guilt of accused students. The result has been a widespread disregard of such bedrock American principles as the presumption of innocence and the need for fair play.

This book uses hard facts to set the record straight. It explores, among other things, nearly two dozen of the cases since 2010 in which students who in all likelihood would have or have subsequently been found not guilty in a court of law have, in a lopsided process, been hastily and carelessly branded as sex criminals and expelled or otherwise punished by their colleges, often after being tarred and feathered by their fellow students. And it shows why all students―and, eventually, society as a whole―are harmed when our nation’s universities abandon pursuit of truth and seek instead to accommodate the passions of the mob.

As detailed in the new Epilogue, some encouraging events have transpired since this book was first published in October 2016. A majority of the judicial rulings in dozens of lawsuits by male students claiming their schools treated them unfairly and discriminated against them based on their gender have rebuked the schools for their handling of these cases. And Education Secretary Betsy DeVos called for fairness to accused students and accusers alike, revoked most of the guilt-presuming Obama-era policies, and began a protracted rule-making process designed to compel procedural fairness and nondiscrimination.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Feminism, Education

384 pages, Paperback

Published May 22, 2018

Reviews

[Samarth Bhaskar · Rating 3 out of 5]

In an effort to expand my understanding of campus issues, which can bring into stark relief larger political forces at play in the nation (why political conflict happens so acutely on campuses or as part of student movements is a topic of interest for another time), I picked up this book recommended by a friend.

That books are not fact checked was on my mind a lot while reading this book. Although the pages of this book are chock full of anecdotes and evidence about wrongful accusations and improper sexual assault investigations, a 2nd round of fact checking would have gone a long way in building my confidence about their findings. With that criticism in mind, I did find their in depth discussion of survey methodology and complication of the "1 in 4 women on college campuses are victims of sexual assault" compelling. Surveys of this nature are difficult to get right but it seems to me that the truth exists somewhere between 1 in 4 at the high end and 1 in 53 at the low end (from a BJS study quoted in the book and elsewhere). I also liked their structured, thoughtful approach to all sides of the issue including media coverage, power relations on campus, the role of the government and social change.

Overall, I found that the authors built a compelling case that the Obama administration (from my understanding, in an effort to bridge the gap between police inaction on sexual assault and victim complaints about their treatment on campus) over-corrected with the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter. The extension of OCR oversight over Title IX issues to college sexual assault tribunals has resulted in, according to this book and it seems to be the case, a systematic denial of due process and constitutional rights of the accused. In an ironic twist, I wonder if the solution to this will also come via Title IX, if accusers ask for better treatment on the basis of gender discrimination.

I hear and understand complaints from victims' rights organizations that police departments around the country are not dealing with college rape with sufficient urgency. But the solution should not be an end-run around the legal system by creating a separate standard for justice for college students (a legal safe-space to use the term du jour). We should try to fix the justice system we have instead of creating a separate justice system.

Lastly, I imagine the authors' credibility and ability to persuade people would be greatly increased if they spilled as much ink and applied as much expertise on helping victims as the falsely accused. One presumes, and I think it stands to reason, victims exist in much larger numbers than the falsely accused.

[Jack Zandi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is legitimately a terrible book. Horrible statistical analysis, a poor attempt at men's rights propaganda. Essentially his view is: Women, especially college age women, are dangerous dirty liars, attention seeking scum who, are preying on the innocent weak male gender. Booo. Boo K.C. Johnson. BOOOOO.

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent exploration of the issues surrounding the war on due process for college students accused of sexual misconduct. It looks at individual cases, activism, school policies and practices, journalism, political developments, scholarship, law, media, and popular attitudes to give a thorough account of the issue from the perspective of those wrongly accused.

[The American Conservative]

Now is the time that we, as a country, reflect on the record of the previous administration and nervously watch as a new president takes on the world’s most powerful office. And in a book due for release tomorrow, K.C. Johnson and Stuart Taylor Jr. urge us to consider one part of the Obama legacy in particular: his administration’s stoking of “witch hunts” against college students accused of sexual assault.

The Campus Rape Frenzy is not without its flaws. But it paints a disturbing and powerful portrait of the ideologies and disciplinary procedures that reign at this nation’s colleges.

http://www.theamericanconservative.co...

[Letitia Todd Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An illuminating and shocking exposé of how universities handle sexual assault allegations and proceedings — very well researched by two Obama supporters. The accused student receives almost no due process, drunken but conscious sexual encounters are deemed to be "rape" (but only for the male partner), and exculpatory evidence is routinely disregarded or suppressed to ensure a guilty verdict and expulsion of the accused. All this is driven by fear of Title IX lawsuits and revocation of federal funding, gross misinterpretation of statistical data regarding campus rape, and weak administrations afraid or unwilling to stand up to aggressive and bullying activists. In a few instances (particularly the case of "mattress girl"), the authors reach unwarranted conclusions about the veracity of the accuser, but what cannot be doubted is that, even if every one of these young men is guilty (which is highly unlikely), they receive nowhere near the due process to which they are entitled.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A damning portrait of a parallel legal system designed not to achieve justice, but rather to achieve a particular end: the expulsion of men accused of sexual assault. What bothers me most about these twenty-odd cases isn't the kangaroo courts and their attendant baggage, but the utter lack of curiosity on the part of the universities, which are ostensibly devoted to critical thinking and uncovering the truth. But hey, I understand—when federal funds are on the line via Title IX complaint, the truth takes a backseat to the survival of the institution, right? (That's what the egregious Amherst case at the beginning of the book tells me, at any rate.) While The Campus Rape Frenzy could have been more streamlined, it illuminates a glaring flaw in the sexual assault rhetoric prevalent on campus these days: if we're hardwired to believe the "survivor" despite evidence to the contrary, we will inevitably destroy innocent people in the process. I can't say I'm remotely cool with that.

[Kerem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall a grim book (but with more of a hopeful tone ending it), the authors present a very detailed presentation of the Obama-era Title IX actions making the campus disciplinary processes primarily ideological and diminishing the standard due process rights. Rather than investigating specific cases (or making claims of which side had a fault, expect very few well established cases), the book presents details on the procedural aspects of many cases (as much as data is available, as transparency is often limited by the universities). The book has certainly a historical value, with its extensive research documenting horrifying details of how ideological and careless university staff (most often administrators from Title IX offices but also many academics) can drive change in an Orwellian direction, but also many statements from both sides of the discussion (many of which would probably be reviewed in a few decades by historians). Even though reading the book gets a bit difficult at times (as case after case, it can be exhausting), but its extensive research as well as different perspectives from politicians to academics and lawyers certainly earn it a 4.5 stars, in my opinion.

[Claire Binkley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was honestly far more interested in learning how to use "due process" in a sentence than about instances of campus rape, which is the topic of this book. (Those are dreadful and I'm 100% sorry to everyone who has suffered from sexual abuse!)

To be honest, I think this is incredibly scary stuff which I'd rather not read right at this moment because it scares me. What makes it worse is that I've gotten mail from so many of the institutions at which it detailed the encounters happening.

Another patron put a post-it with a grad student's experience, a book titled Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus.

This book has been successful with the chapter "Denying Due Process" so even though I found the subject ghastly this enterprise was still worth the effort! I am a happier person overall.

[Haden Shoup · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You should of course treat women with respect; avoid making unwanted sexual overtures; and be quick to help the victim of any apparent assault, sexual or otherwise. What may be less obvious is that - just as women in college face grave dangers from rapists and other sexual predators - men like you face grave dangers from false accusers who have been misled by colleges and activists. They have been propagandized and lobbied to believe that they should make claims against you whenever they end up unhappy about sexual contact, even if it was clearly consensual. You also face danger from egregiously unfair disciplinary processes and from campus sex bureaucrats who are, in many cases, extremely biased against males. For this reason, be aware that any fellow student with whom you have sexual contact may have the power to get you expelled for sexual assault if she feels regret or becomes angry with you an hour, a day, a month, a year, or even two years later. Casual sex with someone you barely know is especially dangerous."

[Lori Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a child heading off to college anytime soon, you MUST read this book. Terrifying stuff. Some will say that the lack of due process on campuses is in the interest of the victims, but victims AND those accused would be better off going straight to the police. Colleges should not be involved in criminal justice.