In response to all of the recent developments concerning the mural on the fifth floor of Willow, we would like to clarify our position. When we first learned about the mural, we were in disbelief. We could not understand how date rape and violence against women could be taken so lightly. Specifically, our concern was with the wording on the mural. Some examples include: tool, condoms, date raper extraordinaire, roofies and the character names. Another concern that we had was the way in which the woman in the picture was portrayed.

This was incredibly disturbing to us. According to he U.S. Department of Justice, “one out of every four college women has been the victim of rape or attempted rape,” and “at least 45 percent of rapists were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.” In light of these statistics, we were very concerned with the message that this mural on university property was sending to the students about the acceptance of date rape.

Our original goal was to inform students of the fact that a mural like this has been allowed to exist. In doing this many other issues have arisen that raised concerns of their own. At this time, all of the offensive wording has been removed from the mural and we are continuing to work with the men of fifth floor to resolve the rest of the issues surrounding the mural.

Melissa Metz

Samantha Sexton

Christine Page

Crystal Gibson

Jessica Norman

Amanda Farniok

Jenny Vande Voort

Dawn Taylor