Hat tip to Geo, and trigger warning for explicit description of sexual assault.
John Chadima, former senior associate athletic director at UW-Madison, is being investigated for the sexual assault of a male student.
After a Rose Bowl party in late December, Chadima was alone with a male student. Allegedly, Chadima asked the man if he were gay, then placed his hand in the student’s pants. The student slapped Chadima’s hand away and quickly left the room. A week later, Chadima resigned, saying that he had allowed alcohol to control his life for too long. As the story of the Rose Bowl emerged, two other students said that they had been sexually harassed and assaulted by Chadima. (Chadima doesn’t dispute the allegations, as far as I can tell.)
Chadima’s response to the allegations, resignation, investigation, and so on mostly seems focused around alcohol and how he is getting help for his alcoholism. Not the issue, Chadima. There are many alcoholics who DON’T end up sexually assaulting their students. The problem is not addiction (although I’m glad he’s seeking help); the problem is that he fucking sexually assaulted people. Show some remorse for the pain you caused those men, dude.
It’s also interesting for me to note the history of assaults. Studies show most rapes and sexual assaults are committed by repeat offenders; sure enough, nearly every time someone comes forward with having been sexually assaulted, it turns out the perpetrator did it to lots of other people too.
Can I just say how pleased and surprised I am by the university and the police taking these allegations seriously? All too often, sexual assault (particularly when the survivor is intoxicated, and when the perpetrator is someone in power) is brushed aside as a misunderstanding or a party getting out of hand, and the allegations against Chadima seemed to be exactly that kind of situation. But Chadima resigned promptly and the police are investigating (if, you know, three months after the incident).
I kind of have to think that the alcohol issue played a huge role in Chadima’s sexual assaults being taken seriously– as sad as it is, colleges often take underage drinking more seriously than sexual assault. Schools that might overlook a sexual assault may look more dimly upon a sexual assault combined with endemic underage drinking paid for by the school. In addition, you can’t overlook homophobia: as sad as it is, many people may understand “straight men sometimes don’t want their genitals touched by other men” better than “straight men sometimes don’t want their genitals touched by women.”
Sports culture, all too often, is a rape culture. Hypermasculinity, which many sports value, has been linked to likelihood of committing sexual assault. Parties may provide a fertile ground for rape and sexual assault to take place. The “boys will be boys” idea makes it hard for sexual assault to be taken seriously. No one wants to lose a talented athlete, coach, or official and risk losing games.
Whatever the reasons that they actually took Chadima’s sexual assaults seriously, I’m glad UW-Madison hasn’t fallen into that trap.