March 3, 1999: Editorial: Conservatives at the Gate

Punishing Rape

        About a year ago, two Harvard women were sexually assaulted by their classmates. Recently, it has come to light that the rapists, Joshua Elster '00 and D. Drew Douglas '00, were dismissed, not expelled, from the university. That both men were not permanently expelled is upsetting; for such horrible crimes one would hope that the punishment would be fitting. In cases of rape, the most extreme punishment is the correct punishment -- that is, expulsion.
        Students have -- rightly, we think -- reacted angrily to recent news of these rapes. But when approaching such an emotional issue, it is all too easy for people to exaggerate and pontificate to such a degree that even noble endeavors to rectify the situation can result in more harm than good.
        In this regard, the gravity and effectual permanence of dismissal has been distorted. The only difference between dismissal and expulsion is that a dismissed student may return to the university if he reapplies and is approved by a vote of the entire faculty. An expelled student cannot apply for re-admission. In the case of rape, dismissal is practically -- if not symbolically -- equivalent to expulsion, as it is difficult to imagine the faculty approving the application of a convicted rapist.
        Also, it is important to recognize that, while these rapes are tragic, they are by no means common. Some of the more excitable Harvard students -- those who emote first and ask questions later -- have seized upon these incidents as indicators of epidemic sexual predation. Hence, calls for a Women's Center and increased academic attention to sexual violence. But all Harvard men are not sexual predators, nor are Harvard women vulnerable victims of oppression. The existing support system, when used properly and promoted reasonably, is more than adequate.
        Harvard's choice to reserve its most extreme form of punishment -- even when the severity of this punishment is largely symbolic -- is wrong, but so is the tempting tendency to sacrifice reason to exuberance. These wrongs do not make a right. In seeking expulsion for Elster and Douglas, a worthy cause, sobriety is in order.