News Year in Review

Drag Ball Sex Assault
Compiled by Nina Lalli from articles by Nina Lalli and Adrian Leung

Alleged Rape Outside Drag Ball, No Arrests

A woman was allegedly raped during Drag Ball, according to information released to the Review by the Oberlin Police Department April 20. No charges were filed, and the identities of the complainant and alleged assailant were not released.
The alleged rape occurred in the parking lot of Wilder Hall on the night of April 14, according to the complaint filed at 11:20 p.m. that night.
According to Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith, the alleged assailant is a Safety and Security officer who has since been fired. Since his identity was not released, he was unable to be reached for comment. 
“It is my understanding that the allegations were made against a part-time Safety and Security officer,” Goldsmith said. “Following an internal investigation, the officer was released due to his failure to comply with College and departmental policies while in the course of his duties.” 
Despite the seriousness of the allegation against a member of Safety and Security, Goldsmith said he did not think that security needed to be increased at Drag Ball. “Safety and Security was in full force. They did an outstanding job in ensuring the safety of the event,” he said.
Goldsmith went on to emphasize the fact that allegations have not been confirmed. “The matter of the allegations is the subject of a police investigation. No determination has been made about those allegations, and speculation about them would be inappropriate,” he said.
Bob Jones, interim director of Safety and Security, was unavailable for comment. 
Little information about the complainant was released, but Goldsmith emphasized that she was not a member of the student body, saying, “This situation does not involve any students.” 
Sergeant Kevin Scalli and reporting Officer Cliff Barnes met with the complainant in Wilder the night of the assault. Barnes spoke to her briefly and “determined that the complainant had no injuries that required immediate medical attention,” according to the section of the police report approved for release. 
The officers brought the complainant to the Sexual Assault Care Unit of Lorain County at the Nord Center. 
When asked about the incident, Melanie Fundak of the Nord Center declined to comment. “We would never release any information at all about any patient. That’s a breach of their privacy,” she said.
The OPD refused to confirm anything beyond the report, including whether charges were pressed or whether they had suspects. 
Nancy Dye, president of the College, did not return several phone calls made by the Review.
Goldsmith said, “Our first thought was to be absolutely certain that students were not at risk and we have every confidence that there is no risk to students stemming from this incident.”

Students Raise Concerns About Drag Ball

Some argue that Drag Ball is notorious for its increase in sexual assault problems. Co-Chair of SAST, senior Rachel Barrett, said SAST members recognized a pattern of consistently increased numbers of complaints of sexual assault at Drag Ball and Safer Sex Night than at other times of the year.
“I feel like a lot of people look at those nights as an excuse to act out. People are totally smashed and do things they would never normally do,” she said.

Barrett went on to say, “If someone wanted to come to Drag Ball butt-ass naked and drunk, they still wouldn’t be asking to be assaulted, but it’s a permissive environment.”
Barrett said the number of reported assaults is not representative of the actual number of such cases. “It’s important to remember that for every person who will go to the police, there are dozens who would never tell anyone,” she said.
SAST has implemented a program called “Peacekeepers” in which students help mediate arguments and decrease the number of sexual assault and harassment incidents at parties and College events. 

The Peacekeepers were trained in verbal de-escalation techniques by the Oberlin Peace Activists League, and during Drag Ball were instructed by Chris Baymiller, assistant director of the Student Union, as to which areas of Wilder on which to focus their attention. 
“On the one hand, I wished we didn’t have to deal with so many drunk people, but then again, it’s those people who might have been targets,” Barrett said.

Administration Claims No Risk After Rape, Fires Security Guard

The administration became aware of the attack on Sunday, April 22 and fired a part-time security officer a few days later. The security guard was not on duty at the time of the assault. 
College President Nancy Dye said the College’s involvement ended with firing the employee. “The only role we can play is disciplining, which we did swiftly,” she said. 
The police could not confirm whether they had any suspects. Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith said, “I’m not even sure that the complaint has been formalized.”
The administration did not issue an all-campus bulletin because the incident did not involve a student. “What makes the difference between notification and non-notification is the risk [to students],” Dye said.
Goldsmith voiced the same judgement, “We determined that an all-campus bulletin was not warranted because we know who the accused was and determined that there was nothing about the incident that posed any threat to students,” he said.
Goldsmith went on to say, “It is never possible to fully guarantee students’ safety, but we made the best judgement possible under the circumstances and it is important to reserve all-campus bulletins for instances in which students are genuinely at risk so that the impact of the bulletins is not diminished by their frequency.” 
Dye said she did not think it significant that the security guard was a part-time employee. “We have made a real effort in food service to cut back the number of temporary part-time employees, which has crept up over the last few years. Given the nature of the security department, it’s not surprising that we have a few part-time people. I don’t think we have a large number,” she said. 
Goldsmith concurred, saying, “I would disagree that part-time employees in Safety and Security compromise the safety of the students, I don’t think that’s true.” 
The security guard was not a member of the union either. “That has not been seen as a factor intrinsic to what took place,” Dye said. 
“I don’t know any connection between this particular event and Drag Ball. This spring I have heard a lot of students raise new concern or heightened concern [about sexual assault at Drag Ball], and we need to look at that,” Dye said. 

Dye, Baymiller Acknowledge View of Drag Ball as Problematic 

On the question of the future of Drag Ball, Dye said the school was not considering ending the tradition, but that she was aware of student concern about increased sexual assaults surrounding the event.
Dye also noted the problem of extreme intoxication at the event. “There is a connection between intoxication on a campus and violent sexual behavior on a campus,” she said, concluding that the two issues should be dealt with in relation to one another.
She also made reference to the number of non-Oberlin students who attend the event each year. “[The event] is very large. It taxes our security and it’s very difficult to control who comes,” she said. 
Baymiller also said that the number of non-Oberlin students who attend the event adds to the concern. “Having guests adds another factor to it. It’s not entirely a student event,” he said. He said that this was less of a concern than other factors. 
According to Baymiller one person who was not allowed into Drag Ball may have been the woman who was allegedly raped. He said one of his employees decided not to allow a woman into Wilder because she was too inebriated and was “claiming she was a faculty member, demanding to be let in but was told she could not come in.”
Baymiller said he congratulated the employee who made this decision. “We don’t want intoxicated people coming into the Ball,” he said. 
Baymiller did not know the exact time of the incident and cannot confirm there was a connection to the rape but thinks it is possible.
Both Goldsmith and Baymiller said Drag Ball was successful in terms of security. “A very large number of Safety and Security officers worked long hours to ensure that the Drag Ball went well, which it did,” Goldsmith said. 
This year’s Drag Ball had more staff than any before it. There were eight security guards, 10 peacekeepers, about 40 Student Union workers and about three or four professional staff members (meaning Student Union Staff). The event has also become larger over the years. 
“We felt the number of people that attend the event and the ‘carnival atmosphere’ that occurs, having more eyes on the entire event was just prudent on our part,” Baymiller said. 

Baymiller said in the early years of the Drag Ball tradition, the Student Union did not allow any noncollege students to attend, for fear that the community might react negatively to the costumes. Even the Plain Dealer was refused admission into Wilder to do a preview of the event. The anticipation of possible gay-bashing is not the biggest problem today, however. “Those problems have not developed,” Baymiller said. 
Baymiller was overall satisfied with the event, “I thought the Ball went extremely well and people enjoyed themselves. That said, I’m glad it’s over.”