HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Albion College president allegedly defended assault of white student due to her ‘privilege.’
A private college president allegedly told a student government meeting that a young woman’s assault at the hands of campus protesters was justified on the grounds that the victim had “privilege.” The president, meanwhile, denies that he made such a claim. . . .
Albion’s student newspaper, The Albion Pleiad, identified the young woman as student Ashley Witowski. The Pleiad reported that Witowski “left the Senate meeting visibly upset” following Ditzler’s response to her boyfriend’s question.
A series of tweets by Witowski corroborates Olsen’s version of events: “[T]he president of my college told me I’m of privilege and it’s okay for me to be harassed verbally and physically…There was a protest at my school today and I was physically pushed during it…The president of my college said that it should be a learning experience for me because I am of white privilege…[H]e said this to my face.”
Presented with Olsen’s account of the meeting, President Ditzler told The Fix: “That is not my memory of the conversation. I do not believe your summary is an accurate reflection of my belief or my statement.” . . .
Reached by phone and presented with Ditzler’s statement, Olsen explicitly rejected Ditzler’s version of events, claiming the president did indeed tell a young woman that her assault was justified. Ditzler’s comments at that meeting were so troubling to Olsen, she told The Fix, that she withdrew from Albion the day after the senate meeting.
Well, I don’t know what happened, but sadly those “privilege” remarks are entirely conceivable. And anyway, we all know that in a he-said/she-said situation on campus, we’re supposed to believe the women!