Media coverage of the successful campaign to change the sexual-assault policy has so far been oversimplified. The main narrative being told accurately includes the fact that Jordan Ward instigated an effort to change the sexual-assault policy after being assaulted in January 2010. The narrative also accurately includes the fact she wrote a proposal, submitted it and the administration ultimately agreed to most of the content in the proposal.
However, the narrative crucially leaves out the main driver of the administration’s quick action on this issue: the threat of a student occupation of Evans hall.
In addition to submitting a formal proposal and soliciting organizational and student support behind that proposal, Ward and her cohorts organized more than 50 students who were committed to occupying Evans Hall starting at noon April 13. Many of those students were determined to remain inside the hall unless the policy changed or they were arrested.
Press releases were sent out to eight major media outlets in Oklahoma on April 4 indicating an occupation was forthcoming if the proposal’s suggested changes were not quickly agreed to.
After the press releases were sent out, media inquiries flooded in to administrative offices. While the wheels of the bureaucracy were probably slowly churning through the proposal before then, they started to race with the threat of a public-relations mess on the horizon.
Two days after the media inquiries began, President David Boren released his first statement saying he had never received a proposal, but he would recommend extending the statute of limitations to 180 days — half of what was being requested.
Apparently, the proposal had gotten lost, and Boren actually never had received it. The media spotlight on the potential unrest got things running though.
Boren’s original change was simply too short, and organizers insisted the occupation was still on. Although the time and date of the occupation was originally intended to be kept secret, it became clear it had gotten out, and the administration knew it was coming.
Boren maneuvered the day before the occupation was going to begin to make it public the administration would implement the suggestions in Ward’s proposal. As a result, organizers changed what was going to be a student occupation Wednesday into a victory rally.
While this proposal might have eventually been adopted, there is no doubt the threat of an occupation and skillful media relations created an ultimatum motivating the administration to make the changes immediately. Only a week after the inquiries about the threatened protest began, and the day before the occupation was going to occur, all of the changes were adopted.
This tactic did not come without some difficulty. Certain people from UOSA who appear to be overly interested in their resumes tried to prevent the occupation. One of them, Rep. Shayna Daitch, told the organizers such tactics were inferior to following procedure.
The fact that following the procedure never results in UOSA achieving anything substantive did not seem to dissuade these representatives from insisting Ward do so as well. Ultimately this obstructionist effort was kept at bay, and the tactic worked beautifully and exactly as planned.
While the media understandably simplifies things at times, telling this true story is extremely important. By saying Ward just submitted a proposal; the media has robbed her of credit for the truly dynamic and brilliant nature of the campaign she ran. They have portrayed her as someone who merely asked for a change when the reality is she demanded it with a planned occupation ready to force the administration to comply.
— Matt Bruenig, philosophy senior
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MissPeaSoup 1 year, 1 month ago
Oh hell yes.
braceyourself 1 year, 1 month ago
Typical response from Bruenig:
"We got what we want! Let's complain about it some more!"
Pinchfist 1 year, 1 month ago
braceyourself - if even part of what Bruenig says is true, it would have made some good news. If nothing else, the students should know about it. As to the legitimacy of Bruenig's claims... well... I can't speak for that.