As you might have read on our front page, Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn said Monday that a grand jury did not find probable cause to press any charges on any of the parties involved in the alleged rape on Court Street during Homecoming Weekend.
He also said Monday that the woman, a 20-year-old Ohio University student, did not appear to be “intoxicated beyond the ability to consent” and noted for the first time that the 20-year-old man whom she later went home with is an OU student as well, among other details.
To some, these developments might signal the end of a highly publicized case that has been a black eye for OU.
We believe, much to the contrary, there is still much to be determined in this case. It’s unclear if the two could be charged with misdemeanors, and the university could act following its investigation as well.
We, as OU students, should talk about the alleged rape, the social media that followed and the underlying issues that have rippled outward from this single incident.
The university jump-started that process Thursday, holding an event titled “Campus Conversation: Sexual Assault, Consent, and Bystander Intervention” that mixed top university administrators with students concerned with “sexual assault, consent, bystander intervention, victim blaming/slut shaming, university policy and community outreach,” according to a previous Post article.
Discussions have been sparked to figure out what consent is, and that discussion should keep moving forward. We should continue to take steps to educate our campus about victim blaming. We should continue to learn what we, as bystanders, can do.
As a campus, we have a lot to learn.
Eyes around the nation are now on us to move forward from what has happened. We have become part of the national dialogue about the culture on college campuses, and have the opportunity to shape that discussion — and in a positive way.
The discourse must include, however, plans about how we will work to prevent something like this from happening again. The effects are real, and our actions must be just as real.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
