[captioning made possible by democracy now!] from pacifica this is democracy now. >> we have a fundamental standard in this country. it must be carried out. i think everyone would recognize that this case a fell short of that standard. as outrage grows over oklahoma's botched execution of clayton lockett, we will speak to the attorney for the other prisoner who was scheduled to be killed that same night. the execution was put off after the first one

went awry. then we look at the crisis of sexual assault on campus. 2013, i was 2, tangled twice and raped by another student. i should have been kept safe. in fivees show one women are sexually assaulted in college. we will look at the white house 's new efforts to protect students and speak to two women who were raped, one at brown university, the other at tufts. you may be surprised by how the colleges reacted. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. oklahoma governor mary fallin has ordered a review of the state's execution procedures following the botched lethal injection that induced a prisoner's fatal heart attack. the prisoner,

clayton lockett, had initially won a stay for challenging the secrecy surrounding the untested execution drugs. but fallin overruled oklahoma's supreme court last week and ordered the execution to proceed. on wednesday, fallin defended the death penalty and appointed a cabinet member to conduct the review. >> i believe the death penalty is an appropriate response and punishment to all those who commit heinous crimes against their final -- fellow man and women. the state also needs to be certain of the protocols and procedures for executions and that they work. >> fallin has delayed all executions until the review has been completed. oklahoma claims lockett suffered a vein failure, but critics say that could be an effort to hide a problem with the untested chemicals. the botched execution has revived the national debate

over the death penalty. the white house has said it backs capital punishment but called lockett's death inhumane. on wednesday, maria mcfarlane of human rights watch said no execution can ever be carried out in a humane way. night's events were horrifying. the u.s. has been making progress and abolishing the death penalty in a number of states. yet, it is clear that some states are just so obsessed with carrying out this already inherently inhumane and your .eversible punishment they're going to absurd lengths to carry it out. >> we'll have more on oklahoma's botched execution after headlines,

ohio governor john kasich has commuted the death sentence of a convicted killer one sentence -- one month before his scheduled execution. arthur tyler has spent nearly three decades on death row for a 1983 murder. but prosecutors and a state parole board recommended clemency over evidence pointing to a codefendant in the case. like in oklahoma, ohio has faced problems with its execution drugs. last january, one must it over 30 minutes. senate republicans have blocked a measure that would have raised the federal minimum wage. promoted heavily by president obama, the bill would have brought the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over the next three years, up from the current rate of $7.25 an hour. it would have been the first such hike in five years. but in a nearly party line vote, democrats fell eight shy of the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster. speaking at the white house, president obama denounced the republican stance.

a vote on thisg bill, they prevented a raise for 28 million hard-working americans. they said no to helping millions work their way out of poverty. in mind, this bill would have done so without any new taxes or spending or bureaucracy. told americans, like ones here today, that you are on your own. >> the minimum wage did see one increase on wednesday, in hawaii. democratic governor neil abercrombie signed a $10.10 minimum wage into law following its approval by state lawmakers. dozens of people have died in the latest violence across syria. on wednesday, at least 18 people were killed when government forces bombed a school in the northern city of aleppo. activists say most of the victims were children. the bombing comes one day after over 100 died in car bombings in a government-controlled part of

homs. at the united nations, emergency relief coordinator valerie amos said syria's violence is only getting worse. far from getting better, the situation is getting worse. violence has intensified in the past month, taking a horrific toll. each month, i report on the relentless killing of civilians. the destruction of homes, schools, and places of worship. the blatant disregard for life and the total disregard by all parties for the fundamental tenant of international humanitarian law. the parties appear to be engaged in an endless spiral of harming civilians for tactical purposes. >> in her comments, amos said a two-month old security council resolution to deliver aid to syrians trapped in war zones has failed to change conditions on the ground. western countries have floated a proposal to authorize aid deliveries without the assad regime's consent, but that's likely to draw a veto from russia.

the un's top human rights official is warning the power struggle in the south sudan is tearing the country apart. thousands of died and more than one million people have fled their homes and clashes erupted between government troops and 'spporters of the country sacked vice president. south sudan is on the verge of catastrophe. >> the leaders, instead of seizing the chance, in a war published -- an impoverished nation, have embarked on a power struggle that has brought these people to the verge of catastrophe. the ukrainian government says it has lost control of the rest of the east as pro-russian separatists expand their reach. ,hey blamed in activity

helplessness, and criminal the trail among ukrainian forces. ims havecomes as the approved a $70 billion bailout. announcedng directors the two-year package. >> urgent action was necessary. decisive measures were taken by ukraine and they have just been taken by the imf. there has been a very strong endorsement for the program, which will release over the next two years $17.1 million in different forms. >> hundreds of people marched in nigeria on tuesday to press for a greater government response to a mass kidnapping of young girls. the islamist militant group boko haram is suspected of abducting about 230 schoolgirls during a night raid in a northeastern area two weeks ago. some managed

to escape, but over 200 remain missing. dubbed by organizers a "million woman march," the demonstrators carried signs reading "bring back our girls." >> i believe that not enough has been done to rescue her daughters. 2-3 months ago, 25 girls were abducted. resistance.as no do something about those girls abducted. it is possible to object another 200 plus. maybe next time it will be more. we need to do something to arrest this unpleasant development happening in this country. >> a local human rights group is claiming the girls have been sold off, forced to marry their abductors, and taken across the border to

cameroon and chad. the report hasn't been verified. the mass kidnapping is seen as one of the most shocking attacks in the boko haram's five-year militant campaign, which has left thousands of people dead. a train carrying crude oil has derailed in virginia, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents and spilling into the james river. says 15 tankers broke free with at least three catching fire. the oil has spilled for hours into the james river. it was the second oil train accident for csx this year and the sixth overall in north america since the derailment that killed 47 people in quebec last july. environmental groups have campaigned for a ban on oil train routes through the richmond area. in a statement, the sierra club said quote: "in the wake of this and other recent dirty fuel disasters it's clear that we must move as quickly as possible to safer, cleaner forms of energy like wind and solar. the safest place

for dirty fuels is in the ground." two prisoners have died and over 150 people have been injured in a gas explosion at a florida jail. the blast at the escambia county jail cause to partial collapse of the building. a new study says one in 25 people' sentenced to death is innocent. the national academy of sciences looked at data over three decades. 340 people were wrongfully sentenced to die -- more than double the number of death-row prisoners exonerated over the same time period. and in canada, rob ford is taking a leave of absence after new video appeared of him smoking crack cocaine. a man claiming to be a drug dealer showed reporters footage he said was taken of ford this past weekend. ford is seen smoking from a metal pipe. the tape comes nearly a year after news first broke of an initial video that showed ford smoking

crack. ford later admitted to the drug use and other illegal behavior but has refused calls to step down. he's now in the midst of a campaign for re-election. in a statement, ford said he is taking a leave from campaigning to receive treatment for substance abuse. ford said quote: "i know that i need professional help.i have struggled with this for some time." another newly released tape captures ford making homophobic remarks as well as lewd comments about one of his female opponents. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now! i am amy goodman. oklahoma officials of to say whether attempts were made to revive a prisoner following a botched execution tuesday night, that was supposed to be the first of a double execution. clayton lockett writhed and groaned in pain for several minutes after a large dose of sedatives was apparently not fully delivered. after 16

minutes had passed for a procedure that takes usually takes an average 6 minutes, officials drew the shades and blocked witnessed from seeing what happened next. lockett ultimately died of a heart attack 43 minutes after the execution began. the execution had been put on hold for several weeks due to a legal fight over a new cocktail of chemicals for the lethal injection. on wednesday, white house press secretary jay carney reaffirmed president obama's support for the death penalty. >> he has long said that while the evidence suggests that the death penalty did little to deter crime, he believes there are some crimes that are so heinous that the death penalty theerited. in this case, crimes are indisputably her thick and heinous. case that weo the have a fundamental standard in this country. even when the death penalty is justified, it must be carried

out humanely. everybody would recognize that this case fell short of that standard. >> oklahoma governor mary fallin responded to the international outcry over tuesday's botched execution by ordering a review of the state's procedures for lethal injections. >> i believe the death penalty is an appropriate response and punishment to those who commit heinous crimes against their fellow men and women. thever, i also believe that state needs to be certain of its protocols and procedures for executions. oklahoma governor mary fallin ordered a review to be conducted by a member of her cabinet, so its independence is being questioned. it was just last week that fallin declared the oklahoma supreme court had overstepped its authority in delaying tuesday's double execution until legal questions could be resolved about the new drug combination. well for more we're joined now by

madeline cohen, a federal public defender who represents oklahoma death row prisoner charles warner, who was set to be executed tuesday night. his execution has now been delayed for 14 days. cohen joins us by phone from denver. thank you for coming on this morning. welcome to democracy now! what is your response to what took place on tuesday night? saywhat does the governor she will do next? >> what took place was a travesty. it was the furthest thing from an execution and compliance that we can imagine. called for ann investigation. that is great. there is nothing independent about the investigation she has established. it is to be conducted by a member of her own cabinet with the involvement of her attorney

general, who has been fighting tooth and nail to keep us from obtaining information about oklahoma's execution practices and the drugs that are used in those. >> what are you demanding happen now? demanding an independent investigation by a third-party. so have been requesting an independent autopsy. i understand that yesterday there was an autopsy conducted, but there is a practice available to do a second autopsy. we will be insisting that that takes place so we have some objective assurances of what went wrong. >> the american civil liberties union of oklahoma has called for an immediate moratorium on all executions, pending the outcome of the investigation. the group's legal director also issued a statement saying " we

hope that courts will reconsider whether transparency about the drugs used in executions is required as a matter of law." it is important that the state of union denies simple requests from condemned men to find out about the drugs used to kill them. they must not be conducted like hastily thrown away, thrown together science experiments. your response? >> i think that is absolutely correct. case, we have's been requesting transparency for many months. we will be continuing to renew our efforts to obtain information about drug. when theth noting that supreme court hastily changed its mind about the need for a stay of execution, serious consideration of constitutional claims --

they said that the secrecy law protects the identity of people, not drugs. we responded by asking for more information about the drugs to let us know they are safe, uncontaminated, and obtained through legal channels. the state refused to give us that information. calledauthor of a book "gruseome spectacles: botched executions and america's death penalty," wrote an op-ed in the boston globe this weekend about the first comprehensive study of botched executions in the united states from 1890 to 2010 and documented the ways that different methods of execution go wrong. he wrote quote "during the time period covered by our research, 3 percent of all executions were botched, from the decapitations that happened at hangings to the "high tech" electric chair in which condemned criminals have caught on fire. botched executions have not disappeared since america has adopted the current

state-of-the art method of lethal injection. in fact, executions by lethal injection are botched at a higher rate than any of the other methods employed since the late 19th century, 7 percent." your spots to that -- response to that? >> i saw that as well. one of the things that is going wrong and the current situation is that yours and anesthesiologists, people with medical training, do not want to be involved in killing someone. usedanufacturers of drugs to provide sedation and kill p ain do not want their drugs used to kill people. so, states have turned to increasingly creative methods and shady practices to conduct these executions with little ove rsight. >> the mother of the baby your

client was accused of killing has previously asked for clemency. she was his live-in girlfriend at the time. she spoke in a video. she said she morally opposed the death penalty. she said that would dishonor my daughter. it would dishonor me and everything i believe and i would not want to have to know about them like that. i would not want to know that my hand or what i want to personally is the reason why he is no longer living. when he dies, i wanted to be because of his time, not because he has been executed. due to what happened to me and my child. thatjust want to point out she was not his girlfriend. they were roommates. she has called for mercy in his case. board to the parole grant him clemency.

every time i hear the attorney general say that the calls for transparency in this process are ,ealing justice or the victims i think back to her impassioned plea. it took an enormous amount of courage and compassion for her to recognize that more violence was not going to bring her piece. governor's move to overrule the stay illegal? do you think that the state supreme court was intimidated to change its ruling? >> yes, i do. on monday of last week indicated that they recognized the seriousness of the issues. they wanted to take the necessary time to give them serious consideration. remember that the lower court judge in oklahoma had ruled in our favor.

the secrecy law was unconstitutional. she said that it was not even a close question. the state was appealing that decision. the oklahoma supreme court rightly said that we need enough time to stop the execution and evaluate these constitutional questions. took a few hours for the court to decide it had enough time. >> where were you during the botched execution? >> i was in the nearby minimum-security prison with his family. we were awaiting our turn to the execution viewing area. a great deal of time had passed. i was growing concerned. i was going to see if i could see his attorneys.

more time passed. that made us increasingly worried. when the lawyers did arrive, they were extremely shaken. they told us what had happened. had an point, we investigator with us in the parking lot. i went back into the minimum-security waiting area and told his family and my cocounsel that i had been given information that he was not to be executed that night. i was trying to find out more. cell phones are not allowed inside the prison. i went back to the parking lot to try to be a lawyer and call people and figure out what was going on. mr. warner's family and my cocounsel followed me out. none of us wanted to be inside a prison if we did not have to be. as we're standing in the parking lot, trying to figure out this terrible situation and get

information to provide assurances to the family that they would not be going through an execution that night, the staff came out and forced us back into the present, telling us that we could not leave until we had been dismissed. aggressively, they ushered us back in and sent our colleagues away. we went back into the waiting room, they berated us for breaking their rules. we asked them to find that information and they said they could not do that. they would have to wait for a call. later, a woman came in. we assumed that would be our information. she began to brief the family on what to expect when they went to the execution room. at that point, i had to step in. it was too horrible.

i insisted that she stop everything and go and call somebody to find out what was going on. she did comply. she came back and said simply, you are dismissed. at that point, we were able to leave and -- you know, deal with the reality of the situation. as you can imagine, it was both a shock and a relief for his family. then we proceeded to try to figure out what had happened. >> finally, the corrections officials said that he suffered pain failure. one said that his vein exploded. do you believe this explanation? >> i think they are trying to cover up something that has gone horribly wrong. the execution is done by putting iv lines into both arms at the same time. there are simultaneous equal doses pushed into both arms.

they're supposed to be fairly large doses of the drugs. not realistic to assume that both arms would have ailure vein f simultaneously or that it would've taken the supervising doctor so long to realize a vein had blown. especially after he had announced him sedated. we have to have a full investigation. or we will never know what went wrong. thank you for being with us. a federal public defender who represented charles warner, who was scheduled to be executed tuesday night, after locket was killed. his execution was delayed after the botched execution of lockett. you can see all of the information, including the

botched execution and our show "the execution tapes." now!is democracy with two young women who reported that they were raped to their university administration. you may be surprised to find out what happened to each of them next. one is a student at brown and the other is a student at tufts. stay with us. [music break] ♪

>> "melange" - poddington bear

the issue of sexual assault on college campuses has been in the spotlight this week. on tuesday, a white house task force headed by vice president joe biden released a report urging colleges to take action by conducting surveys, promoting bystander intervention and improving their disciplinary systems. the government launched a new informational website, notalone.gov, and a public service announcement, featuring president obama and vice president biden alongside famous actors. >> we have a big problem. we need your help. >> is happening on college campuses, at bars. >> is happening to her sisters on her dollars. >> our wives, and our friends. >> we have to stop it, so listen up. >> if she does not consent or she cannot consent, it is rape. it is assault. >> it is a crime. it is wrong. >> if i saw it happening, i

would speak up. >> i would never blame her. i would help her. >> i do not want to be a part of the problem. i want to be a part of the solution. >> we need all of you to be a part of the solution. it is about respect and responsibility. it starts with you. >> one is too many. >> that was daniel craig, seth meyers, benicio del toro, steve carell and dulé hill, with president obama and vice president biden. the psa will air in movie theaters across the country and on military installations and ships. meanwhile senators claire mccaskill and kirsten gillibrand are leading an effort for increased funding to address sexual assault at colleges. well, long before celebrities and senators entered the picture, the battle against sexual assault on college campuses was led by students who have risen up to hold their schools accountable, sometimes facing sanctions themselves. students

have filed federal complaints at columbia, the university of california at berkeley, dartmouth, harvard, yale, university of north carolina-chapel hill, vanderbilt, amherst college and occidental among scores of others. the number of complaints against colleges related to sexual violence has tripled since tracking began in 2009, with 33 in the first half of this year alone. most recently, the spotlight has been on brown university, where a student, lena sclove, says she was raped and strangled after a party in august 2013. her alleged rapist was found responsible for four violations of the student conduct code, including "sexual misconduct that involves one or more of the following: penetration, violent physical force or injury." sclove says a university panel recommended a two-year suspension, but a dean reduced that to one year. sclove appealed, seeking a harsher sentence, but was denied. since her accused attacker remained on

campus throughout the hearing and appeal process, his one-year suspension effectively became one semester. the case has caused a nationwide uproar. but students at brown and elsewhere say lena sclove's case is not necessarily unusual. in fact, in her letter denying sclove's appeal, a brown university official cited quote "the precedent of similar cases." more unusual was lena sclove's decision to denounce the university in public. standing outside brown's van wickle gates, surrounded by supporters, she described her injuries. had aturned out i cervical injury in my neck from being strangled. it is very common for this to take several months to surface. i could take -- i could not walk for two months. i was bed and forced to take medical leave. i lost one semester of freedom.

now my next opportunity to come back as a student and matriculate is the same semester that the rapist will come back. i feel like i should have been thanks for keeping this campus safe. instead, they kept him safe. >> lena sclove speaking at brown university on april 22. following the uproar over her case, her accused assailant has decided not to return to brown in the fall. lena sclove joins us now in new york along with wuhgahtway wanjuki, an organizer with the know your ix campaign, which helps empower students to file complaints against their schools under title ix. she's also a contributor at feministing and a former student at tufts university, where she filed a complaint in 2008 after two years of alleged rape and abuse by a fellow student but tufts did not take action. she was in dc on tuesday for the announcement of the white house report. lena and wagatwe, welcome.

lena, let's begin with your case. thank you for joining us. it is brave to speak out as you are doing. can you talk about what happened to you? >> sure. the perpetrator was a friend of mine. we met at midyear transfer orientation. he seems like a nice guy. we spent time together with a summer. then, we had been intimate a couple of times. i think it is important to be open about that. many survivors feel that they cannot come forward because not only did they know the purpose, but maybe they had been intimate or dated before. that does not mean it cannot be raped in the future. we have decided that it was over. we were at a party on august 2, 2013. both of us had been drinking. we left the party and there was definitely flirtation, and at

this point it was all consensual. then i was basically pinned against a telephone pole. he had his hand around my neck and i could not breathe or move. then it became completely unconventional. the rest of the night is the nightmare that keeps reliving in my head. >> you said you were strangled twice and raped? >> he coming back to his apartment and said he would get me some water and walk me home. then he proceeded to undress me and rate me and choking strangle me again. >> after this happened, what did you do? >> well, i was completely in shock the next day. the first person i called was a dear friend of mine, who is older. it was 6:00 in the morning. i knew exactly what it happened to me. i was in pain all over. it was very hard for her to

understand what had happened. it is really crucial to understand that the first person you go to has this immense power. she really did not get it. she did not take it seriously enough or did not understand it. by the time she saw the bruises and said i needed to go to the emergency room, i refused. at that point, i had started to blame myself. fiveas not until 5:00 -- days later that i caused the crisis line and was told to go to health services. tested and it was basically too late to get a rape kit. >> what did you do from there? there, i was basically introduced to a sexual assault advocate on campus. there are incredible people at brown who do support survivors.

it is a broken system. they are working in a broken system. so, i was advised by many people of my various options. i was told i could go to the criminal justice system. i was told that in rhode island, ltyof rapists are found gui or see any time. there is no physical evidence and this will not go anywhere. i was also not given the information that it is possible to go to the police and have pictures of the bruises taken, have evidence collected, and not make a decision whether to press charges. i did not have the full amount of information. i wish i had had that for my case, but i can only speak as a white, upper-middle-class female. i should have done that. for many other people, with document status or communities of color, going forward is an

incredibly different thing. . forever idea reasons that we can talk more about. so much of this is about a survivor reclaiming their decisions. i support each survivor's decision. if i had had that information, i would have been able to collect the evidence when it existed. five days later, the bruises were gone. >> you did not go to the police? >> month of february. >> what about the administration? >> i filed a complaint with the office of student life. i was told by various advisors that it would be a much faster process and would keep me safe. i would not be cross examined during the hearing. i would seeely, just as much faster and in a much more humane way. >> let me talk about what the

president said. other officials played a huge role in the case. through a spokes person, they declined to join us. they said, to be clear, sexual assault at brown is not tolerated. every student at brown has the right to feel safe from threat of sexual violence. receivedwho report substantial support in the dean and other advocates. in cases where crime might be committed, they have options for filing a criminal complaint. paxson also said brown is accelerating a planned review of its policies and procedures. lena sclove, your response? >> avenue is very poor choice and wording. notay that that is tolerated a week after my press conference, which demonstrates that it is. the vice president of the university denied my appeal.

we can get to that when we talk about the sanctions. the president was quite aware of my case. clearly, there is a tolerance for them. i do not believe that statement. as for moving forward, that would have happened anyway. every five years, this is up for review. this is the year. they were going to redo the code of conduct anyway. >> you reported to the administration? >> there is a hearing on october 11. witnesses are present. withs this whole document a different night, which is not what happened. there's a panel with a professor, dean, and student. they make the findings. the findings are final. they make recommendations. a week later, i got a letter with a decision that he has been found responsible by the panel

for all four violations. the sanction is he will be suspended until fall 2014. then he can apply. mission. i immediately am shocked that this is the case. i assume he will appeal. he does not appeal, i do appeal. the appeal process is three weeks long. he is allowed to stay on campus, even though he is suspended until the fall. in his statement, he said it was consensual. i have to ask, why didn't you appeal? if you are so sure this is all a lie, you why didn't you appeal? that is baffling to me. he was still living on campus, attending classes until just before thanksgiving, when i was notified in person by the vice president that they would not grant my appeal based on past precedent. by then, i only have three weeks left in the semester. now, the panel recommended

two years that he be suspended. what actually was the final decision? >> they make recommendations for the findings. the associate dean makes the final decision. he brought it down from two years to on year. when i appealed, i spoke about them. this peculiar i was not given any information. students are not told with the panel recommended. that is still a question of why i was given that information. i cited that in the appeal letter. they upheld the dean's decision and added a probation period. we are allowing him back in the fall, but he will have to check in with the dean once a month, to make sure he is doing ok.

you will have a no contact order. he cannot talk to me. it is a weak form of a restraining order. >> your injuries? one, immediately after. sensitivity and all that. finals, i began to have migraines. i woke up with a lump on the back of my spine. we thought it was a tumor. cervicald out it was a lu spine, as a result of being strangled. from late december through early february, i could not walk without help. i could not climb stairs. here and walk and sit be mobile. i am in a great deal of back pain all day long. i still cannot run, dance, do yoga were many things i did before. >> and the panel found your

assailant responsible for sexual misconduct involves one or more of the following, penetration, is a force, or injury? >> all three were the case. >> although the dean commuted the punishment to one year suspension, the student has decided not to return. >> his attorney released a statement last week. >> after your news conference? >> and after his name had been rleleased. >> we are talking to lena sc love, who is a brown student. she reported she had been raped and strangled. you heard the story of what happened. when we come back, you will also be joined by wagatwe wanjuki to talk about what happened to tufts and the broader

campaign of what is happening on campuses around the country. stay with us. [music break] ♪

>> rasputina, "you don't own . i am amy goodman. are two women who reported that they were raped at their universities. clove is on medical leave from brown university, where she reported being raped. the student she accused received a one semester suspension, but has decided not to return to brown. newsctually had a conference on campus when she

was dissatisfied about the response. we are also joined by wagatwe wanjuki organizer with know your ix and , contributor at feministing. she filed a complaint at tufts university in 2008 after two years of rape and abuse by an ex-partner who was also a tufts student, but the university did not take action. can you explain what happened to you? >> i was in a relationship and after up during two years of abuse, i realize that what was happening was wrong. i wanted to have some consequences for what happened to me. i filed a complaint with tufts university bid i was meeting with deans and judicial affairs officers to talk about the process. i finally handed in my complaint and they said that they were not going to go forward with anything. worth ofed two years what happened to me and they

decided that i could not use the tufts system to get justice. >> why? >> they said some things were outside of the statute of limitations. they had an exception where they thought that they would allow students to file complaints if they believed that the student is a threat to the larger campus. rapists arethe most repeat offenders. , despite giving me an extension, they decided not to do it when i found the complaint. >> how did you find out that they would not move forward on your case? >> i waited. the semester ended and i relai alized they were going to do it. >> how did this affect you? >> it affected me in so many ways. it is so very isolating.

i have lost many friends. i was on leave. a lot of my friends graduated. coming back to a school where the administration did not care about what happened to me was very hard. my academic performance declined. o, -- >> i met another student who had a similar experience. she went through the adjudication process. andas a terrible experience they ended up not punishing her assailant. we started a movement to change the policy. it was two sentences and a list of phone numbers. it said we think rape is bad, call these numbers, not comprehensive whatsoever. when we started speaking out, they actually ended up expelling me. >> what do you mean speaking? >> i talked about how the

administration did nothing to address my rate. they did not support me in any way. they refuse to accommodate me academically. they refused to give any justice. they refuse to acknowledge that i endured violence at the hands of another student. there fused to acknowledge that they were more comfy durable leading a rapist graduate in helping me. >> i want to turn to recent developments. on monday the department of education said it quote "may move to initiate proceedings to terminate federal funding" to the school for failing to comply with title ix, the law that requires schools to "respond promptly and effectively" to sexual violence and harassment. the doe found tufts failed to employ a title ix coordinator for two academic years, and quote "allowed for the continuation of a hostile environment" for one student who identified as a survivor. now, tufts signed an agreement on april 17 to address the compliance issues with dozens of changes, but just over a week later tufts backed out of the

agreement after the department's office of civil rights said its current policies were violating title ix. the university responded in a statement that quote "we believe the department's recently announced finding has no basis in law and we have requested to speak with ocr's washington office to discuss this unexpected and troubling announcement." can you respond to the? they are in violation? >> this is something that survivors have known for a long time on this campus. it shows how out of touch the administration is. they have been able to get away with them for so long and think it can continue. we have new people and it will not continue any longer. i know a current survivor and student at tufts. the same people who mishandled my case also mishandled his. there's a systemic case of failing to support survivors. >> you are also expelled? >> my academic performance was

not great. i was at a school but did not care that i was raped. i was recovering from a trauma. they decided to expel me even though my gpa was still high enough to graduate. i had a year left. the person deciding my case was the advisor of my assailant. needless to say, he denied my appeal. said,d title ix and they we looked up the law and made sure we had no obligation to help you. good luck at home. >> how did it feel to be one of those people standing with vice president joe biden this week, announcing he was talking about what the white house is recommending for colleges to do? >> it was an amazing experience. to be so alone and then have the administration acknowledges serious issue, that is very near and dear to me.

that is something that all colleges need to address. i'm really fortunate for the opportunity and fortunate the we have been able to meet with senior staff who took her concerns seriously. nine is an organization to educate students about their rights. i am part of the campaign that was launched last summer. we had a rally in front of the department of education. we also had a petition asking for better enforcement. knowing about your rights is useless unless it is enforced properly. we had a petition and about 170,000 signatures. shows that students are willing to fight back. the administration is listening, even if school administrators are not. >> in 2010, there was an award-winning study on sexual assault.

they examined a database on a solid proceedings and concluded that colleges seldom expel men who are found responsible for sexual assault. indeed, they permit only kicked out only 10-25% of such students. just half of the students said their alleged assailants were found responsible for sexual assault. only four of those victims said it went to expulsion of their attackers. two after repeat offenses. lena, i wanted to get your response. , at your newsased conference, a letter from another student. they alleged that they were assaulted by the same student. answer your first question about the comment that was just read. let's see. i guess it is --

sorry. it is hard for me to even think about it. could you ask me attract question about it? it is so overwhelming. >> i want to go back to your news conference. then we will go back to the center for public integrity. let me go back to the news conference that you had. >> i had another letter submitted from another student assaulted by the same person. it was initially accepted when the rapist saw that it was accepted, he removed it from the hearing material. the university has on file another letter that he assaulted another woman on this campus. they do not acknowledge it because the rapist objected to the letter. >> if you could talk about this

statistic. 10 assaults are repeat rapists. >> many studies have shown that this is repeating even higher. i am glad that you showed that clip. the other student has made it clear they do not want me to discuss that situation in more detail, at a perspective projection of her anonymity, i do not feel i can speak more to that. what i will say is that brown really -- many schools need to examine the policy. addf now, a student cannot an additional letter to a case. if there is another survivor, they have to file their own complaint. many people are unable or do not feel safe doing that. that is a big policy problem.

i cannot speak more about that, i apologize. calledyou wrote a piece "stop telling survivors to report to police." why? >> we need to trust survivors to know what is best for them to heal. we need to be mindful that survivors have all identities in different relationships. i personally, as a woman of color, i do not feel comfortable turning to the police. i think this is why empowering enforcement for sexual misconduct policies is so important. a lot of students, like lena, did not go to the police originally. student should still have another venue to go forward to get a sense of justice.

there is an industrial complex where only three percent of rapists are held accountable. should we be shaming them? it will result in zero justice and i think that is unfortunate and not fair. we continue to put pressure on survivors before and after their assault. >> are you optimistic that things will change? >> things are changing. i was assaulted in 2009 and so may things have changed since then. one of the biggest problems is that a lot of people do not talk about it. now it is the national conversation. conversation. >>

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