Warranting Expulsion

Almost a year after Joshua M. Elster, class of 2000, raped a fellow undergraduate, the shock of his actions may have faded from most of our minds. But for the woman he raped--and another undergraduate assaulted last spring by D. Drew Douglas, class of 2000--the nightmare continues, partially due to Harvard's apparent unwillingness to remove these students permanently from the rolls. Neither attacker has lost his official standing as a Harvard student. If attending Harvard is a privilege--and we think it is--these two men should have lost that privilege as soon as the Ad Board decided the rapes had occurred.

Elster, who was convicted in criminal court on three counts of rape, two counts of assault and one count of indecent assault, is now serving three years probation and is not allowed on Harvard property. Douglas, who was convicted in criminal court on one count of indecent assault, is under house arrest for 18 months (subject to re-evaluation every six months) of his five-year probation term. A charge of rape against Douglas has been filed without a determination of guilt or innocence and could be taken up in the future. In both cases, the Ad Board ruled that rape had occurred, but in both cases recommended that the students be dismissed, not expelled. A motion to dismiss a student from the College--a move which would allow him to reapply for admission after five years--requires the vote of the full Faculty, votes which have not yet been taken for either Elster or Douglas.

Expulsion and dismissal are both rare events at the College, with expulsion used mostly for admissions fraud cases and dismissal having been approved only 12 times in the last 40 years. Students who commit rape, a violent crime, should be included in those rare incidences of expulsion. If not this, what does it take to get kicked out of here?

Administrators argue that while dismissal might be considered lifetime imprisonment (but apparently with the slim possibility of parole a.k.a. readmission), expulsion is the equivalent of the death penalty, and they indicate their reluctance to take such final action. We appreciate the somberness with which they approach removing students for good, but again we ask, if not rape, what does it take? Moreover, devastating as it may be to lose one's status as a student of Harvard College, it is not equivalent to being sent to the gas chamber. Life will go on, just not with Harvard's stamp of approval.

Speaking generally about campus rape, Secretary of the Faculty John B. Fox Jr. '59, who chaired the Ad Board in the 1970's as dean of the College, revealed an alarmingly outmoded attitude toward rape which we hope is not shared by other administrators. Referring to all male undergraduates involved in such allegations, he held open the possibility that, "The young man made an error, but it wasn't a calculated error," and that "this is a perfectly decent young man, and he should graduate some day." Anyone who attacks another human being and forces them to have sex against their will is not a "decent young man" and certainly doesn't deserve to graduate from the College.

For the women involved in these cases, the lack of official action has been both astonishing and frightening. Even if the College is reluctant to expel these students, it is still unclear why the votes to dismiss have not yet been taken by the faculty. As the woman raped by Elster told Perspective last week, "The way I think about it is, that when the administration doesn't expel the person who raped me, my safety and my welfare doesn't amount to a hill of beans. If Harvard is so concerned with their name, then why do they have a student who raped another student?"

We couldn't agree more. Rape is perhaps the most violating crime, both physically and psychologically, and every effort should be made to help survivors to move forward. The idea that their attackers may one day be able to return to campus must be horrifying. While it is unlikely, due to the publicity surrounding the cases, that either Elster or Douglas will ever return to this campus, there should be no opportunity for them to do so.