Law, Mansplainin', and Myth Accommodation in Campus Sexual Assault Reform

On September 19, 2014, University of Delaware students organized a protest titled, “UD: End the Silence, End the Shame.” 1 Addressing more than 300 of their fellow students as well as University faculty and staff, the students shared numerous accounts of harassment by faculty members and fellow students, as well as stories of sexual assault and a lack of appropriate assistance from police and university staff. 2 Testimonials during the demonstration, statements made to journalists afterwards, and evidence of an emerging pattern of “passing the harasser” by the University of Delaware (UD), 3 lent urgency to calls for reform. When invited to speak at the demonstration, 4 I shared the words of a student survivor who was present but