Webster University students protested

on Dec. 15 at the intersection of Big

Bend Boulevard and Edgar Road for
sexual assault awareness and continue
to advocate for the cause.

The News Source For Webster University

THE JOURNAL
Photos Contributed by Brooke Viegut

Feb. 4 - 17, 2015

Volume 68 Issue 9

websterjournal.com

Students call for change

1,000-signature petition seeks to strengthen sexual assault policy
By Tim Godfrey
News Editor

Kalani Seaver sat in her Introduction to Sociology class assigned with the task of answering
a question: What problems do
you see in the world, and how can
you fix them?
Seaver, a sociology major, considered the assignment
and thought, Why dont we try
to fix a problem now? Seaver
worked with then-Webster students Bridgette Kluger and Katie Hoffecker to figure out what
they thought was missing from
Webster Universitys sexual assault policy. A few days later,
Seaver, Kluger and Hoffecker had
drawn up a petition requesting
that Webster University consider
making a series of changes to its
sexual assault policy.
The petition was published
to Change.org on Dec. 12. Over
a month later, it had gained 1,000
signatures. On Jan. 30, Seaver formally presented the petition to
Dean of Students Ted Hoef. Seaver said Hoef would send her a
written response on behalf of the
university but did not say when
the response would be given.
The petition claims the university has been lacking a good
policy for protection against
sexual assault during the past
16 months. The petition offers
six strategies to maintain a safe
environment of academic excellence.
Kluger, who said she left
Webster because the theater direction program was not right for
her, said the focus of the petition
is student accountability.
Two of its six points call for
students to sign contracts acknowledging they have read and
understand the student code of
conduct and the sexual assault
policy. Another point calls for

Illustration by Victoria Courtney

students to re-sign their contracts

on the policy before they register
for the following semester.
Kluger believes requiring
signatures from students will remove any grey areas about what
conduct is acceptable on campus.
Someone cant claim, I
didnt know that was against the
rules. Its their responsibility to
abide by the student code of conduct, Kluger said.
Zero-tolerance policy
Among the six strategies, the
petition calls for a forum between
students and the administration
to discuss the creation of a zerotolerance policy. Websters sexual
assault policy, which was updated
on Sept. 18, does not contain a
zero-tolerance policy on sexual
harassment or abuse.
Seaver said colleges and universities in general punish students more heavily for integrity
issues, but she said violating another person is a more important
offense.
Seaver argued there is danger in allowing a sexual offender
or harasser to be on campus. She
said an opportunity could arise
for the offender to commit another crime against the same victim
or a different victim.
Kluger did express concern
that adopting a zero-tolerance
policy could potentially prevent
students from reporting sexual
harassment violations, out of fear
of ruining someones life.
It is a very serious thing to
be kicked out of school. It does
have a very serious effect on your
life, Kluger said. We didnt want
to say (to the administration),
You need to implement a zerotolerance policy, but we did think
it was important to talk about it.
Its on you, Webster

On Jan. 21, Hoffecker published an article on her blog

summarizing her last semester at
Webster, where she claims a student was stalking her. In the fall
2014 semester, Hoffecker, a thenjunior acting major, filed a complaint against the alleged stalker.
After her hearing with Webster about the claim, the student
was found not guilty. Hoffecker
left the university at the end of
the semester out of concern for
her own safety. Hoffecker wrote
on her blog about the disappointment she felt the university
did not find the student guilty of
stalking. She also wrote Webster
needed a wake-up call when it
came to handling sexual assault.
She titled the blog post, Its On
You, Webster University.
Websters sexual assault policy says when a complaint is filed
by a student, the complaint is
studied by Sexual Offense Hearing Boards made up of trained
students, faculty and staff.
According to the statement
from the university, a hearing of
the case is held before the hearing
boards issue sanctions in compliance with the universitys policy.
University Response
On Jan. 22, The Journal requested a response from the
university regarding the petition.
The university responded to the
request with a written statement
summarizing the institutions
commitment to providing a safe
environment for students. It also
reviewed the actions the university is taking to improve its sexual
assault policy and the process the
university goes through when
examining a complaint filed by a
student.
In the days following its Jan.
22 request, The Journal requested
interviews with Dean of Students

Ted Hoef and Interim Director of

Public Safety Rick Gerger, both of
whom told The Journal to speak
with Barbara OMalley, Websters
Chief Communications Officer of
Global Marketing and Communications. On Jan. 30, OMalley
told The Journal the university
would not have anything to say
beyond the written statement.
In the Nov. 12 issue of The
Journal, Webster alumna Mackie
Saylor wrote a letter to the editor urging university President
Elizabeth Stroble to reform Websters sexual assault policy. Stroble
responded to Saylors piece in a
Dec. 10 issue and detailed the
steps the university is taking to
ensure the safety of students.
Stroble wrote that in response to the Fall 2014 Delegates
Agenda, she has developed a task
force on Prevention, Education,
Awareness and Programs for
Sexual Assault and Other Sexual
Offenses. The task force will study
and suggest additional steps the
university can take to prevent
and address sexual misconduct
on all Webster campuses. It will
also look for ways the university
can improve its role in providing
information, training and education on sexual offenses and related issues.
According to a statement issued to the The Journal from the
university, the task force will report back to Stroble this month.
The statement (see page 2) was
given after the The Journals request for interviews and response
to the petition.

Contact the writer:

websterjournal@gmail.com

To see the Webster University Administrations offical statement

in regard to the sexual assault policy, see page 2.

Going for the bronze

Public hearing closes

Student-funded statue $8,000 from goal

By Sam Clancy
Managing Editor

When Student Government

President Gabrielle Deimeke
announced Project Gorlok
during I Heart Webster Week
last November, not much was
known about the statue other
than the $13,000 price tag. Now
that there is more information
available, the idea is becoming
clear: the statue is meant to answer a question students and
alumni have about the campus.
When you come to campus, or after you graduate, or
when you bring your parents
here and you go to take a picture, where do you stand? said
Jennifer Stewart, Director of
Student Engagement.
Stewart said the statues
goal is to answer that question,
comparing the sculpture to the
columns on the University of
Missouri Columbias campus
and the Billiken statue at SLU.
Deimeke, the originator of the

project, hopes to bring more

school spirit to the campus
and create traditions, similar to
rubbing the stomach of the Billiken statue on SLUs campus.
The SGA and Student
Ambassadors joined to create
Project Gorlok in November.
The projected deadline for the
statues construction and the
collection of the $13,000 needed for the statue is Nov. 13, the
date of the Centennial Grand
Finale.
Billy Ratz of the Parent and
Student programs at Webster
has been tracking the projects
fundraising for SGA. He said
the project was on track Friday
at $3,515.37. Over the weekend, the total jumped to $5,065,
which Stewart said was due to a
large donation from a graduate
student.
With the recent donation,
the project is 80 $100 donations away from being complete, and this month, SGA and
the Student Ambassadors plan
to launch a 10-by-10 campaign.

They are asking for students,

parents or alumni to donate
$10 each month until November, when the statue is scheduled to debut.
When you say $100 to a
student, that sounds like a lot,
Stewart said. But when you
say $10 dollars a month for ten
months, that sounds a little bit
more digestible.
Participants who take part
in the 10-by-10 campaign, and
any students donating $100
or more, will have a brick engraved with their name and
graduation year placed near the
statue, which will be erected in
the plaza between the Sverdrup
Building and the Emerson Library.

Whats next
The statue will be designed
and crafted by artists at the St.
Louis Sculpture Factory. The
family-owned company is located at 3723 Commonwealth
Avenue, just six minutes from
Websters main campus. Its lo-

cation is one reason it was chosen for the job.

Ratz said SGA and the
Student Ambassadors plan to
photograph each stage of the
Gorloks rendering and construction to allow students to
see their money at work.
They have two final designs in mind, and university
President Elizabeth Stroble and
representatives from SGA will
choose the ultimate design.
In addition to the 10-by-10
campaign, SGA and the Student
Ambassadors will be selling
candy grams and roses for Valentines Day to raise money.
Loose donations can be
dropped in the gold donation
boxes around campus, and
anyone interested in donating
can visit webster.edu/projectgorlok.

Contact the writer:

websterjournal@gmail.com

AMIE BOGGEMAN / The Journal

Webster University freshman and SGA member Scott Lunte

speaks before the city council during a public hearing on Feb.
2. During that meeting, the council stated they would remove
an item from a zoning ordinance that would limit the amount
of space an institution could lease out.
Read the full story on the Feb. 2 hearing on Page 2.