Carnegie Mellon University: Empowering my Rapist and Revictimizing Me

The story of how CMU banned me because my rapist feels uncomfortable.

The Recap:

I was raped in 2014, my senior fall.

I came forward about this in 2015, my senior spring.

I asked Carnegie Mellon University for a No Contact Agreement (NCA) between my rapist and I.

Not only was I not given a NCA; I was not given a survivor packet (this would explain things like resources available to me); I was not told about free counseling in Pittsburgh at places like Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (PAAR); I was not given council on reporting; I was not allowed to see my report for review once it was made. AFTER I graduated I was able to see my report in Fall of 2015 via the Title IX (TIX) department at CMU (which no one told me existed until after I graduated as well). I realized the write up of the incident was not accurate and gave very few details about the rape — details that I told (and even emailed to) the original faculty member I reported with so I could ensure they were in the report.

Next year, Spring 2016, I’m on campus for Carnival. Prior to this the TIX department reached out to me saying that my rapist went to them about how he was uncomfortable with me being on campus and wanted a NCA. The result was basically that I agreed to continue to not contact him as I had been over the past year and to manage social…