We have often featured stories about campus “free speech zones” that school administrators rely on to solve complaints that arise from progressives about those pesky conservative student organizations and their events.

And while claims of a “campus rape culture” may be debatable, Katie J.M. Baker of BuzzFeed offers the background on some real instances of devastating sex assaults and schools’ equally questionable “safe spaces” solutions.

…But instead of enforcing stricter punishments for students found guilty of sexual misconduct — as this Huffington Post piece notes, students at elite universities across the country say their schools are too lax on sex offenders, a charge campus violence reports reflect — many schools attempt to create a parallel culture via “safe spaces.”

The tactic concedes that the rest of the world is a safe space for rapists. When schools imply rapists can’t access these spaces, they protect them too.

“The [Brown] administration talks a big game but when push comes to shove, there isn’t always the largest commitment to maintaining safe spaces in actuality,” said Becca Wolinksky ‘14, a co-organizer of Nudity in the Upspace. “But the school still gets to ride on the coattails of its progressive reputation.”

Effective anti-rape policy won’t come from schools that distance themselves from assault by analyzing the space where violence occurs instead of the perpetrators — but, it’s a great way to keep crime rates low. It’s estimated that 63% of schools fail to accurately report campus violence as required by federal law. When administrators do decide to crack down, it’s rarely on cases that will up their sexual assault numbers.

In 2008, Brown alum Margaree Little was suspended for a semester with no guarantee of readmission after throwing a pie at New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. During the disciplinary process, she said, an administrator called for her expulsion by making the case that she had endangered his life by physically assaulting him.

While she was waiting to hear if she was kicked off campus — later, she said, she was told she likely would’ve been expelled if she didn’t apologize to Friedman — she remembered walking past an exhibit about the history of student activism and radical organizing.

“I think Brown uses that history to market itself as a progressive place,” she said. “Certain kinds of organizing are tolerated, but only if you don’t cross the line of jeopardizing Brown’s image.” ….