Applications Drop at UVA After Discredited Rape Story
The University of Virginia is experiencing lower enrollment after having its reputation tarnished with a now discredited rape story.
Bloomberg reports.
UVA Applications Drop in Wake of Discredited Gang-Rape Story
Applications to the University of Virginia dropped for the first time in 12 years as students made their decisions amid an uproar about a now-discredited story over a gang rape on campus.
The number of applicants for the class of 2019 fell 0.7 percent to 31,107, the Charlottesville-based school said in a statement. It was the first decline since 2002.
UVA was thrown into turmoil by a Nov. 19 Rolling Stone article that purported to detail the brutal gang rape of a woman named “Jackie” by seven members of a campus fraternity. The magazine apologized for the story on Dec. 5, citing “discrepancies” in the account.
In the article’s aftermath, UVA instituted improved safety measures to combat sexual violence and suspended social activities of fraternities. It didn’t question the veracity of the story until Dec. 19, when the head of its governing board said the school had been struck by “drive-by journalism.” The deadline for regular applications was Jan 1.
Early applications to UVA increased 7.5 percent to 16,187. The deadline for the submissions was Nov. 1, well before the Rolling Stone article was published.
“There is no supporting data at this time to indicate the possible reasons for the slight decrease in overall applications,” Anthony de Bruyn, a university spokesman, said in an e-mail.
UVA lifted the suspension on Greek houses last week and cleared Phi Kappa Psi, the fraternity named in the story, three days ago after a police investigation found “no basis” to believe an assault had taken place there.
Sexual Assault
Concern about sexual assault is affecting students’ choices about where they apply, Bloomberg News reported in December. Almost a third of college admissions officers said they had been getting more questions from high school students and their parents than they did two years ago, according to a survey by Kaplan Test Prep.
Applications at Dartmouth College plunged 14 percent last year amid a high-profile investigation of an alleged rape in a dormitory. The accused student was later acquitted, and Dartmouth’s applications rose 6 percent this year.
UVA said it expects to enroll 3,675 students in the freshman class.
Comments
“There is no supporting data at this time to indicate the possible reasons for the slight decrease in overall applications”
…because, gosh-darn, there is not a single thing that comes to mind that might have an effect on this.
That rapey-story-thingie was just another great entry into the fake-but-accurate journalism hall of fame. We are SO proud of our over-reaction and subsequent refusal to recognize the, you know, truthiness now that it has begun to bite us on the ass. We intend to keep at it and fly this thing into the ground to prove our point that, as a Institution of Higher Education, we will not allow ourselves to be swayed by the truth in any form.
Now, just pay you’s money and step behind the curtain…the show will begin before you know it.
If you were the parent of a son, would you let him go to UVa? If you were a Leftist parent of a daughter and believed all this happy equine waste, would you let your daughter go to UVa? Wait till the lawsuits start getting filed. Then the fun begins.