Friends and supporters of Alejandra Melgoza, a UCSB student who accused a man of raping her last year, gathered in front of the university’s Student Resource Building last Monday to protest what they claim has been the school’s lax enforcement of its penalties against perpetrators of sexual assault.
Melgoza — a second-year, first-generation student and current candidate for a position on UCSB’s Associated Students board — alleges a male UCSB student raped her in her dorm room on January 18, 2013. More than a year later, she said, the school found her perpetrator guilty of violating UCSB’s Student Conduct Code and subsequently ordered that he be suspended from campus for the 2015 spring and summer quarters. However, Melgoza charges, her rapist's suspension has not been enforced.
Melgoza and several other students protested the reported mishandling of her case. She led the group of about 20 students in chants, shouting phrases such as “Blame the system, not the victim!” and “Who really cares? Not Judicial Affairs!" Melgoza’s supporters wore black to demonstrate that “even though UCSB is an aesthetically beautiful campus, it still has a dark side,” she said. Also in attendance were members of UCSB’s Take Back the Night, a student-initiated committee dedicated to raising awareness about sexual violence.
