When Sarah Grace Gomez, an alumni of Longwood University, decided to create a blog post detailing her disgust with the university’s decision regarding basketball player Jason Pimentel, she was unaware of the uproar it would cause.
Her post entitled ‘Longwood Dearest, An Open Letter’ was shared over 9,000 times. In the post she detailed her own experience with sexual assault, as well as her disappointment in her alma mater’s decision to allow Pimentel to continue to play after he was found guilty of sexual battery, a class 1 misdemeanor.
“Because I am a survivor of sexual assault, and I don’t want a single goddamned dime of mine to even have the slightest chance of supporting a man who has been convicted of sexual battery.”
These are some of the first words in Gomez’s blog, and in a recent interview with The Rotunda, it was clear she was not done speaking out.
“I’m working on a follow up blog because my letter was really emotional, it was heavy. So I’m working on a follow up to prove to people who doubted me and who called my letter irrational because it wasn’t,” said Gomez. “The follow up will have more facts, more statistics and information and I’m going to try to qualify what I said. Not that I should really have to qualify the fact that sexual misconduct is an issue on-campus, but I’m going to.”
This issue hits home for Gomez, as she was a victim of sexual assault during a trip to Old Dominion University. “That’s why I was so angry that this happened on Longwood’s campus. Because after my assault, when I came back to Longwood …I felt Longwood was my safe haven,” said Gomez.
“Had I not been a part of that community, had I not been a Lancer who had other Lancers on my side, I don’t know what I would have done. So when I found out that it happened on my campus, the place that I felt safe at, I was so mad,” she added.
President Reveley reached out to Gomez after her blog picked up a significant amount of attention. According to Gomez, she did not find any comfort in his correspondence.
“The president personally emailed me and I understand he is just doing his job. I understand the president of a university can’t just come right out and say you’re right we messed up, but just as students weren’t satisfied with the mass letter he sent out, I’m not satisfied with the letter he sent me.”
Gomez felt that a portion of his email that stated, “Sexual assault, a heinous felony crime, is not at issue in this instance. A misdemeanor is, in the same classification as reckless driving” was a slap in the face to those who have been victims of sexual battery.
Cases of sexual misconduct on college campuses have received a large amount of media attention in the past year. Gomez stated that she believes the issue stems from universities trying to keep things quiet for the sake of public relations.
“I don’t think that administrations like admitting that bad things happen on their campuses,” said Gomez.
“I think that’s bad PR. So it’s hard to handle it, especially when it’s two students, because you do want to give the accused a chance. He or she deserves due diligence. They have a right to a proper investigation. But I think with (campus administration) it’s just not a priority.”
While Gomez is only one voice stating one opinion, she is positive she’s not the only one who feels this way. In the end, she says, it comes down to what this decision means for the safety and well-being of the Longwood student body. “I got some messages from Longwood students telling me they are afraid on their own campus and I gotta tell you, that really hurt. There are students at Longwood who are scared and that’s just wrong.”
