Author: Saybin Medler
Just months after history major Tyler Kintz (junior) signed on as the only male Programming Assistant for Project SAFE he was asked to leave his position due to a conflict with the administration. Following a private conversation in which he expressed negative sentiments toward several faculty members, Kintz said he was told he could either resign from his position or be fired.
Project SAFE is a department of the Center for Gender Equity, and combines the efforts of students and staff to address issues surrounding sexual assault on campus. Each year, the program hires students as Programming Assistants (PAs) to facilitate student education on the subject of sexual assault.
Kintz, a former football player, was brought onto the Project SAFE team in part for his ability to connect with a diverse group of students. “I was brought on in February as someone who could engage with male students, especially athletic teams and frat houses. I have close connections with some of the sports teams,” Kintz said.
In preparation for his role, Kintz attended a mandatory, college-run leadership training during Senior Week last semester along with other student leaders. Following a presentation by Assistant Dean of Students Tamara Rice, Kintz was approached by an administration member regarding his conduct during the presentation.
“I
apparently had a pretty disgusted look on my face and I was asked by Chad Myers
if my displeasure with the program was because of a previous conduct encounter
with him,” Kintz said in an email. ”I told him that It had nothing to do with him and that ‘I don’t
respect Tamara Rice or Dean Avery’ because of their treatment of survivors,
stemming from victim blaming […] among other accusatory practices when they
interact with survivors.”
In the aftermath of this conversation, Kintz was approached by Assistant Dean for Community Life Paula Crisostomo. He was told that due to the sentiments he expressed at the training, he could resign immediately or be fired.
Administration members declined to comment on the details surrounding Kintz’s termination due to privacy laws, but Kintz and other students who work closely with the department feel that he was forced from his position due to his negative feelings toward the administration. Kintz believes he was asked to leave not because he spoke out against the administration, but because the administration considered his views to be unhelpful to Project SAFE. “From
my understanding it wasn’t that I had said that, it was that I had those feelings,” said Kintz. “They weren’t conducive with the environment of the team they were trying to
build.”
Some students familiar with the situation felt strongly that Kintz’s termination was unwarranted. “I think that it was stupid that Tyler got fired because of feelings
that he had and not because of some inability to do his job. It really shows
the angle that the administration is coming from,” said a student participant in the leadership training, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her employment.
Kintz, though disappointed not to be working with Project SAFE this year, does not take as strong of a stance. “It doesn’t matter to me how much control
they [the administration] have as long as they have the right intention; as long as they are out for
the same things that Project SAFE is out there for: the safety of the students,” Kintz said.
Kintz does worry about the gap his departure from the program will leave. “I think that it is important that there
is a male representative,” Kintz said. “Males, especially in sports and frats are the
traditional problem groups. I was able to act as an intermediary, I know how to
talk to them and they also felt comfortable expressing their feelings to me
because I understood that spotlight that is put on athletes.” Other students working in the department agree that the loss of a male PA will hurt the program. “Another boy
wasn’t hired because the project didn’t have the money. It is stupid that the
administration doesn’t see this as an important enough issue to allocate money
towards,” said the same anonymous student employee.
Although Kintz’s termination caused tension, students and staff seemed to be in agreement on the overall mission of Project SAFE. “Project SAFE is a prevention, education, and support program dedicated to addressing issues of sexual assault on campus,” Crisostomo said.
A student working closely with Project SAFE echoed these sentiments: “[Project SAFE’s] official role is to support survivors of sex assault and raise awareness of sexual assault and gender violence” she said.
Administration and students differ, however, in how they see the department as having changed over the years. Crisostomo, when asked what the biggest changes to the program have been, answered mainly in terms of changes in specific policies. Students, on the other hand, spoke more broadly about the change in power structure within the department.
“It started
off as a separate student group, it was started by a student, and then it got
absorbed and got institutionalized,” Kintz said. A student, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested that this institutionalization created roadblocks for students attempting to make change. “There are so many administrative blocks because we work for the school,” the student said. The program is technically an administrative department, not a student club, which, according to the anonymous student source, restricts some of the changes students can make from the inside.
The changes to Project SAFE raise questions about the allocation of power in joint student-staff run programs. Kintz believes that much of the guidance provided by the administration was helpful to the students PAs. “They were helping us,
guiding us,” Kintz said. “Programing and planning events is hard work, I respect all of the
support they gave us.” However he is careful to state that protecting students should be the most important objective of the program. “I
think the primary objective should be the safety of the students on campus, no
matter if that goes along with what the admins want,” he said.
Some of Kintz’s former co-workers have stronger opinions on administrative involvement. “Right now [Project SAFE] is just another arm of the Dean of Students, while it should be more of a student-run initiative,” said the student familiar with Project SAFE. A student expressed frustration over the amount of administrative oversight in the department. “The changes
I’ve seen, I feel like I’m being cracked down upon,” the student said. “It’s a shift from a more
student-run space to an administrative office.”
One
major source of conflict between students and the administration, according to students working in the department, is the sexual assault policy. Some students feel that because the administration must be focused on the school’s liability, it is impacting their ability to make
effective policies. “The administration is working towards not getting sued by
parents […] which is why the policy is worded
the way it is. However Project SAFE should be working from a point of helping
victims and protecting them,” the student participant at the leadership training said.
Crisostomo declined to be interviewed in person, but did respond to questions about the sexual assault policy via email. “The
College is constantly reviewing the policy to make sure it reflects best
practices and prevailing legal advice,” she wrote. “This being said, sexual assault is a
complicated matter […] It would be dangerous for everyone to apply hard and fast
rules to every case.”
Cristomoso also offered her views as to what the administration’s role should be in Project SAFE. “As part of the Intercultural Affairs department, Project SAFE is a College-run program, not a student organization,” she said. She believes that giving too much control to student leadership would result in a loss of continuity from year to year, and would raise questions about the college’s commitment to dealing with sexual assault. “If Project SAFE was a student organization, students would have to spend more time on fundraising […] Institutional memory would be lost each year as seniors graduate and juniors take advantage of overseas study,” she said. “I also believe that the College would be criticized – and rightly so — for a lack of real commitment to this important issue if this work was left solely to students.”
Whatever the reasons for administrative oversight of Project SAFE, many students working closely with the department believe this oversight has been increasing recently. All student employees interviewed for this article asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing their jobs.“I feel less safe working in this office,” said one of the students. When asked about this, Crisostomo said “I’m not sure
why they would feel that way. We are always open to discussing this or any
other issue and hope that students will feel comfortable doing so.”
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