“In cases where a man rapes a woman, rape is the fault of both the man and the woman.”

This quote is from letters posted around campus last month. The letter, titled “A Man’s World,” was posted on some classroom and bathroom doors. 

There were also at least four copies of the letter seen posted in the band room.

The letters were immediately removed by staff and other students over a span of two days. Nevertheless, conflicts and controversy emerged. 

The letter starts off with a very clear message: “In cases where a man rapes a woman, rape is the fault of both the man and the woman.”

The content expanded upon this concept, saying that women should be taking every precaution possible to prevent rape and if they don’t, it’s their fault. 

The letters were signed with the initials K.D. and the writer has yet to be identified. 

It is not know if the school or district made any attempts to identity of the letter’s author. 

“I don’t think that [the writer] realizes that equality is something achievable,” said senior Sayeh Jafari, president of Feminist Club. “One person can make a difference. Even if it feels like that person is standing alone, they can achieve something.”

Other students, such as junior Jared Rogers, believe the letters have makes some important points. 

“I think that a lot of the stuff said in there is true,” Rogers said. “I feel like that the writer was trying to get a point across because a lot of the things mentioned were good points.” 

The tone of voice carried through the letter was described by many students as “dehumanizing” and  “victim blaming,” which is defined as a devaluing act where the victim of a crime, an accident, or any type of abusive maltreatment is held as wholly or partially responsible for the wrongful conduct committed against them.

The letters frequently referenced this topic, as seen in quotes like “[women] need to take every single precaution possible to reduce the chance of being violated. And shame on the ones that don’t.”

But the letter goes on to contradict itself in the last paragraph, where it states, “I’m not saying that rape is the fault of the woman. Of course it’s not.”

These contradictions, on top of the claims that encourage victim blaming, caused controversy among many students on campus.  

But many students and staff didn’t see the letter posted around campus. 

“I wasn’t even aware of the poster until just now.” said AP Psychology teacher Brandon Quick. “I’m quite surprised I didn’t hear about something like this sooner.”

One of the main reasons that not many people heard about the letter was because the school did not release anything about it. 

“The school definitely should have done something more significant,” said sophomore Emma Schroeder. “At the very least, it’s vandalism, and should be treated as such.”

According to the American Association of University Women, 58 percent of seventh to 12th graders experience sexual harassment in a given school year. Some students believe that if the precautions presented in the letters were followed, these percentages would decrease.

A couple students lashed out on Twitter, saying how this kind of thing shouldn’t happen on campus. 

Another reason that not many people heard about the letter was because of how quickly copies of it were removed. 

Some teachers were also concerned on the impact it may have on the student body’s mentality on rape and sexual harassment. Some were impressed by the quick actions of the students to remove the letter. 

“The fact the students take it upon themselves to take down these posters, to say ‘This doesn’t belong on our campus’, I think it’s pretty beautiful,” said Quick.