La Voz

An unnamed 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped on the evening of March 3, while attending a party near west San Jose. Students of De Anza College, including members of the baseball team, attended that party and are being investigated by the sheriff's department.

Eight members of the baseball team have been suspended. None of them have even been accused of a crime. Only the individual(s) proven to be directly involved in the incident should be fired or expelled. We must withhold our judgment until all the facts are in, or else risk creating pariahs out of innocent people.

Rather than waiting for all the facts to come in, the De Anza athletic department has defensively suspended students who may have done nothing wrong. The Sheriff's Department has said that they have not as of press time determined who is responsible. But school administrators have chosen to act without conclusive information. Suspensions need more justification than guilt by association.

Rape is a serious matter, and allegations of rape should be taken seriously. Statistics indicate that as many as one in four to one in six women of college age experience either full or attempted rape. We need to create a culture that stops this kind of abuse.

For that matter, minors shouldn't be welcome at parties with drinking. Students should have been aware and known better than to allow a young girl into such a situation.

However, the court of public opinion usually condemns people before they've even been given a trial, like with the Duke lacrosse incident. In that case prosecutors blew rape allegations out of proportion. Eventually, it became clear that the accused players were innocent, but by that time the media snowball effect had already done irreparable damage to the reputation of those lacrosse players and their university.

De Anza College students should take pride in their school. We have a great school and it shouldn't have its name mired by this incident.

As of press time, no De Anza student has been formally accused of anything related to this incident. The only thing those eight suspended students are guilty of is being at a bad party. It's important to not become overrun with hysteria and blame students that may be innocent.

This issue is serious; that's why it's so vital for us as a community to wait for all the information to come in before passing judgment.

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