2008 Woodie Awards
Breaking the chains of silence
Three women involved in last year's De Anza sexual assault case receive courage awards at sexual violence awareness event
Ehssan Barkeshli
Issue date: 6/16/08 Section: News
"She had vomit on her face that wasn't hers ... a condom was thrown on the side of the bed. She had one shoe on; jeans wrapped around one ankle. She wasn't moving, and she doesn't remember anything," said April Grolle Tuesday.
Three witnesses to the De Anza College baseball rape case were given awards for heroism and strength of action last Tuesday at an event aimed to take action against sexual violence titled "Bearing Witness."
De Anza College President Brian Murphy spoke to roughly 100 audience members at the event, referring to the party last year as "the ugly incident of last March" and a"sad and sorry accident."
The women showed honor and responsibility while the others in the room didn't, he said. He called them "genuine and honest-to-god people."
De Anza student April Grolle, and former students Lauren Chief Elk and Lauren Bryeans, were introduced one at a time at the event hosted by the department of women's studies, the Institute of Community and Civic Engagement and Students for Justice, and each given a Courage Award for taking action when they thought a rape occurred at a party thrown by members of the De Anza baseball team in March 2007.
The women testified that they saw a 17-year-old girl involved in a sexual act with two men and immediately pulled her out of the room and away from the party.
De Anza College Director of Marketing and Communications Marisa Spatafore said in regard to Murphy's statements about the incident, "Both the district attorney and the state attorney general said it is likely without question, that something wrong happened that night, and [we] addressed what we could to the best of our ability."
So far, there has been no official court ruling that the girl in question was raped.
After Santa Clara District Attorney Dolores Carr said she could not press charges in the case due to insufficient evidence in May 2007, she referred the case to California Attorney General Jerry Brown for review. On May 3, 2008, almost one year later, Brown's office announced, after more than 1,000 hours of investigation, that it would not press charges against the baseball players who attended the party due to lack of evidence.
Three witnesses to the De Anza College baseball rape case were given awards for heroism and strength of action last Tuesday at an event aimed to take action against sexual violence titled "Bearing Witness."
De Anza College President Brian Murphy spoke to roughly 100 audience members at the event, referring to the party last year as "the ugly incident of last March" and a"sad and sorry accident."
The women showed honor and responsibility while the others in the room didn't, he said. He called them "genuine and honest-to-god people."
De Anza student April Grolle, and former students Lauren Chief Elk and Lauren Bryeans, were introduced one at a time at the event hosted by the department of women's studies, the Institute of Community and Civic Engagement and Students for Justice, and each given a Courage Award for taking action when they thought a rape occurred at a party thrown by members of the De Anza baseball team in March 2007.
The women testified that they saw a 17-year-old girl involved in a sexual act with two men and immediately pulled her out of the room and away from the party.
De Anza College Director of Marketing and Communications Marisa Spatafore said in regard to Murphy's statements about the incident, "Both the district attorney and the state attorney general said it is likely without question, that something wrong happened that night, and [we] addressed what we could to the best of our ability."
So far, there has been no official court ruling that the girl in question was raped.
After Santa Clara District Attorney Dolores Carr said she could not press charges in the case due to insufficient evidence in May 2007, she referred the case to California Attorney General Jerry Brown for review. On May 3, 2008, almost one year later, Brown's office announced, after more than 1,000 hours of investigation, that it would not press charges against the baseball players who attended the party due to lack of evidence.
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