Dear Brock,
It is with deep sympathy that I write this letter, but before I get to that, let me start by saying: welcome back. As I'm sure you've already realized, you haven't missed all that much considering you only served three months out of your lenient, biased in both gender and privilege, six-month sentencing. To put it in perspective, you were really just gone for the summer. I know that means missing out on those "big ribeye steaks" your father "always loved to grill" for you, but look on the bright side: it could have been worse.
Like, you could have been like the millions of incoming freshmen preparing to leave for college, terrified that they'll encounter someone like you while on campus (and, statistically speaking, one out of five of them will). Or, hey, you could have spent the summer like the woman you raped all those months ago, who has yet to receive an apology or even a statement from Stanford University, and who instead watched you get off the hook even after her statement went viral.
So, in the grand scheme of things, those three months in a private cell don't seem all that bad, now do they?
You look tired. It must be so hard learning how to cope after a traumatic incident like yours and not being given the proper time to heal before you're interrogated once again, having everyone ask intrusive questions about your sex and personal life as if that's the problem. Ridiculous, isn't it?
At least you have such a great Alma Mater to support you in all of this. See, Stanford knows that your attempt of raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster wasn't your decision, but belonged to the beers and sips of Fireball you had that night. As the university has made clear, consuming alcohol and the desire to rape go hand-in-hand with one another, so to minimize the number of sexual assaults on campus, Stanford has banned hard alcohol. It's also included an incredibly informative page (which has since been deleted) that explains how alcohol affects women differently. But I'm sure their brilliant contributions toward a safe, welcoming campus won't end there. While they're at it, they might as well add another class to their curriculum, teaching women how to not be raped, instead of simply teaching men to not do it in the first place.
Brock, you must be so devastated to no longer attend such a wonderful, caring, misogynist school like Stanford.
I don't know why people wouldn't want you to be an advocate against the dangers of binge drinking and "sexual promiscuity." Much like your dad, I think you'd be a huge contributor to society. In fact, you already have been. You've inspired so many college students to know that they can have their "20 minutes of action" at a party and face no repercussions for it - only if, of course, they're white, male and from an upper class. You've shown that victims can speak out and have their voice heard, but with our justice system rooted in rape culture, no proper punishment will occur. Above all, you've allowed alcohol to become a perfectly acceptable answer to consent, you've deterred women from ever wanting to report an assault, and like other rapists, you've permanently changed the life of a woman you had absolutely no right to.
See Brock? People can learn so much from you.
Your parents must be heartbroken. For 19 years, they raised you with just the right amount of ignorance and entitlement, encouraging you to follow your passions and dreams, only for you to ruin it (solely by drinking, of course).
And finally, I wanted to end with this: I feel sorry for you, Brock. These days, you must be living your life in constant fear, worrying that you're unsafe in your surroundings. If you let your guard down at all, you're "basically asking for" someone to assault you.
And that would be an awfully "steep price to pay" for those 20 minutes, now wouldn't it?
Sincerely,
A Female College Student
