UNC-Chapel Hill has just implemented a new policy for handling accusations of sexual assault. The announcement of that policy by Chancellor Carol Folt made front-page news in North Carolina today, just as details began to emerge about an actual assault on a UNC-Chapel Hill student.
That actual assault was not sexual and the victim was not female. A UNC-Chapel Hill walk-on football player, sophomore Jackson Boyer, was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion earlier this month.
It’s been called a “training-camp altercation,” an “alleged hazing,” and a “group assault.” The story first broke in a Yahoo sports column on August 26, although the incident apparently occurred on August 4. One day after it became public knowledge (but more than three weeks after it occurred) UNC coach Larry Fedora announced the suspension of four team players from UNC’s opening game this weekend.
And today the Durham Herald-Sun reported a tweet by Boyer’s older brother that said, “4 players isn’t even 25% of group that assaulted my brother, leaving him unconscious and badly concussed.” He also accused the university of “actively covering up both players involved and the extent of the violence.” According to a family friend, Boyer’s family is hiring an attorney, the newspaper said.
It is hardly worth saying that the fanfare over what the school calls its sexual violence policy seems inappropriate in comparison to the high-level silence greeting actual violence.