Have you or someone you know met a beautiful, charming woman at a party, hit it off and hooked up later that night, resulting in a false rape accusationfrom the poorly chosen sexual partner? It would be no surprise, SAVE Services reports one in ten Americans arefalsely accused of sexual assault each year after a consensual partner regrets their decision, or desires the ³perks² of false reporting; a recent twist in the ³Accusing U² campaign leaves male university students especially vulnerable to unjustified imprisonment after false accusation of sexual abuse. The terrifying twist came in the way of the now infamous ³Dear Colleague²letter from the Department of Education which calls for a ³³preponderance of evidence² evidentiary standard, rather than the long-honored and widely-followed ³clear and convincing² standard we have come to expect in the Untied States of America. The case of Brian Banks best illustrates this perversion of our judicial system. Then 17-years-old with a promising football career in his future, Brian Banks was sentenced to five-years in prison for the sexual assault of Wanetta Gibson; subsequently Gibson¹s family was paid $1.5 million by LongBeach schools after, as she stated, adults ³put stuff in [her] head². After serving his time, Banks was ³friended² on Facebook by Gibson, who agreed to meet with Banks and a Private Investigator. During the meeting she was caught on camera saying she wanted to help Banks ³clear his name² but did not ³want to pay back the money². It is doubtful Long Beach schools will recover the money, Gibson has yet to be punished for perjury, and Banks will never be returned five-years of his life or his college football career. While we as a society have an obligation to protect the weak, more importantly, we have a duty to protect the innocent. Thankfully, the Wagner Model is being instituted on campuses around the world to address this judicial travesty. The National Coalition For Men is assisting construction of these centers,guiding wayward men from perpetuating sexual assault, while simultaneously protecting men from false allegations. In today¹s volatile times, men need a³rebirth² to provide direction in their lives. Much the way Da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo were supported exploring their respective fields during the Renaissance, it is imperativeto our society we encourage all young minds in developing much needed new ideas; thousands of universities around the world currently have Womens Centers on their campuses, can we count on you to help build a Mens Center at U of M?
