TW: Sexual Assault

While Dickinson students may not be on campus anymore, that certainly does not mean they are staying quiet and uninvolved in their community. This past week, an Instagram account named menofdickinson was brought into the spotlight when multiple Dickinson students shared the account on their social media to show their outrage, and called for other social media users to block and report the account. Some students contacted Dickinson’s administration and public safety to bring it to the school’s attention as well. Since Monday night, the account has been deleted, Title IX is involved, and the school is continuing to investigate to find out who created the account.

For those who did not see the account, it was mocking the account womenofdickinson, which is an account run by a Dickinson community member that spreads positive, often feminist messages through pictures and quotes. menofdickinson took the “meninist” route, which is a play on the word feminist, and is often used to spread hateful, sexist messages. The account was full of posts that “joked” about sexual assault, other abuses, getting rid of women’s rights, and much more. While these posts are not only not funny, they are offensive, dangerous, and hateful.

The WGRC issued a statement that can be found here at this link or on our Instagram page, condemning the message this account was sending, and expressing our commitment to continue to work against this behavior and towards inclusivity and love.

Personally, I have been in correspondence with the administration, the Title IX office, and DPS to make sure that this does not get swept under the rug now that the account is “gone.” I am worried about my safety on and off campus if there is even one student who believes that messages that this account was putting out were funny. However, I am so glad that this rallied so many of us together and showed Dickinson students’ commitment to hold this person accountable and show our love for each other rather than the hate the owner of the account was trying to spread.

I hope that the owner of the account is found and that there are consequences for the awful decisions that they made. I also hope that this shows both our community and outsiders that Dickinson students are smart, active, motivated, and loving. I am proud and grateful to be a part of a community that doesn’t sit around and ignore injustice and hate, but speaks and acts out against it.

Written by Sophie Ackert ’21, WGRC student worker

April 14, 2020