Student safety activist group holds Protest for Isabella Willingham.
Published 8:26 am Friday, September 13, 2024
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On November 27, 2023, then-Asbury University student Isabella Willingham was found in her dorm room, unconscious, with bruises and gashes on her body and limbs.
She spent weeks recovering in the hospital, but healing from her physical injuries is only part of the battle, considering the trauma she no doubt lives with after the incident.
Although the Jessamine County Sheriff’s Office has spent 300+ hours investigating the case with multiple detectives and law enforcement agencies and is still actively investigating it, Sheriff Kevin Grimes said, “We’ve not received any tips or evidence right now.”
“We have currently not received one tip in this case. Not one tip. Yes, there were cameras at the (entrance of the) dorm building. We have spent hours and hours reviewing the cameras,” Grimes said. “This is a very perplexing case.”
Grimes said there’s a lot he could tell the Journal– but he can’t now since the investigation is ongoing.
On Thursday, August 22, students and community members organized a protest in the parking lot of Fitch’s IGA. Asbury Anonymous, a group not affiliated with the University, organized this protest. The group also organized a vigil for Willingham in the spring of earlier this year. Asbury Anonymous was first created after Willingham was found in her dorm room.
The university provided a statement to the Jessamine Journal on the Willingham case: “This matter is part of an ongoing investigation by the appropriate authorities and with the University’s full cooperation. We are unable to provide any updates or specific information at this time. Asbury’s priority remains the safety and well-being of its students, faculty, and staff. Please refer all additional inquiries to the Jessamine County Sheriff’s Office.”
Julia Marvel, a former Asbury student, paralegal, and Asbury Anonymous organizer, said the August protest had a “great turnout,” of about 25-30 people and that the group is very excited about “how the community has come together and pushed for Asbury to make a statement for what’s been going on, and, at the end of the day our biggest concern is for student safety going forward.”
This Asbury Anonymous project has become a fight to protect all women and students at Asbury, other than seeking justice for Willingham. The involved students, their families, and community members are seeking improved safety measures for all students and better support for students who have been victimized—on and off campus.
Marvel goes on to say that it is “heartbreaking,” to read through testimonies compiled by Asbury Anonymous, including student and staff experiences of victim-blaming of rape survivors, repeated mishandling of sexual assault cases, incompetence in handling mental health crises, failure to notify students of dangerous situations like a registered sex offender being allowed to live close to the girls’ dorm, and lack of safety training. These testimonies can be read on thetruthaboutasbury.com
The project’s website also includes Willingham’s story and a statement from her father, who attended the protest, on its main page.
“They [Asbury University] are doing everything in their power to keep this story buried… We shouldn’t have to go to the media and mount social media campaigns to get traction with this. We shouldn’t be treated like the villains when our daughter is the victim,” reads Andy Willingham’s statement.
A press release for the protest reads, “The stated goals of Asbury Anonymous’ activism are to educate current students, parents, and faculty about unresolved safety concerns on campus, and to advocate for improved safety protocols campus wide. Asbury Anonymous’ website notes acute needs for improved reporting processes for victims of crime, improved warning systems, improved safety/security training, and better allocation of resources.”
“At the end of the day, we just want to push for more physical safety measures but also administrative measures so that when these cases arrive, there’s a protocol to be able to handle them,” Marvel said.
One testimonial is from a member of the class of 2021. This individual, whose testimony can be read on Asbury Anonymous’ website in its entirety, explains a few different instances of issues they faced at the university. They started by thanking those who did help them at the university, like Kevin Bellew, the associate dean of wholeness and wellness, who aided them with their depression and PTSD through counseling.
One issue, however, led to them being stripped of their leadership positions at the university because they harbored and told some of their friends about being assaulted by another student. This student never reported this assault to the school. Their friends said they didn’t believe the victim’s story of assault because the student was “too nice,” and soon after, the resident director met with this individual about them “not having boundaries with boys”– “I was forced to attend the sexual wholeness group and stripped of any leadership positions I had. It was demoralizing,” reads the testimony. This individual had to see the face of the person who assaulted them every day, leading to flashbacks each time. “I came to think that no one would ever believe me about anything ever again,” their testimony read.
A common argument is the claim that sexual assault and rape victims may lie about their assault– but according to multiple sources, for the vast majority of cases, this isn’t true. Evawintl.org states that “When methodologically rigorous research is conducted based on this definition [of assault and rape], estimates for the percentage of false reports converge around 2-8%.”
National Sexual Violence Research Center (NSVRC) states that only about 63 percent of assault cases are never reported to the police. However, even when survivors do report the crimes they have been subjected to, they may face scrutiny or encounter barriers. “For example, when assault is reported, survivors may feel their victimization has been redefined and even distorted by those who investigate, process, and categorize cases.”
The NSRVC states that one in five women, and one in 75 men will be raped at some point in their lives. For children, one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old. Ninety-one percent of victims of rape and sexual assault are female, and nine percent are male. In eight out of 10 cases of rape, the victim knows the person who assaulted them. Eight percent of rapes happen when a person is at work.
For specific information about sexual assault in colleges, one in five women and one in sixteen men are sexually assaultedwhile in college. The NSRVC states that more than 90 percent of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report assault. Sixty-three percent of men at one university, the research states, who self-reported acts qualifying as rape or attempted rape, admitted to committing repeat rapes.
Hannah Barlow, an Asbury University alumnus and Asbury Anonymous member, has worked to collect these testimonies, many more than those that have been included, that she says are proof of “Asbury’s repeated failures to keep students safe.”
At the protest, Marvel misspoke– stating that Asbury had the same amount of security cameras as it did before Isabella’s assault. “Since then, I walked on campus the morning of August 23, and there had been at least ten more that have been added in the last few weeks,” Marvel said.
Marvel set up a meeting with Asbury’s director of Safety and Security, David Hay, who she said spoke with her briefly at the protest.
Barlow sent the Journal a statement on how it went.
“Hello Gillian, as you know we met with the head of Asbury security (David Hay) on 8/24/2024. Our purpose for the meeting was to discuss our concerns regarding student safety on campus. During this conversation Julia shared her own experience that she had on campus, the goals of Asbury Anonymous, and even talked through Asbury’s 3-year safety plan. This initial meeting was copacetic, and we are hoping to establish more of a working relationship moving forward when it comes to advocating for student safety, but there is no official affiliation between Asbury Anonymous and Asbury University at this time.”