UWC values are not enough: stop covering up gender-based violence

Editor’s Note: This article includes mentions of sexual assault.

By now, we have all heard of the “Cornell 7” case, which is raising questions about sexual assault and responsibility. With the case involving a United World Colleges (UWC) alumnus, these questions have reached the UWC community as well, prompting the demand of “transparency and action” from its institutions and discussions about addressing and preventing gender-based violence. 

The “Cornell 7” gang-rape case drew national attention after a Cornell student filed a lawsuit alleging that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven Chi Phi fraternity members in 2024. None of the men were arrested. My attention was also caught by another rape case: Columbia’s “mattress girl,” which happened in 2012. Both these cases involved UWC alumni: Winston (Jay) Lee, who graduated from UWC Atlantic in 2023, and Paul Nungesser, who graduated from Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa in 2011. 

Being a part of the UWC alumni community and deeply valuing my time there, I felt even more concerned — and I was not alone. A couple of days later, a petition by a student from UWC Thailand was created, calling for action from UWC. Students and alumni demanded UWC Atlantic and UWC International make “a clear and public acknowledgment of the [recent] case and UWC’s stance” and called it both “possible and necessary.” In one day, over 4,000 affiliated people signed the letter. While an official statement about Winston Lee wouldn’t legally be possible due to the ongoing investigation, the overall demand presented in the letter was very clear: to pay attention to this case and turn it into change within the UWC. 

The reaction of institutions, although expected, was disappointing. The administration, after closing comments on their social media pages, has chosen to send an email to students and parents, saying that while they “condemn all acts of sexual violence,” they also consider it “not appropriate for the school or the students to comment on, share or engage in discussions surrounding this case at this time.” A few days later, UWC Atlantic’s administration also instructed the Feminist Council members, who shared the information about the petition with the student body, to tell the students to remove their names from the petition and not discuss the matter further. 

These actions clearly lack the recognition that this case is an outcome of being part of an environment that allows men to be violent without consequences. It reads as if it’s “not appropriate” to make this case public and demand justice, because it’s inconvenient for the school: it requires dealing with uncomfortable questions and preparing an adequate response. This reaction is not new, with rules that prohibit students in certain schools from negatively portraying their UWCs in social media. 

Silence is often perceived as complicity and support for injustice. Shouldn’t we be expecting schools who are so proud of their ideals to at least publicly express condemnation of sexual violence? UWC as a movement is based on a very particular set of values and we, as former and current students, share a belief that change, especially global, requires insisting on accountability and challenging institutions. We understand it can be uncomfortable, but that doesn’t make it less necessary. It is time to change the policies used to address this matter, develop and enforce support measures, protect the victims and hold the harassers accountable.

A crucial change also needs to come in how students are educated about sex and consent. While  UWC Red Cross Nordic students are openly provided with contraceptives to support their safety, UWC Dilijan students learn that sex on campus is punishable and “the single fact of the consumption of alcohol isn’t sufficient to invalidate consent.” Meanwhile, the policy that would clearly differentiate between consensual and non-consensual sexual activity didn’t even exist in the school’s Code of Conduct until students started actively demanding to add this distinction. Furthermore, in UWC East Africa, there are no proper sexual education classes at all. These educational disparities are part of the bigger systemic issue. 

Rape and other extreme forms of gender-based violence do not emerge out of nowhere. They are always based on other, smaller acts of disrespect toward women. Small sexist jokes are made in a group of friends to which everyone laughs. Someone excuses a sexualized comment about a woman’s appearance. Another blames the female victim and asks “What was she wearing?”, but says, “We don’t know everything. He’s a nice guy,” when talking about the perpetrator. These and many other actions contribute to injustice in prosecution of sexual assault, and everyone who supports the system where women are allowed to be disrespected and humiliated reinforces rape culture in our society. 

Many of us have heard about cases involving sexual violence on campuses: non-consensual sex under the influence of alcohol results in suspension of the victim of assault; male students storing “under-skirt” pictures of middle school girls on their computers walk away without consequences; a male psychologist accused of sexually abusing girls at school gets a student services role in a different UWC. We can all clearly see problems in the way the schools approach violence toward women and girls. The offenders stay unpunished, while the victim gets humiliated, questioned and silenced. 

One of the UWC Changshu China alumni expressed this sentiment: “This is an opportunity to call for a sex-positive, culturally informed and consent-centric sex education.” And I couldn’t agree more. While destructive behavior emerges from lack of consequences, it also directly arises from a lack of education. The more we educate people on the fact that they are not entitled to anyone’s body, that consent is not only a “yes,” that respect is essential in any relationship — the less likely these attitudes are to be normalized and translated into harmful behavior. 

We cannot let gender-based violence remain an issue we acknowledge only after something goes dramatically wrong. Ultimately, any institution that claims to be serious about preventing assault must be willing to educate, intervene and offer support. And if they fail to do so, they should be prepared to be held accountable by others. You can’t raise change makers and expect them to stay quiet.