Allison Lirish Dean
‘Get over it’ is exactly what readers told me to do
A popular senior boy cornered me alone in the basement of the dining hall, where I had gone to use one of the school's few pay phones. This boy, 18 or 19 years old to my 14, began pressuring me to have sex with him.
I refused, but he persisted, complimenting my looks, professing his desires, and masterfully laying on the charm. Eventually, feeling worn down and not knowing what else to do, I gave up and schlepped with him across campus to his dorm room....
The price of fitting in
At The Putney School in the 1980s, there were no dress codes or grades, and a decidedly countercultural atmosphere prevailed. But these ideals clashed head-on with elite imperatives for class and gender — resulting in bullying and sexual assault.
Media stories about sexual assault and the culture of toxic masculinity at elite boarding schools have become so routine that nobody is surprised when another one emerges. Such stories involve schools like Saint Paul's, Milton Academy, and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's now-infamous alma mater Georgetown Prep, all classic...