A College of William and Mary student charged with rape was released after his $25,000 bond was posted.

Per the bond ruling by Judge Colleen K. Killilea, Jeffery Weaver ’13, will only be allowed on campus for the purposes of attending classes at the Mason School of Business and Washington Hall while he awaits arraignment in late December.

Director of University Relations Brian Whitson, however, would not say whether or not Weaver would be allowed to return to the school, adding that the College has its own process for dealing with such matters.

The 27-year-old was arrested Monday after allegedly raping a female student at the College. At his bond hearing Tuesday, Weaver, who lives off campus and enrolled at the College after spending six years in the military, told Killilea that he had no reason to see the alleged victim again if he was released.

“I’m unsure exactly of who she is,” Weaver said over video-conference from Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail, where he was being held. “[I don’t know her] in terms of first and last name. I know what she looks like.”

The alleged incident took place inside the woman’s dorm room during the early hours of Saturday morning.

According to the criminal complaint, the female student told the police that she and Weaver walked from the College Deli to her dorm room at around 1:45 a.m. Saturday. When they arrived, she said, the two spent time kissing before she asked Weaver to leave.

“She stated that is all she wanted to do, was kiss, and she asked him to leave and he would not get off of her,” the complaint reads.

According to the report, she said that Weaver physically overpowered and raped her, then left.

Weaver’s lawyer seemed to be preparing to launch a defense that any interaction was consensual.
The issue of who provided a condom was brought up before an objection by prosecutors was sustained. The female student told police that Weaver, who was barred by Killilea from traveling near the alleged victim’s dorm, put the condom on, but she later recovered it. Police officers collected the condom, as well as the clothes she had on at the time, as evidence.

Weaver was identified by his Busch Gardens pass, which the female gave to the officer who met her at the hospital.

Bond was set at $25,000 Tuesday morning for a College of William and Mary student charged with rape.

While awaiting trial, Jeffery Weaver ’13, will only be allowed on campus for the purposes of attending classes at the Mason School of Business and Washington Hall, where he takes a language class.

The 27-year-old was arrested Monday after allegedly raping a female student at the College. Weaver, who lives off campus and enrolled at the College after spending six years in the military, told Judge Colleen K. Killilea that he had no reason to see the alleged victim again.

“I’m unsure exactly of who she is,” Weaver told Killilea over video-conference from Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail, where he is being held. “[I don’t know her] in terms of first and last name. I know what she looks like.”

The alleged incident took place inside the woman’s dorm room during the early hours of Saturday morning. According to the police report, he had not been using alcohol and was invited into her room.

Prosecutors described the case as “an acquaintance, not a physical incapacity, but rather by force.”

Weaver’s lawyer seemed to be preparing to launch a defense that any interaction was consensual. The issue of who provided a condom was brought up before an objection by prosecutors was sustained.

Weaver’s arraignment was set for late December.

At the suggestion of a Student Assembly initiative, faculty and staff received an email from the College administration Thursday reminding them to be more conscientious of their language — specifically to avoid using the word “retard.”

Dean of Undergraduate Studies Kelly Joyce sent the email as part of an initiative by the SA Undersecretary for Disability Services, Sophie Cohen ’14, that is based on a national campaign to lower the negative use of “the R-word” called “Spread the Word to End the Word.”

“We thought one of the best ways to get the word out was to go through faculty, because they are shepherds of the classroom, so to speak,” Joyce said.

Cohen and SA Secretary for Health and Safety Ryan Buckland ’13 said that a few members of their committee had observed professors and students using the word “retard” in class – not necessarily in a pejorative manner, but in a way indicating unawareness that it was inappropriate. They did not know how many such incidents had occurred, nor did they think there was a campus-wide trend.

“As undersecretary of disability services, one of my duties is to make sure that students with disabilities feel that they are in a positive learning environment, so I met with Dean Joyce to ask her to remind professors that the ‘R-word’ is inappropriate to use in class,” Cohen said. “The word ‘retard’ is hurtful to millions of people. When the word ‘retard’ is used, it only reinforces painful stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities as less valued members of humanity.”

The email, which had a subject line of “Thoughtfulness in Language,” read:

“Dear Colleagues,
As part of our ongoing effort to create a collegial learning environment, please remember to consider the terms used in lectures and class discussion. For example, the word retarded has returned in slang usage to mean dumb or stupid, but this is not an appropriate way to use the word in class. It reinforces stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities, suggesting that they are less valued members of society.
“Thank you for your continued efforts to create a positive and creative learning environment for William and Mary students. Your thoughtfulness and commitment to undergraduate education makes William and Mary the unique liberal arts campus that it is.”

“It wasn’t telling anyone what to do. It was just engaging the community the way we do at William and Mary to have broader discussions,” Joyce said.

Peter V. Berns, CEO of The Arc (formerly known as the Association for Retarded Citizens), expressed support for the initiative.

“I commend students and leaders at the College of William and Mary for their efforts to eliminate the use of the r-word. The language we use in society is a reflection of our values, and these actions on campus demonstrate to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities that your community respects them,” Berns said in a statement.

Cheryl Dickter, a professor of psychology who specializes in stereotyping and prejudice, said that research has shown that even when non-inclusive language is used without any ill will, it can still have negative consequences.

“Prejudicial comments that go unchallenged can lead to the perpetuation of social norms that prejudicial speech is okay,” Dickter said. “Recent research in my lab here at William and Mary examines the confrontation of prejudicial comments and shows that standing up and challenging prejudicial comments can have beneficial effects for everyone – the individual who made the prejudicial remark, the confronter, and bystanders who listen to the confrontation.”

Faculty members were in strong widespread agreement that everyone should be conscientious of their language.

“I do think it is absolutely critical for faculty and students in the classroom to strictly avoid the pejorative use of words like ‘retarded’ or ‘gay.’ Using those kinds of words in this way is ugly and mean,” one longtime professor said.

But after decades of teaching at the College, the faculty member, who did not wish to be named, had seen very few instances of such language in academic settings and saw the email message as unnecessary – as well as an affront to the professionalism of College faculty.

“My negative reaction to the email message from the dean was because a member of the College administration apparently thinks she needs to instruct over 500 highly accomplished and professional faculty members at the College that we should behave with decency in class. Wow, thanks for the guidance!” this professor said. “Unless I am totally out to lunch on this, there is no brewing epidemic of mean spirited classroom references at the College, so in my view at least, the proper way to handle such matters when they do occur is via one-on-one conversations and warnings, ideally conducted in private where they are most likely to be effective.”

Joyce acknowledged that the message could have contained more context, but had decided during a Dean’s Advisory Council meeting that an email, rather than broaching the topic during department or program meetings, was the best form of communicating the issue as a “preventative strategy.”

“Everyone will have different views on how issues should be addressed and that is fair,” Joyce said.

Cohen said that while she did not think there had been an increase in the use of the word “retard” on campus, she thought that the campus community should be cognizant of the negative effects of using the word in a disparaging manner and reflect upon how words are used.

“My intention is not to alienate or criticize any professors. It is just to remind them to be conscientious about their word choice,” Cohen said.

The campaign will be fully launched in the spring, Cohen said. There are currently tentative plans to host speakers, air a public service announcement featuring “Glee” stars Jane Lynch and Lauren Potter in the Sadler Center, distribute T-shirts, and display a large banner in front of the Sadler Center for students to sign pledging not to use the word “retard” in a derogatory manner and to promote inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.

“This will take a lot more planning and is tentative to change, but I really want to make this happen,” Cohen said.

Faculty and staff at the College of William and Mary will be going home with more money in their pockets.

It is no secret that the College has had to function with less state funding in recent years, but College officials are finding money within the budget to address what they consider a dire need. Effective with the pay period which started last week, entry-level employees will be receive a pay raise of $1, from $9 to $10 an hour. Faculty will receive a 1.5 percent increase but not across the board.

“These increases are a long overdue effort to begin meeting a crucial need,” College of William and Mary President Taylor Reveley said in a Wednesday email to faculty and staff. “Given the high caliber and hard work of William & Mary’s faculty and staff, the absence of pay increases for three years, now going on four, has become extraordinarily painful.”

In addition, employees who make the minimum of the pay range established by market comparison for their positions will be brought up to the minimum of his or her salary range, on the condition that their performance is satisfactory.

Reveley estimated that less than 20 people would not receive the increases due to unsatisfactory performance.

“There are very few people at William & Mary who do unsatisfactory work. Most people do very good work,” Reveley said.

Reveley denied student and worker movements for higher worker wages or the threat of professors finding higher paid positions affected the decision.

“This is a response to the reality that there has been a salary freeze for three years for William & Mary’s faculty and staff, and we felt a compelling need to do something, even if it’s very modest, to help our people,” Reveley said in an email.

Yet Reveley mentioned in the faculty-wide email some “imbalances” caused by three year’s worth of faculty freezes. Among salary equality among new and old faculty, and lack of compensation despite faculty taking on new responsibilities, faculty poaching was cited.

“A small number of people have received raises in response to job offers from competing institutions, but other people performing at very high levels have not,” Reveley said.

Reveley stressed that these modest increases will not achieve the state goal of increasing the College’s salary rank in regard to other institutions to the 60th percentile. Currently, the College sits at the seventh percentile.

“These increases will not come remotely close to doing that!” Reveley said. “Not even in the ballpark.”

The funding source for these pay increases will come from the retention of non-state funds which supported last year’s bonuses.

Despite provisions within the College six-year plan for salary increases of 4 to 5 percent, the College jumpstarted pay raises in order to retain its collegiate status.

“If we want to keep succeeding as an institution, we can’t continue doing this,” Reveley said an email. “So these increases are a long overdue effort to begin meeting a crucial need.”

The six-year plan is pending approval by the State Higher Council for Education and concerns the 2012 to 2013 budget.

These modest increases in salary will not apply to every faculty member either.

“The balance of the funds will be used to address issues of salary compression, equity, extraordinary merit, and competiveness as determined by deans and vice presidents,” Reveley said in an email.

Reveley informed faculty that deans and supervisors will meet with faculty members in November to discuss how the pay increases will apply to them.

Student representatives from the College of William and Mary’s branch of Voices for Planned Parenthood joined more than 250 other pro-choice activists from around the state at the Rally for Women’s Health in Richmond Saturday to protest new regulations designed to limit access in Virginia to abortion providers.

“[Reproductive care] is really an issue for the younger generation. There is a tendency to sit back and let the older generation take care of it, but when you think about how many incidents of sexual assault, unplanned pregnancies and STIs are occuring at the college level it’s really a shame that we are so lax in our defense of those services,” VOX President Greg Callagehan ’14 said.

The Virginia House of Delegates recently voted to amend a health bill, SB 924, to include an amendment classifying facilities that perform five or more first trimester abortions per month as hospitals. The bill was passed by the Senate in February and approved for signing in March. If the bill passes fiscal analysis and is signed by the governor, the law will go into effect by Jan. 1, 2012.

The regulations, considered some of the most strict in the nation, limit access to abortions as well as cancer screenings, birth control and other preventive care provided at women’s reproductive health centers.

Doctors’ offices that provide medical abortions in the beginning stages of pregnancy could be affected as well. If passed, many of the state’s abortion clinics could be shut down.

“We see this as a war against Virginia women, and we hope to send the message [that] we don’t accept politicians and anti-choice extremists bargaining with women’s lives,” Director of Patricia M. Reynolds Women’s Rights Project Katherine Greenier said.

Medical professionals and patients of Virginia women’s health centers that would be affected by these regulations, present and former Virginia lawmakers and representatives from the faith community, youth organizations and health advocacy groups spoke out against the new regulations at the rally.

“The fact is that the people who support the agenda are a small group with an ideological agenda who are not a part of the medical community,” Greenier said. “We think that there’s been a very loud and pervasive drum beat that has been drowning out women’s rights in the state.”
Pro-life supporter Jane Ryngaert ’13 disagreed with that assessment.

“I don’t think this bill is about abortion as much as it is about having all health facilities operate at a certain standard,” she said. “Pro-life or pro-choice, I think we can agree that it is a very serious surgery and the safety of women is at stake, and if anything, increasing the regulations is trying to make it safer for women period.“