An alleged gang rape laid out on an anonymous Twitter account has sparked investigations at two elite Atlanta universities and set off a social-media firestorm.
The president of Atlanta’s Spelman College urged the voice behind the @RapedAtSpelman account to come forward, saying “our hearts go out to you… Please identify yourself to me, so that I may offer you my full support and assistance.”
“I know that members of our Spelman community join me in expressing heartbreak and outrage over the incidents and experiences recounted on Twitter,” Spelman College President Mary Schmidt Campbell added in a statement to students.
The @RapedAtSpelman account started posting on May 2.
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“This is my freshmen year at Spelman and my last year because I decided to leave after what happened to me,” the first Tweet read.
This is my freshmen year at Spelman and my last year because I decided to leave after what happened to me.
— Raped At Spelman (@RapedAtSpelman) May 2, 2016
The account went on to recount a story about partying with upperclassmen, including some from Morehouse College in Atlanta.
“I was drunk but that doesn’t mean I forgot about what happened. I went to the bathroom upstairs to throw up and when I opened the door I was…surrounded by 4 Morehouse students who took me to another room and took turns raping me,” the tweets say.
Spelman — a private women’s college — and Morehouse, a men’s college, are historically black colleges in the Atlanta area, and akin to brother-sister schools.
The anonymous poster said she went to file a report with the dean and with public safety after she was raped but that the school took a month to get back to her. When she did hear back from the dean, she was told that Spelman and Morehouse were “brother & sister so I should give them a pass,” according to a tweet.
“I don’t want to be at a school that does not make me feel safe and wants to silence me,” the account tweeted. “Spelman has taught me to be a free thinking woman and also to be a woman who has to keep her mouths closed to protect her “brothers.”
Spelman has taught me to be a free thinking woman and also to be a woman who has to keep her mouths closed to protect her "brothers".
— Raped At Spelman (@RapedAtSpelman) May 2, 2016
The president of Morehouse said the school’s Office of Campus Safety has been “activated” to fully investigate the claims “with the limited information” available.
“Sexual assault is a heinous form of violence and it is a stark contradiction to Morehouse College at its best,” John Silvanus Wilson Jr. said in a statement. “The information anonymously shared on Twitter was our very first indication of this incident. Now that we are aware of these allegations, we are determined to pursue the investigation to the fullest extent possible.” As university officials pledged to investigate, the allegations continued to light up social media. Students used the #RapedAtSpelman and #RapedbyMorehouse to protest what they say is a culture of impunity and victim silencing. The silent protest this morning was extremely powerful! We made so many unresponsive people feel uncomfortable. https://t.co/KcAyX4SwdP AUC students silent protesting @Spelman to speak out against the silencing of rape victims. #RapedByMorehouse pic.twitter.com/b3MmS4ndL0 I am able to work with genuine people.bThis protest happened because we push.#rapedatspelman #rapedbymorehouse pic.twitter.com/R9kEtvSJ7h The Atlanta Police Department said it did not have “any knowledge” of the incident and thus was not currently investigating the case. This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.
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