GEORGIA – School officials across the nation are facing backlash for their handling of sensitive campus issues like race, class, and sexual assault.

Bryan Golden, the police chief Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), was one such official, but has somehow been saved from termination despite his brazenly offensive comments.

Golden regurgitated what misogynists have been saying for years when he denied that rape happens on campus, or seemingly at all.




He is quoted as saying, “most of these sexual assaults are women waking up the next morning with a guilt complex.”

This type of statement delegitimizes the tragic and life-ruining effect rape has on women, making it seem like an escape route for women who regret their choices.

This effectively paints women as the villains instead of their rapists.

The insensitivity does not end there, however.

Golden not only referred to women reporting what he considers imagined rapes as “being stupid,” but also wholeheartedly denied the fact that any rape had or could ever occur on his campus.

His comments come at an especially bad time, however, because only weeks prior to his comments a student at ABAC was sexually assaulted, and found limited resources that would aid her.




Her story and those of several others was included in the story that also detailed Golden’s quotes

For some inexplicable reason, chief Golden was suspended but has since been reinstated, with only a slap on the wrist in the form of sexual assault sensitivity training.

He also denied ever making the comments, despite two reporters being present and attesting to the accuracy of the quotes.

It is no wonder that sexual assault continues to be such a looming specter on college campuses across the nation.




When the man in charge of finding and punishing those who commit sexual assault denies that such crimes even happen, women have little reason to have faith in or recourse from campus authorities.

While there is a tireless effort from activists to illustrate how rape in college is not only harmful but depressingly consistent, it can only truly take hold when those in positions of power accept that reality.

Max Chantha is a writer and investigative journalist interested in covering incidences of government injustice, at home and abroad. He is a current university student studying Global Studies and Professional Writing. Check out Max Chantha: An Independent Blog for more of his work.