Message to the Kings Point Community Regarding The Sea Year Stand Down (from the President of the USMMA Class of 2012)
This public statement by James Patrick O’Connor was originally posted to a USMMA Alumni Facebook page on July 13, 2016 during the 1st “Sea Year Stand Down.” This version has been edited for length. The full statement can be read here in its entirety.
Dear Kings Point Community,
Pick a Kings Pointer friend, whoever comes to mind first. Now you’re with them on their first sea year, ghost of Christmas past style, when he or she was 18 or 19 years old. You see this friend of yours sleeping in bed on their first ship and there’s a figure above about to rape him or her. Now as you watch this unfolding you are holding your MMD and diploma in your hand and if you throw it into a fire it would stop this from happening. Every one of you would do it.
The vast majority of people make it through sea year and USMMA unharmed. I did. I had great adventures for which I am deeply grateful, I wouldn't trade my experience for any other college and I love Kings Point. I’m also 6’1, 190lbs and a fool’s target. Unfortunately not everyone is as lucky as me and I'm astounded at the willful ignorance, dismissiveness and cynicism by some surrounding this conversation. It's certainly not the majority but we all know there are crazy and predatory people out at sea and abroad and even at school and anyone of any size can be drugged or gotten very drunk with the intent to take advantage.
Do you think that a male dominated industry as isolated as the merchant marine, where there is a ship with limited potential sexual partners in the middle of the ocean with reliably a few very strange, unpleasant or sometimes downright psychotic, un-monitored sailors isn’t an environment likely to facilitate sexual assault? The ship is your work, your home, your whole world. There is no 911, an email with a safety word can’t immediately save someone, there is no onsite HR, one can’t jump off and swim home and the targets are any combination of young, naïve, low ranking, isolated, outnumbered and vulnerable. The merchant marine is a unique environment that calls for unique, tailored protections for midshipmen and I’m glad this subject is being discussed openly.
Perhaps yours was fine but stop and think about the people whose sea years were not fine, whose stories you may not know about. Why aren’t we angrier at ourselves for our failure to speak up for and defend these students? I am personally aware of at least 7 separate sexual assault stories from my time at Kings Point both at sea and on campus. Is seven too many for you? I had to increase the number four times as I wrote this and remembered yet another or as I spoke with a few friends who shared their stories. Some were very violent and all were disturbing and in one instance a friend’s bruises were visible in uniform. One individual received a class 1 restriction after the ordeal and was bullied into a retraction. The offender went on to rape someone else at school. He wasn't kicked out for his actions either. This guy, wherever he is today, hasn't been prosecuted. Those 7 were just the ones that I heard of and most occurred on campus.
The pool has silently been growing larger and it’s larger than any of us will ever really know. Most people, especially men, don’t report and a lot gets swept under the rug. There are sometimes false claims and accusations and that adds an extra layer of complexity and difficulty that must be approached with great judiciousness but do you want the real survivors who did report, or the next ones to feel guilty or alone or to feel like the cause of the sea year suspension for having spoken up? Will you brush aside their traumatic experiences as an isolated incident, an inconvenience? Should they not rejoice that someone did something to help? Should we not support them? Too easily do we hastily dismiss this as a political stunt, coddling and administrative incompetence. If you don't treat the matters at hand seriously you are providing a disincentive for victims to come forward, enabling the bad guys and the cycle of silence, taboo and shame will continue.
We live in a time when none of us should be able to ignore the presence of predators and evil-doers out there due in large part to mass media coverage, but we still do. Our culture maintains a strong taboo, digs its head into the sand and turns a blind eye to rape. We can’t sugar coat it and pretend it’s not a big deal, it will just happen anyways, that it’s none of our business or that it doesn’t exist. It's not even the only problem being addressed. Our alma mater is a US Federal Academy and it must be a shining example of how things should be done for the world.
I want Sea Year back fast, too. Student safety, however, is PARAMOUNT and our words and actions in response to this temporary measure do not convincingly communicate that it is our number one concern. Sending a class out there in peace time knowing that one or two students could reasonably be expected to drown would never, ever be allowed to happen. It is needless. Should rape and assault be treated any differently? The cure is worse than the disease? Tell that to the people who have been assaulted.
A video interview of Kings Point women advocating for the reinstatement of sea year, none of whom have or choose to discuss experiences of sexual assault is less worthless than the eye witness account of a blind man. I’ve seen every iteration of these arguments and rationalizations:
They can get over it. They should have been tougher or smarter. They should have had the guts to fight. They didn’t belong out there in the first place. They should have reported it. They shouldn’t have drank. They should have known better. They should be adults by now. They’re probably just lying to get their way. They should be exposed to reality. They shouldn’t have dressed that way. How should I know or care if I don’t hear about these assaults? It didn’t/wouldn’t happen to me or to my son or daughter. It’s not my problem. It will take too long. Only women get raped. They knew the risks. They were asking for it. We shouldn’t baby people. We don’t know the numbers exactly. It’s just politics. MARAD is out to get us and shut the school down and this is a cover up. When I was a cadet I survived. I kinda sorta think it happens just as much everywhere else. I’m informed. We can’t ever solve this problem fully. My kid should graduate on time with a license and the potential rape of someone else I don’t really know doesn’t matter quite as much. I know better. They don’t exist…
They speak one message: The crowd is more important than the few silent victims so carry on, it’s not that big of a deal or doesn't even exist and fix as we go as is most convenient for the majority. The risk to the few is worth the reward for the many. We've always done things this way. Stuff happens.
I do believe we all are trying to do what’s best for USMMA, but leave yourself open to the possibility that this is a more prevalent and more serious problem than you may know, that people suffer these crimes largely in silence and that your uninformed assertions undermine the deserved justice, safety and dignity of each person who attends Kings Point. I respect your passion and your hard work deeply and I hope sea year is reinstated successfully soon as well. It’s great that so many people care but if we are more outraged about a temporary sea year suspension than we are about hazing, harassment and rape, I'm calling you all out: We are having the wrong conversation.
I’m glad that this didn’t happen during my year but if it could have prevented a single sexual assault I’d be ok with it in the long run. You shouldn’t have to know a survivor to see this problem through his or her eyes, to care and to put his or her needs and the needs of the next prospective victim first. You wouldn't believe some of their stories. They are reading the words you write. Be a true Kings Pointer, have their backs and recognize, acknowledge and respect their incredible bravery in bringing their horror stories and this problem to light. Let's work together on this and keep each other safe out there. Kings Point is our family. Protect your family.
James Patrick O’Connor II
2012 Class President, USMMA
Acta Non Verba