Orville Taylor | Assault on the Oriens ex-press

How come no one missed her for three days on the plantation on which I work, The University of the West Indies (UWI)? As I said last week, in my discussion of the obligation attorneys now have to report their clients’ breach of the Proceeds of Crime Act, there are some times when, whatever loyalty one may have to the person or institution, silence is not an option.

Facts are: a young woman, a student of the UWI, Mona, has been physically harmed; the details of which are too disturbing to be detailed. From all appearances, there will be lifelong scars, both on her body and deep in her psyche. Allegations are that her (former) boyfriend, himself a student of the university, imprisoned her in a room for days, torturing her. Up to press time he had been slapped with several charges; although the background noises are demanding 2’x4’s. Importantly, these charges are generally tried by the bench and thus, unlike a few other earthshaking cases, involving entitled upper middle-class individuals, who were at least or more violent, this is not subject to the untrained legal minds of non-lawyer juries. Therefore, given the steadfastness of our judges, there is no reason to apply the sub judice rule here.

True, I am strong believer in due process, and thus, the alleged assailant must be brought to trial, be properly represented by counsel, and the prosecution, along with the evidence gathered from the police, have to prove all the charges. As angry as our paternal instincts make us, we have to accept that nothing, short of a confession, is proven until it is proven. And in the event that the unthinkable occurs and he walks, we have to accept the verdict. Of course, our director of public prosecutions (DPP) now has the right to appeal judgments, and for this, there are some who are breathing a sigh of relief that it is not retroactive.

UNIMAGINABLE OFFENCE

Such abuse of another creature, much less another human being, is an unimaginable offence. My colleagues in the UWI, Mona’s Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work have always been mindful of how dangerous the improperly mentored and unrestricted (sub)adult male is. More important than cosmetic window-dressing to make a few self-important persons, who thrive on public relations among our community, look good; the dearly departed Uncle Professor Barry Chevannes kept the focus on us as male behavioural scientists, walking our walk and living lives of mentorship. In simple words, ‘mans’ like Herbert Gayle, Ian Boxill and I, clearly understood that inasmuch as we needed to get the publications out and write books which engage policy – which we all do – we must talk to our young men by words and our own exemplary behaviours.

Our data show us that young men being involved in post-secondary education are less likely to become gang members and participate in the worrisome homicides, committed typically by their age cohort which is not at the university. However, Chevannes’ and our own research teach us that though largely unrewarded by the structure of the university, engaging our students and showing that we care about them as people makes a world of a difference. Both our men and women at UWI need it; but Errol Miller was on spot 30 years ago when he wrote Men at Risk and Chevannes’ myriad studies gave us Learning to be a Man.

Head of our Social Work Unit, Sandra Latibeaudiere, and I had a testing moment, some years ago with a young male, who crossed a serious line and looked like he was on a path of expulsion. Applying good praxis, which involved decisive action; I believe we set him straight. There are many other such stories.

FREE RANGE

Truth is, many young men come to the UWI, having been given too much free range, no limits, high privilege and ‘successful’ fathers who sacrifice good fathering for limelight, occupational advancement and financial gain. Failing as fathers, but back-patted by their peers, they literally do as Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul”. Too many privileged youths grow up with a feeling that because of the status of their parents, there are few restrictions to their ‘power’. Our research points to that. Moreover, the impact of mentoring by ‘livity’ keeps young men, whether your own children or students under your tutelage, on the straight and narrow.

In our leadership as ‘successful men’, there must be very little ontological gap between what we teach/preach and what we do. These bright young men know the smell of bovine excrement and will follow negative examples, if they see major disconnects.

Of course, there is also mental illness, which we identify from time to time and make the referrals. However, sometimes it only manifests itself on the halls of residence and not in the classrooms. Here is where we try to teach that far from a selfish place, the halls must be villages, where people look out for each other. Indeed, given the recent DPP’s use of the charge of ‘misprision of a felony,’ anyone who knew of the crime the female victim was suffering and kept silent could, in my opinion, face charges.

In this noisome case, apart from the police charges, campus Principal Dale Webber has the task of determining if internal disciplinary proceedings can take place. A fair, decent and honest man, guided by the report of squeaky-clean former detective Assistant Commissioner Norman Heywood, who heads the university security team, I am confident that there will be no cover-up.

Hopefully, no force, outside of Webber’s office, will try to interfere or direct any narrative. As the motto of the university goes, Oriens ex Occidente Lux; a light rising from the west. Let it illuminate the facts and blind whomever wants otherwise.

- Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.