Calls for change: Myers Park students want CMS to better address campus sexual assaults
Standing underneath the Myers Park High School archway outside the school — a gateway to the 61-acre campus — Serena Evans wept.
The former Myers Park High student told a group of more than 100 community members Tuesday afternoon that she had been raped on campus in 2016.
“In that gym right there,” Evans said. “It felt like my rape got pushed under the rug. It’s traumatic. It stays with you for the rest of your life. ‘Safe place’... that sign makes my blood boil.”
Wearing teal beads and shirts — the color of sexual violence prevention — Charlotte-Mecklenburg students, mostly from Myers Park High, marched almost a mile in a planned protest. They marched to call for greater transparency, better protocols and more education at school regarding how reports of sexual assault are handled.
Students carried signs that read “Wake up CMS,” “Educate Your Sons” and “You’re Not Alone” as they walked and gathered near the front of Myers Park High, the second largest high school in the state with more than 3,100 students. The march, from a TCBY parking lot to Myers Park High, was for everyone who has experienced sexual violence, organizers said.
Students who organized the protest said they were told prior to the march they were not allowed on campus, near the main buildings. Police were present near the main parking lots.
The Observer typically does not disclose the identity of survivors of sexual assault. The women who spoke at the event gave permission to The Observer for their names to be used in this story.
“I’m ashamed to say I go to Myers Park High,” said Grace Morton, a 17-year-old who will be a senior in the fall. Morton, one of the main organizers of the event, also said she was a victim of sexual assault at a CMS middle school when she was 14.
“We want to bring awareness and changes to this school,” Morton said.
The protest was sparked following the stories of two separate lawsuits from former Myers Park High students who said they were sexually assaulted in 2014 and 2015.
While the lawsuits allege school administrators and a police officer assigned to the campus mishandled the female students’ reports of being raped in the woods on campus, CMS officials in court documents have denied any wrongdoing. One case was settled in April, with the district paying the former student $50,000. The other case is pending.
CMS leaders recently replied to questions from the Observer related to the safety concerns but largely refused to comment on the specific cases, citing student privacy concerns and ongoing litigation. CMS said it followed all legal requirements surrounding student safety and sexual assault investigations.
But in petitions before Tuesday’s march, students said they want CMS to have clearer Title IX policies and procedures and ensure students are educated on those procedures.
Under Title IX, part of federal education law, public schools are required to investigate reports of sexual violence at school, and employees are given annual training on how to handle such cases. Under the law, sexual violence on campus is considered a form of sex-based harassment, which federally funded schools like CMS are required to address when complaints arise.
In an email to families last week, Myers Park High principal Mark Bosco assured parents that students on campus are safe, The Observer reported. In the message, he cited the school’s safety initiatives and said students and staff receive mandatory training for students and staff on reporting and responding to sexual misconduct and sexual harassment.
At the time of the alleged sexual assaults cited in the lawsuits, the school district lacked a designated Title IX coordinator, whose job would have been, in part, to ensure sexual violence reports were investigated.
The position was added in 2016.
“Right now, teachers skip through the procedures,” Morton said. “Take the time, create a new video every year, and then let students have a copy of the video so they can watch it on their own. It’s also about education.”
A call for change
Nikki Wombwell, known as Jill Roe in a lawsuit filed in December 2019, marched down Colony Road to Myers Park High with family members. Wombwell’s lawsuit was the second of the two lawsuits filed against the district and was settled in April. She gave the Observer permission to use her real name as a way to bring attention to the issues raised at the protest.
“Students should be explicitly taught: This is how you recognize signs of dating violence; this is what you do when any of this happens to you,” she said. “CMS needs very clear procedures for all students to know. There should be written reports. Even if they don’t do a full investigation, there should be something in writing.”
She also addressed the crowd of students and former students, who became emotional as women stepped forward to share their personal stories — and their pain — of assault.
“This isn’t a new problem. I was assaulted in March 1987 in a CMS school,” said Stephanie Bertorelli, a parent of two children in CMS.
Bertorelli became emotional at the rally, saying, “I wish someone would’ve done this for me.
“It’s not going to change until we change it. These students here, they have to change it.”
‘Make enough of a fuss’
Wombwell’s lawsuit was settled for $50,000. But for the 22-year-old, she said the lawsuit was never about money. It was about seeking justice.
“I thought I could force a policy change through a lawsuit,” said Wombwell, who works in marketing. “But then I realized policy changes can’t be ordered by the court. So I went to the TV and went public. If you make enough of a fuss, they don’t have a choice but to do something about it.”
Wombwell started an online petition earlier this month that has garnered more than 50,000 signatures. The petition calls for mandatory reporting, clearer Title IX policies, and expanded sex education that includes a unit on sexual violence, dating violence and the importance of consent, among others.
She’ll continue to use whatever platform she needs to see CMS take action, she said.
“I was raped when I was 15, and it was covered up,” she said. “It’s a systemic issue, and it needs changed. We’re mostly focused on policy. No one said anything about Title IX to me. I didn’t know what it was until years later.
“You can have all the procedures you want, but if you don’t teach them or use them, they’re useless.”
CMS ‘has to listen’
After victims spoke and student organizers read statements from those who wanted to remain anonymous, those in attendance crossed their arms and held them above their heads for 30 seconds in a show of support to each other.
Aidan Finnell, a protest organizer who will be a junior at Myers Park High, called the women who came forward “brave.”
“I felt led to make this event happen because CMS and Myers Park have chosen to be silent,“ Finnell said. “If parents, students, adults and children gather, they have to listen, or at least try to do something. We are their audience.”
Many students said that regardless of what CMS and Myers Park High administrators claim are clear Title IX guidelines and resources, they’re not.
“Having an assembly once a year to go over who is in charge of what and maybe remarking to ‘not go in the woods’ isn’t Title IX training or going over your policies and standards,” Finnell said.
“We want CMS and Myers Park administrators to work with students to create helpful and accessible resources, as well as cultivate a positive environment on campus.”
Kay Mayes, Serena Evans’ mom, implored those in the crowd to report sexual violence or harassment.
“I encourage anyone who has had anything happen to them to come forward,” Mayes said. “Take that first step.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 7:23 PM.
