Following Stanford’s rejection of two quotes proposed for a memorial plaque marking the site of Brock Turner’s 2015 sexual assault, Turner’s victim will not participate further in the creation of the plaque, according to Law Professor Michele Dauber, a family friend of the victim’s who proposed and advocated re-landscaping the area of the crime.
Last year, Stanford replaced the dumpster by which Turner assaulted a then-22-year-old woman – known publicly only as Emily Doe – with a scenic marker including two benches and a fountain. At the time of the re-landscaping, Stanford planned to install a plaque on the landmark, which would bear a quote from the statement Doe addressed to Turner at his 2016 sentencing. The statement, which Doe released in full to Buzzfeed, went viral and was read on the floor of the U.S. Congress.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Fountain Hopper (FoHo) reported that Stanford rejected the quotations Doe proposed for the plaque.
“Stanford instead suggested their own alternatives including one that featured the out-of-context phrase ‘I’m okay, everything’s okay,’” Dauber wrote in a statement to The Daily.
The FoHo described the quote as “literally the worst quote anyone could possible [sic] choose to memorialize the site of a gruesome assault.”
Dauber confirmed the FoHo’s report that Stanford rejected Doe’s two proposed quotations, both of which came from her victim’s statement; according to Dauber, Doe suggested the second quote after the University objected to her first. Dauber declined to share more details of the quotations proposed by Doe and the University.
University spokesperson EJ Miranda said he was unable to confirm whether Stanford proposed “I’m okay, everything’s okay” or otherwise discuss the communications between Doe’s representative and Stanford, which he said were confidential.
Miranda, though, said that The Fountain Hopper’s report was “not a correct representation of the discussions” that occurred between Stanford and Doe’s representatives.
Dauber said that the decision to reject Doe’s preferred quotes was a “very poor choice” and was approved by Provost Persis Drell.
“Given the situation, Emily felt the best course was to decline to participate in the memorial plaque,” Dauber said.
Currently, Dauber is leading a campaign to recall Aaron Persky, the judge that sentenced Turner to sixth months in county jail. As of Jan. 12, the recall campaign’s petition had received nearly 100,000 signatures from Santa Clara County voters, enough for the question of recall to appear on the June 5 ballot.
Contact Courtney Douglas at ccd4 ‘at’ stanford.edu.