AU response to Clothesline Project shirt removals

ASHLAND, Ohio -- Ashland University recently agreed to participate in The Clothesline Project, a multi-national effort to acknowledge the trauma suffered by victims of sexual assault and sponsored locally by Safe Haven of Ashland and AU’s Elevate organization.

For this event, a “clothesline” of t-shirts created by students and non-students hangs in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center and will remain there through April 9 to mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

However, a few of the shirts have been removed, due to false information and the identifiable information of persons who are currently a part of the Ashland University campus community. On a smaller campus, such as AU, a partial identification can often be traced to a student, faculty or staff member.

In these cases, the University has an obligation to ensure the statements made against these individuals are factually accurate.  By the nature of The Clothesline Project, ensuring that factual accuracy is not possible.

In at least one case, a false quote was attributed to a current AU staff member. The shirts were removed because of this reason. The descriptions on some of the shirts are raw, graphic and heartbreaking. No shirt was or will be removed as a result of difficult content, but only when false, potentially illegal or unverifiable information is printed on a shirt.

Ashland University, to a person, stands against all forms of sexual abuse and mistreatment of any kind.