Notre Dame's Fr. Jenkins Pins Delays in Lizzy Seeberg Case on 'Discrepancies'

So the prosecutor dismissed the case because the records show that there was no texting going on? First of all, how does that have any bearing at all on whether or not an assault occurred? Secondly, does Mr. Dvorak understand that there are at least a dozen ways people can "text" without actually texting? Facebook chat, AOL Instant Messenger, Skype, and Twitter....the list goes on. You have to wonder if Notre Dame's police force and the DA are more interested in protecting the institution or the students who live there.

"... as heartsick as I am over the leisurely and lawyerly way this matter was handled -- and since actions do speak louder than words, the terrible message the university's response sends Notre Dame and Saint Mary's women."
Thank You, Well said! !, I copied & pasted it as your comment expresses perfectly the problem that so many across our nation - and beyond have with the misguided priorities exhibited by Notre Dame and South Bend prosecuter Dvorak at every juncture of this situation. College student Lizzy Seeberg deserved as much immediate credibility as any college athelete... Why Isn't Respecting the Respectable held as virtue worth preserving at Notre Dame these days? And the the cold indifferent way the Seeberg family has been treated after the loss of young Lizzy is an appalling tragedy. Dvorak should/would have demanded a higher standard for the school [ & prosecuters office] considering that Notre Dame is being championed by Reverend John Jenkin's who states "I cannot stand by and allow the integrity of Notre Dame to be challenged so publicly. The values at issue go to the very heart of who and what we are at Notre Dame."... Hmmmm,, they sure could have fooled everyone Not more loyal to the football stats and glory.... they will have to prove it to alot of people!.
The 'desparaging' opinions for the school, the prosecuter and the mayor of South Bend, are based on the lack of mere decency that Should have been the initial reaction, right or wrong- and as the facts unfolded, it would have been the correct message to the sex starved football team member rather than broadcast disturbing values blatantly ill with football elitism and atheletic ability more revered than a young womans virtue. B000000 REV. JENKINS!!! OUT OF BOUNDS!.

With all the indignation being expressed here, one would think that a trial has occurred and the finding of guilt established. Human beings are not caricatures of sociological trivialization. Football players are not automatically guilty of any assault charge. And Journalists in the 21st century are not a reliable source of unbiased information about anything. If the accused is guilty, he should go to prison. If not, he shouldn’t. Either way, those who assume guilt, should cultivate a sense of honorability.

I would advise any young woman: Skip the campus police!!!! Go to the real police! Any and every college campus is the same, the campus PD try to cover up the crimes on campus!
Also, Lizzy's so called "friend" can take some responsibility too! She should not have left the room and left Lizzy alone with a stranger!
Girls, just because a guy goes to your college doesn't make him OK or safe to be with!!! Remember what your Mom taught you when you were a child....don't talk to strangers, or in this case, don't be alone with strangers!!!!!

So, the victim got herself assauted, eh? She should have known better than to be around a football playeer who deserves to take what he wants, eh? There are all these women who get themselves raped, murdered, assaulted, taken advantage of and put themselves in a place where they had no right to be if they wanted to keep from getting raped, assaulted, murdered by the predators of the worl who it appears do nothing bad, it's just those stupid women who walk around as if they are free who get themselves raped, assauted, murdered. Predator men are just doing what nature causes them to do as one man put it and "just have to deal with it" as he continued in his explanation of why men do the bad things they do. Men are not to blame, she just has to learn where she can be and where she cannot be and "deal with it" if she makes a mistake about the safety of where she finds herself.

Somehow, this reminds me of god who never has to take blame for any of the bad things that happen in this world and gets credit for any good things that happen. i.e. A plane with 300 passengers falls out of the sky yet three people survive. We do not blame god for the 297 passengers he could have save but did not, instead we hear people say, "thank god 3 survived". I am hearing people say about this football player, in their attack on the victim, "thank god he didn't killthat crazy woman". (Except that he probably did.)

Males, especially athletes, think that women were made for them to assault. Surely most of you have heard the report that women are masochists? Well, men are just assisting them in their masochism. Doing them a favor if you will. They also think that god made women to serve them and sex is just one of the ways they are served. Men support other men in their perverted ways as well and religion most of all support men over women. On top of all that add the male0bonding effect of woman-hating. Men are more concerned with how other men judge their manhood than they are of their moral behavior when it comes to manhandling women and is considered by men as "controlling their women". It all adds up to a world in inhabited by women who are terroized from day one of their existance by men. The world suffers from testosterone poisoning.

In any organization, be it university, corporation, non-profit, more communication is MUCH BETTER than less or worse keeping silent in a tragedy or any negative situation. Fr. Jenkins would have been so much better off if he had just picked up the phone, called the Seeburgs and offered his heartfelt sympathy for the loss of their daughter, at the university where he happens to be President. He could have assured them that the university would do a thorough investigation. He could have outlined the process and just offered kind words. He could have stopped the conversation if they tried to get into facts of the case by gently explaining that the investigators would gather all the facts. SIMPLE. First, you are a priest, Fr. Jenkins, it's your job to console the grief stricken family!!!!!

Colleges and universities are not equipped to deal with these matters and should not be permitted to take and keep them in their own hands. Campus "police" and campus security seem to be more schooled in institutional politics than in law enforcement. Their priorities appear to lay more in protecting the school than in protecting the students. The accused student should have been questioned immediately, as should have the other students who were present around the time of this alleged incident.

Would this have prevented the suicide? We will never know. A hundred of other things may have contributed to Lizzy's final decision to end her life, and that is actually beside the point. Football player or not, woman with emotional and mental issues or not, college students or otherwise, rich or poor, well connected or run of the mill, rape or not, unwanted sexual advances are unwanted sexual advances and individuals have the right to seek legal investigation into their cases and to be protected from assailants. Period. A woman's claim to having been sexually assaulted was mismanaged here, and that is unacceptable.

So sad for the victim......

I can not believe that there are people on here blaming the victim..for having mental health issues no less. What does her history have to do with what he did? Her history cannot change reality, and the fact that the police did not even bother talking to the accused for weeks sounds so fitting these days. I bet he went to the very back burner as soon as they heard that he was a football player!
Wait until it's your daughter and see if you can say something like, "Oh she had a heartless father, I'm sure it's her fault!"