I suppose that because this article is in the “Uncensored” section of this magazine, I can be as harsh and angry as I would like to without the need to maintain a certain level of professionalism and poise. However, as stated in my previous article, “Hook-up Culture in Co-ed Sports: A Boat Club Case Study”, I am not angry with Boat Club. Rather, as time goes on, I am simply disappointed.

In said article, I interviewed a former member of the St Andrews Boat Club about her experience being sexually abused by one of her male teammates, and the complicated process she underwent in attempting to report this man. I argued that hook-up culture is not to blame for this experience, but that hook-up culture can breed negative consequences – particularly for women – and this necessitates protection of female athletes by Saint Sport and the University. Prior to writing this previous article, I met with the new director of Boat Club to discuss how female athletes could feel safer on the team. We discussed the implementation of consent training and better-defined reporting procedures into the Boat Club constitution; it was an extremely productive conversation, and for the first time I felt like someone was listening to me. The new director told me that we would be in touch and he would keep me updated on his progress. Then it went radio silent.

This meeting took place at the end of September. Almost exactly a month later, I published my article for N/A which drew Boat Club’s attention back to the issue I had presented in September. The feedback was positive – I had female athletes thanking me for writing my article, and male athletes telling me it made them think about problems in co-ed sports they had never considered before. The president of Boat Club even pulled me aside to tell me she was going to look through the rowing constitution to figure out how we could make procedural change; again, I finally felt heard. Then again, it went silent.

At the end of November, we had our Boat Club Christmas Dinner. A week before the dinner, I emailed the director of rowing to ask about his progress since our meeting two months ago, to which I received no reply. I figured he had been busy and I didn’t think too much of it. At the dinner, I approached him to thank him for taking the protection of female athletes more serious than the former director. Before I could say anything, he immediately apologized for not replying to my email and said he had been busy, but he would get around to it as soon as he could. It’s been six weeks since that dinner; he has not responded.

In my previous article, I adamantly asserted that the girl I interviewed and I did not blame Boat Club for the sexual abuse she endured while on the team. I argued that in light of my former teammate’s experience, Boat Club, Saint Sport and the University need to be proactive in their protection of female athletes; her story was an opportunity for them to step up to the plate and show women that their safety is a priority. Boat Club has failed to rise to the occasion. They failed a year ago when they dragged my teammate through hell and back, and they are failing now to right this wrong. At the beginning of this article, I said I wasn’t angry; however, as my email to the director rots in his inbox, I feel my disappointment festering into outrage.

Boat Club, Saint Sport and the University of St Andrews continue to uphold a culture which rapes women then forces them to be silent. This institution can pretend to lead the charge of feminism and societal change, but it always has been – and always will be – a boy’s club. This is a university where rugby players are notorious for being rapists and members of wealthy, male secret societies protect each other against truthful sexual assault, abuse and rape allegations. It is exhausting. It is enraging. It is disheartening. I don’t know what else to do; how can you call a university to action when that university continuously refuses to listen? While I will continue to write about the female experience at St Andrews in the hope that it will spur change, I do not trust this University to actively protect women and fight for their right to a peaceful, safe education. It is up to us female students to fight for ourselves, to be the change we wish to see at this school. This article is not a call to action to the University; it is a call to you.