Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, wrote about her experience with sexual assault for the first time on Monday.
In an essay for Jezebel, Weingarten explained that the Rolling Stone article on rape at the University of Virginia — and the potentially negative impact the story’s unraveling could have — prompted her to speak out about her experience.
“When Rolling Stone issued its retraction, my greatest fear was that we would once again have a curtain of silence, where young women feel too afraid to share their truth. And while I have no interest in reliving the experience or pinning culpability on anyone, that curtain of silence is why I am sharing my story today publicly for the first time,” Weingarten wrote.
The summer after her junior year, Weingarten had an internship in Ohio. She met a man at a Shabbat dinner, who invited her to his apartment for dinner later in the week. When she arrived, he tried to rape her, according to Weingarten. She managed to escape, but she explained that the “emotional scarring was deep.”
“I didn’t report it. I thought it was my fault. I thought I should have known better. I should have been smarter,” she wrote.
Weingarten said she was inspired by the many women who have shared their stories and pledged to work with university employees to address sexual assault on college campuses.
“Ending sexual assault on campus is going to take many partners—students, administrators, faculty, staff and their unions,” she wrote.
“But more than policy, we must all help change our culture,” she continued. “If we want to change that culture and combat sexual assault, we must take it on together. We must speak out together.”
