Turner may have never been prosecuted, let alone convicted, had it not been for the actions of two graduate students who saw him on top of a motionless body in the shadows and — instead of just riding by on their bicycles — decided to stop and do something about it. Peter Jonsson and Carl-Fredrik Arndt yelled at Turner, who took off running. They chased him, caught up with him and tripped him, and then held him until police arrived. They’re true heroes, but I wish they were the more ordinary part of this case. We should all stand up and speak out whenever we see sexual assault or sexual harassment. In February , the president of a fraternity at Cornell University in New York was arrested on charges of rape. In March , the president of a fraternity at Baylor University in Texas was charged with raping a woman at a fraternity party and then leaving her unconscious body lying on the ground. In April , a football player at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee was found guilty of raping a woman who was unconscious. The trials of three other football players allegedly involved in the assault are still pending.

In May , a group of white high school football players in Idaho were charged with sexually assaulting a Black, disabled teammate with a coat hanger. And honestly, that’s just a smattering of many, many examples. No, not all male athletes are rapists, and no, not all fraternity parties are rape scenes. But the toxic masculinity that often pervades sports and fraternity culture bears some scrutiny.