"I'd say it was a triumph for a victim to beable to endure the rigors of a criminal judiciarysystem," Murray-Brown said. "It is in no way asign of weakness."

UHS rape counselor Nadja B. Gould said shecould "completely understand" the victim's desireto avoid reliving the rape on the witness stand.

Because the victim has experienced trauma thatsomeone who has not been through a rape cannotunderstand, she should have "control over theprocess," said Anna M. Baldwin '00, a member ofthe Coalition Against Sexual Violence, which wasformed last spring after Elster's indictment toimprove rape awareness on campus.

Despite some students' opinions that the victimshould have brought the case to court, Abder said,"We should be very, very reluctant to put anyblame on the survivor.'

Abder and Baldwin said they were hoping thecase would progress to trial but said they wouldnot presume to advise the victim.

"This is her life. This isn't our life," Abdersaid. "It really is a decision that we can't makefor her. It's not our right."

Rabia S. Belt '01, also a member of theCoalition, said the Harvard community shouldrefrain from making strong judgements in thiscase.

"Our judgement places too much of a burden onthe actions of the victim, not the actions of theperpetrator," Belt said. "She didn't do anythingwrong. He did."

Gould said the Harvard community does have aright to be interested in the resolution of therape case because the violence took place oncampus. She also said she hopes the victim willserve as an example to all women struggling withvictimization from rape.

Female leaders said victims should learn tostop blaming themselves for rape and instead lookfor reform in the legal system.

"To me, this case exemplifies the failings ofour legal system," said Lamelle D. Rawlins '99,former president of the Undergraduate Council."The legal system failed [the victim,] and it'sfailing a lot of survivors now."

Everyone interviewed said they hope thepublicity from this case will encourage otherwomen to file reports of rape and will provokechanges in rape policy on campus.

"The visibility of this case hit home the factthat rape happens at Harvard," Belt said. "Thegeneral student population has a tendency not tothink about that."

For these student leaders, the key lies in rapeawareness.

"We should educate ourselves about thepervasiveness of rape on campus and thepsychological damage that it causes. Whensurvivors come forward, we should be supportive,"Belt said. "We can also work on making resourcesfor rape survivors, like Response and UHS, morevisible. Hopefully, we can also form a women'scenter as a more centralized resource."

Currently, the undergraduate-run rape hotlineResponse, UHS and HUPD all offer support tovictims of rape.

The students on the Coalition are working withadministrators to increase rape education oncampus, especially during Orientation Week. Thisyear, incoming students received sexual harassmentbriefings from rape crisis experts that werelonger and more detailed than briefings inprevious years.

Also, the Coalition encouraged theadministration to print rape crisis numbers on thebacks of the dining hall identification cardcarriers.

As for the administration's policy towardconvicted rapists, most people interviewed saidHarvard should refuse Elster re-admittance.

Rawlins said she hopes the college willconsider "mandatory expulsion for self-admittedrapists" to assure that no more women on campusare at risk