Lincoln University President Robert R. Jennings sent out an apology on Tuesday for remarks he made insinuating that women lied about rape, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“My message was intended to emphasize personal responsibility and mutual respect,” Jennings wrote in his apology, according to the Inquirer. “I apologize for my choice of words. I certainly did not intend to hurt or offend anyone.”
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However, his words didn’t do much to placate some, including the mother of one sophomore who said that the apology was a political move. “If it didn’t run in the Philadelphia Inquirer, I’m not sure that apology would have been written,” Sharon Roseboro told the Inquirer.
However, in his note, Jennings insisted that the university would continue to “reinforce … commitment to your safety and to answer any questions you would have,” and also made a point to note that he would “choose [his] words more carefully.”
In September, while addressing the university’s All-Women’s Convocation, Jennings told the women gathered, “We have, we had, on this campus last semester three cases of young women who after having done whatever they did with young men and then it didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to turn out, guess what they did? They went to Public Safety and said, ‘He raped me.’”
The 63-year-old, who has been president of the HBCU since January 2012, also tackled respectability when addressing the women, urging them not to put themselves “in a situation that would cause you to be trying to explain something that really needs no explanation had you not put yourself in that situation,” the Inquirer revealed.
“Men treat you, treat women, the way women allow us to treat them. … We will use you up if you allow us to use you up,” he added, opining that men will “marry the girl with the long dress on.”
Read more at the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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