Anderson was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman at a 2016 off-campus party his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, threw under his leadership as frat president. During the party,
Anderson took the woman, who was intoxicated after receiving a drugged drink from him, outside to a “secluded part of the grounds” where he then sexually assaulted as while she was gagged and choked. The victim lost consciousness during the attack, at which point Anderson left the scene, leaving her nearly choking to death on her own vomit.
Anderson was initially brought up on for these alleged crimes, and charged him with “unlawful restraint” instead, for which the office recommended three years of probation, a $400 fine, and counseling.
“If a person can’t get out of bed, something is making them exhausted. If a student isn’t writing papers, there’s some aspect of the assignment that they can’t do without help. If an employee misses deadlines constantly, something is making organization and deadline-meeting difficult. Even if a person is actively choosing to self-sabotage, there’s a reason for it — some fear they’re working through, some need not being met, a lack of self-esteem being expressed. People do not choose to fail or disappoint. No one wants to feel incapable, apathetic, or ineffective. If you look at a person’s action (or inaction) and see only laziness, you are missing key details. There is always an explanation. There are always barriers. Just because you can’t see them, or don’t view them as legitimate, doesn’t mean they’re not there. Look harder. Maybe you weren’t always able to look at human behavior this way. That’s okay. Now you are. Give it a try.”
(And a footnote I didn’t see explicitly covered in the article: laziness still doesn’t exist when it is you yourself making no progress and not knowing why. You deserve that respect and consideration, too, even from yourself.)
