An Introduction

This year, there have been 214 total sexual misconduct violations through the Dean of Students at Georgia State. Every 73 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted, and 11.2% of all students experience rape or sexual assault, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.

In May, three women, Michelle Tisdale, Cabria De Chabert and Alyssa Edgar, together came out publicly on Twitter, each with a case of sexual misconduct through the Dean of Students against the same student, Anthony Jones.

What followed was a massive discussion across social media within the Georgia State community about sexual assault and how prevalent it is. Many women came forward with their own stories publicly, and the Dean of Students reports there have since been several cases reported as a result of the discussion on social media.

This is the story of these three women — followed by a deep dive into how sexual misconduct is handled at Georgia State.

ABOUT THIS STORY

This story is a long-form investigation, which is told in greater length than a traditional story by The Signal and which required weeks of investigation, interviews and document acquisition. 

It contains an “as told to” element in which three women share their stories from their perspective with the writers of this story.

It is important to note that while several individuals use the term “sexual assault,” this is in their own words of what happened and does not indicate a criminal charge of sexual assault. As well, a case reviewed by the Dean of Students does not indicate a criminal charge either. This story includes graphic depictions of sexual assault, first-person retellings from survivor experiences and use of profanity. In order to preserve the raw elements of this topic, we chose not to filter the individual’s emotions and detail.

The illustrations for this story represent the three women that came forward and a fourth: for all of the women who have joined the conversation and shared their stories. These women in the illustration are a visual, not realistic, representation.

 

STORY BY

Ada Wood, Editor-in-Chief

Brooklyn Valera, Managing Editor

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

Amanda Dixon-Shropshire, Staff Artist

PAGE DESIGN AND DATA VISUALIZATION BY

Ada Wood, Editor-in-Chief

The Full Story

If you’re going to read this story, we suggest you read it this way. It’ll take you about 20 minutes to read the story from start to finish, but this way you won’t miss any valuable context from previous sections.

The Three Women that Started a Conversation

Three women, Michelle Tisdale, Cabria De Chabert and Alyssa Edgar, came out publicly on Twitter about their Dean of Students Sexual Misconduct Cases. This is their story of what they experienced physically and emotionally from the incident to the process of reporting.

The Dean of Students, GSUPD and the Accused Respond

After three women reported another student for sexual misconduct, this is what the Dean of Students decided on their case, how GSUPD was involved and how the accused student responded.

The Radical Coalition of Survivors and a Letter of Demands

On June 1, a letter of demands was sent to administrators and faculty across Georgia State signed by the “Radical Coalition of Survivors.” The letter includes a list of failures and demands. Read how Georgia State responded.

A Case and a Denial

After seeing the other three women come forward on Twitter, Kaylah Oates-Marable followed suit by sharing her story as well. However, Trequavius Thomas denies that he ever touched her inappropriately. Read both sides to the same story.

The Numbers — Sexual Misconduct Cases at Georgia State This Year

There were 180 Title IX cases that were reported to the Dean of Students between 2019 and 2020. Here’s the breakdown of what those violations include — and how they’ve increased over time.

Prevention and Campus Resources

Georgia State’s Student Health Promotions provides resources on preventing sexual violence and for survivors, Student Victim Assistance provides a list of resources on how to report and address the impacts of sexual misconduct.