The local NPR affiliate interviewed an incoming college freshman female student and her mother as they prepared for the opening of school. Instead of happy chattering about the new experience awaiting her, the student was concerned by the probability she would be sexually assaulted, or the victim of other varieties of violent crime. Are these genuine concerns or paranoid fears stirred up female activists and a hyper-active media?

Sadly, a little of both. The statistics say 25 percent of college females are sexually attacked, a statistic that requires a grain of salt tempering the statistics by deleting incidents reported by females that follow-up investigations reveal were exaggerated. Across the country males have had their lives negatively affected – or ruined – by girls who report consensual sexual liaisons as assault or rape to exact revenge, knowing that simply bringing a charge stains a man for life. Or cases arise out of remorse, covering up unladylike behavior with a patina of outrage. And, of course, the age-old role of alcohol is invoked, a double-edged message that conveys, “I was drunk and he took advantage of me.” (I am forced to add an old joke. What is the mating call of the Southern co-ed? “Ya’all, I’m so drunk”!)

No matter the actual facts in these cases. A police report that doesn’t corroborate an accusation is rarely the end of the matter. Instead, buoyed by righteous lessons taught in women’s studies courses, the alleged victim turns to the college. Now schools are burdened with acting as the justice system, a role traditionally relegated to student courts. But the students dragooned into these roles discover that the truth does not matter when it comes to l’amour.

Dissatisfied with the results in the nation’s system of justice and time-honored student-run courts, female activists appeal to the sisterhood in Congress, or local government lamenting the system is unfair and demanding more be done, especially prevention. The Feds get involved and have passed laws and regulations requiring colleges to implement “policies” and create costly infrastructure and awareness programs. The result is that going to college, formerly a joyful expectation, is fraught with anxiety. Another reason not to go at all.