George Will Tells Miami University Students He Supports Help For 'Real Rape' Victims

George Will Supports Helping People Who Are 'Real Rape' Victims

Speaking to Miami University students in Oxford, Ohio, on Wednesday night, conservative political commentator George Will said that he supports helping those who are "real survivors of real rape," according to a student questioner who asked him about his position on the subject.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist was paid $48,000 through a private donation to speak at Miami, a few months after he inflamed sexual assault survivors, U.S. senators and many students by suggesting that being a rape victim on campus was a "coveted status." Will has stood by his comments about sexual assault, suggesting that widely cited research on the issue is incorrect.

One sexual assault survivor who attended Will's speech spoke anonymously with local NBC station WLWT about a question she put to Will about the cost of treating rape.

"He replied in a series of non-finished sentences at which point I said, 'I have specifically received treatment and is it worth it?' and he said, 'Yes, it is, but only for real survivors of real rape,' and it was very diminishing and deterring my ability to talk about it," the survivor told WLWT.

Will did not immediately respond to The Huffington Post's request for comment.

Cameras were not allowed during the Q&A portion, according to WXIX, but other attendees also noted on Twitter similar remarks Will made during the speech:

After Media Matters called public attention to the speaking engagement, Miami students and faculty began organizing to protest against it. More than 1,000 students and faculty signed an open letter denouncing the school for inviting Will, and at least 100 students showed up to protest outside the event.

"I think we could have spent the $48,000 on far better things and far better speakers," Madelyn Detloff, a gender and sexuality studies professor, told WXIX.

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