Juan Eguiguren Won’t Walk at Villanova Graduation. Students Say That’s Not Good Enough
They're planning a major protest for Saturday. It's no coincidence that Saturday is Accepted Students Day.
Villanova University students Aly Sivinski, Hope Frantz, Cory Goldstein, Brian Messalti, Marisa Canepa, Akintade Asalu, and Emma Komoroski prepare for Saturday’s protest about Juan Eguiguren and sexual assault at Villanova (photo courtesy Mawutor Fiavey & Dee Alabede)
UPDATE 4/9 1:15pm: The victim of this sexual assault at Villanova University just spoke out for the first time. Go here to read her full statement.
ORIGINAL:
“I don’t have enough fingers on my hands to represent all of the seniors graduating with me who have been accused of sexual assault on campus,” says Aly Sivinski, a graduating senior at Villanova University who is involved in planning a major protest for this Saturday on campus. “And, no, I’m not exaggerating. During my first two weeks at Villanova — I was a transfer student — I met five girls who had been sexually assaulted. They told me about their experiences. And they told me not because they wanted to or to advocate. They told me for safety reasons. They thought it was their responsibility to warn me.”
Sivinski’s comments come during a trying week at Villanova University. The campus is in upheaval over a 2022 sexual assault that happened to a female Villanova student in university dorm.
Elijah Katzenell, then a Villanova student, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the young woman. He left the school. His roommate, Andrew Polun, assisted in the sexual assault. He faced no charges and is no longer at Villanova.
Elijah Katzenell’s photo on the Pennsylvania Megan’s Law sex offender registry
Katzenell’s friend and fellow Villanova student Juan Eguiguren took video of part of the incident. Eguiguren remains enrolled at Villanova and was scheduled to walk at graduation along with the victim next month, something the victim demanded not happen. An uproar came this week after we published this story about her demand, and then again after a Change.org petition against Eguiguren went viral; on Tuesday, there were a couple of developments.
First, after staying mute on the subject for far too long, Villanova University finally issued the following statement:
[W]e are writing today in connection with the recent Philadelphia Magazine article and the understandable concerns that this situation raises for our community. We hear the concerns surrounding the harm done to the survivor and the wider community. We are actively working to address the situation at hand relating to Commencement and are seeking and outcome that will offer care and respect for the survivor and ensure that the survivor can participate fully in Commencement.
That statement was met on social media with a lot of skepticism. It wasn’t an apology. It was overly vague. And it didn’t really mean much other than You can stop flooding our inboxes and voicemail… we are looking into it.
Soon thereafter, we learned through Eguiguren’s attorney that Eguiguren has voluntarily chosen to sit graduation out. Students like Sivinski were already planning a protest on campus for this Saturday, and they are unmoved by Eguiguren’s decision.
The Juan Eguiguren petition on Change.org as of Wednesday morning
That action is going to look like students with signs and pamphlets containing information about this specific case, as well as facts about sexual assault at Villanova in general. And this will all happen on Saturday, which happens to be Villanova’s Accepted Students Day, when many prospective students and their families will be on campus deciding if Villanova is the right school for them.
“They need to know that the school will not help them,” Sivinski tells Philly Mag. “They need to make an informed decision about where they go to college and not just accept as fact the storyline that Villanova will peddle to them.”
Sivinski shared a list of demands with Philly Mag that SAPA is presenting to Villanova administration. They appear in the flyer below:
Student organizers are not satisfied now that Eguiguren has removed himself from the graduation ceremony. They want Villanova to make it clear that he is not welcome there — and to meet those other demands.
“We’re expecting a huge turnout,” says Sivinski, who insists that the protest will be done “by the books” and that they have a contingency plan should security force them off campus. “Your article absolutely fired people up. There is a lot of passion out here right now.”
As for that petition against Eguiguren… As of Monday morning, it bore less than 700 signatures. By Tuesday morning, that number stood at 12,554. Now? 24,045.
