July 28, 2012

It has been an agonizing few weeks. Our Survivors Group has been meeting once a week. The Group displays a wonderful degree of kindness and support for each other. We are all damaged in different degrees. We have had some opportunities to tell our stories to each other. There is so much pain and heartbreak in them. So much betrayal. It's hard to truly and fully accept the acts that were inflicted on us.

We have written two letters to Horace Mann. The first was so positive and contructive, kind even.
We have still received no reponse at all. We wrote a second letter that expressed our dismay about receiving no acknowlegement at all.

Five of us were intereviewed by CBS on Monday, July 16th. We spoke for about an hour and answered questions from Amy Dardashtian, who seemed very well informed and compassionate. The segment broadcast this past Thursday, July 26th. I thought it was good, but really only scratched the surface. So many of our most significant comments were omitted in the editing. Our main message was our dismay about the non-reponsiveness of the HM Board of Trustees.

I want to reach out again to other victims of sexual abuse by teachers and staff of Horace Mann. I am absolutely sure there are many of you out there who have felt unable to come forward. We need most desperately to know as much as possible of the full scope of this horror. And we need to know you and hear of your experiences and how they have altered the course of your life. Please write to me at samuelsurvivor@gmail.com

I want to express my deepest gratitude to the HM Alumni who have taken up our cause. It helps so much to know that you care, that you believe in us and that you want to help.