Friday, July 28, 2017

COMMENTARY -- Who is Megan Rondini and Why Does She Matter? - Donald V. Watkins


https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins/posts/10213707372020719

COMMENTARY----
Who is Megan Rondini and Why Does She Matter?
By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on July 28, 2017
Yesterday, the Bunn Family unleashed a full-page attack ad in the Tuscaloosa News trashing Megan Rondini and her family. As portrayed in the ad, Megan was a young woman who made an impulsive decision to have a one-night stand with a man she did not know. The Bunns say Megan's text messages on the night in question demonstrated that the sexual encounter between Megan and her accused rapist, Terry Jackson "Sweet T" Bunn, Jr., was consensual.
According to the Bunn family, this very thoughtful, highly disciplined, UA honors student, who did not socialize with Sweet T while he was trolling for women inside of Innisfree Irish Pub, suddenly threw herself at him after she left Innisfree. They also suggested that Megan was lusting after Sweet T's body.
With their attack ad, the Bunns finally said publicly what they have been whispering in private circles for over a month. The ad is a lawyer's spin on a very bad set of facts for Sweet T. The reality is this:
After escaping from Sweet T's locked, second story bedroom following the sexual encounter, Megan immediately went to a local hospital and reported the encounter as a rape. She proceeded directly to the Sheriff's Department after submitting to a rape kit examination and giving a urine sample. There, she formally accused Sweet T of rape.
Law enforcement officials deliberately avoided testing the forensic evidence that would have proved or disproved the presence of a "date rape" drug in Megan's body. This gross omission of duty greatly benefitted Sweet T, especially since the total body of evidence suggested that the sexual encounter was drug-induced and fit a pattern of prior rape reports involving Sweet T.
Megan committed suicide following her tragic ordeal with Sweet T and her inexcusable mistreatment by law enforcement officials and The University of Alabama.
In light of the Bunn family's attack ad on Megan and her loving family, I think it is appropriate to properly introduce Megan and her family to my readers. In doing so, I will begin with Megan's obituary.
"Megan Elizabeth Rondini, 21, of Austin, Texas died early Friday morning, February 26, 2016, in Dallas, Texas where she was a Junior, planning on majoring in biological sciences at Southern Methodist University through the Dedman College. She had recently transferred from The University of Alabama, Honors College where she was majoring in biology. Megan was a talented student and a scholarship recipient at both schools. She was very active within her sorority Kappa Alpha Theta and truly where she found much love and established some beautiful friendships. Megan had many passions, including animal activism, CASA, mentoring under-privileged children in Tuscaloosa and working on research at both [The] University of Alabama and SMU….
As a lifelong lover of all animals, Megan has always been interested in pursuing a career in Veterinary Sciences. Before leaving for college, she had competed in Hunter/Jumper equestrian riding events and had owned and cared for horses on two occasions, Joey and Zasman. She continued to enjoy horseback riding when possible and experiencing new cultures.
Megan had already managed to travel to four continents, exploring China, Argentina, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Austria, England, Canada, the Cayman Islands and Ecuador with both family and friends….".
Megan's body was cremated. At her memorial services, the family announced that Megan's ashes would be scattered at what she called her "happy place," Estancia Peuma Hue, Bariloche – Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi – Argentina.
Megan's obituary describes a young woman who had her act together and her future planned. She was a well-traveled and very intelligent woman. She was a good and decent human being.
Megan was NOT some desperate woman from a poor, dysfunctional family background who needed Sweet T or his family's money to escape a bad home situation. Megan was clearly not looking for a "Sugar Daddy" in her life. She did not need one. Megan came from a great and accomplished family. Like the Bunn family, Megan's parents contributed scholarship money to The University of Alabama, albeit in a much smaller amount. Unlike Sweet T, the Rondini family exudes class and character.
Megan did NOT need Sweet T in her life for any reason. Megan's life before Sweet T was clearly a well-lived and well-planned one. Sweet T stole Megan's joy and future. In doing so, she became the accused; her pleas for help from the law enforcement community and her beloved university were ignored; and she was left with a venereal disease from the man she accused of raping her.
Sweet T is back in the local bars and on the hunt again. The Bunn family, top law enforcement officials, and The University of Alabama's Board of Trustees and President are actively protecting him. Innocent women and young female college students in Tuscaloosa remain at risk of having a nightmare sexual encounter with Sweet T -- I call it the Megan Rondini experience.
This is why Megan Rondini matters.
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