I was an English major, and it's certainly possible to receive a thorough education without having to read explicit rape scenes, and the example of ancient Greek and Roman texts doesn't really apply since those works aren't in English (those would be read in Classics courses, not English courses - at least at my university). The topic of rape is probably unavoidable, but specific scenes? I don't think it's exactly crucial to include them. And it's even possible to read quite a bit of Ovid without having to read rape scenes. So if a professor were to say, "This story contains a passage about rape, which we will be discussing next lecture," I don't see how it would be so bad for a student or two to ask to read a different story and write a paper on it instead of attending that particular lecture.