After the sex abuse scandal emerged at Penn State last fall, university officials said it became obvious that sexual assault and harassment should be the topic for the campus’ annual safety forum.
During the forum hosted by the University Senate Campus Affairs Committee, a panel of officials discussed the services available to victims of sexual assault and harassment to help them heal from their experiences and the options they have for bringing their perpetrators to justice. The event – which featured University Police Chief David Mitchell, Campus Compliance Officer Roger Candelaria, Director of Student Conduct Andrea Goodwin, Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Program Coordinator Allison Bennett and campus counselor Sarah Mebane – is the basis for a campus safety report that will be presented to the Senate Executive Committee.
But during the question-and-answer segment, the subject turned to what several attendees said is an ongoing example of abuse and harrassment on the campus. Last year, allegations of sexual abuse and harassment in Facilities Management and Residential Facilities surfaced, which several employees of those departments said have not yet disappeared.
Tim Baldauf-Lenschen, a member of Justice at Maryland – a student group formed to advocate for better treatment of campus workers – told the panel a zero-tolerance policy for abuse needs to be implemented to prevent sexual assault and harassment before it occurs. Black Staff and Faculty Association President Solomon Comissiong also addressed the crowd to describe how he has met with more than 20 women on university staff with stories of abuse.
Although campus affairs committee chairwoman Marcy Marinelli said the topic of the forum was coincidental topic of the forum was coincidental and was chosen in response to the sexual abuse at Penn State rather than events on this campus, several members of the panel said the attendees’ concerns speak to the broader need for more awareness within the university community.
“It’s not effective to have a policy in place that says, ‘we’re not allowed to have this,'” Bennett said. “It speaks to the need for more clear messages that we have a zero tolerance policy.”
Junior family science and psychology major Lizzie Sauber, who works as a SARPP peer educator, said education is key to preventing assaults before they happen. Too often, she said, people focus on what a victim could have done to stop a rape after it occurs.
“We really need to shift the focus to how can we educate on what consent is and how bystanders can intervene before something happens,” she said. “That makes it a community issue rather than a women’s issue or a victim’s issue.”
Bennett said the university tries to educate as many students as possible about preventative measures. SARPP holds events for the athletics department; freshmen, graduate and transfer student orientations.
“The more support and access we have to give those educational messages as often as possible, the more effective it is,” she said. “It’s a real, prevalent, concrete issue of our student body. We need to really target education in the entire community.”
The panel also discussed students’ options for prosecuting an attacker. Goodwin said students can take their case to the Office of Student Conduct to see their legal options, with no pressure to press charges.
Mitchell added that while police do not force or pressure anyone to report sexual assault, their goal is to hold whoever committed the crime accountable and prevent it from occurring in the future.Reporting incidents helps facilitate this, he said.
“What I’ve tried to make clear to our gals here on campus, and our guys too, is if you become a victim, we will not let you be victimized twice,” he said. “You will not be the offender here; you are the victim. We will stand with you through the entire process.”
Medical and psychological care is also available to victims, several panel members said. Even if students do not choose to press charges against their attacker, sometimes it can be helpful simply to have someone to talk to, Mebane said.
“For many survivors, it’s something that’s hidden, something that’s private, something they don’t share with the people in their lives,” she said.
kirkwood@umdbk.com
