Today’s Staff Editorial
Trigger warning: This editorial contains content that can provoke strong emotional responses, as it deals with the topic of sexual assault.
It’s a heartbreaking, infuriating truth that one of five American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape, according to a 2011 government survey. For college women, that number has been estimated at a staggering one in four. At this university, home to more than 17,000 female students, that means more than 4,000 likely will be victimized.
But it doesn’t need to be that way, a fact that campus activists — and, finally, administrators — clearly realize. Thanks to a new sexual assault prevention pilot program and much-needed updates to its sexual misconduct policy, this university is taking the necessary steps to combat rape culture.
The pilot program, Violence Intervention and Prevention, aims to educate students on issues of consent and sexual assault as well as empower survivors to report their assaults. Beginning in late September or early October, the program will debut to 300 to 600 students, and the University Senate is poised to vote on a bill requiring all incoming freshmen to complete the course.
If the senate ratifies the bill, it could play a pivotal role in protecting likely the university’s most sexually exploited population. Experts consider the first six weeks of college a “red zone” — a period when freshman women are most likely to experience an attempted or completed rape. By proactively educating students when they first join the campus community, the university could head off sexual assault before it occurs.
The university’s efforts haven’t stopped there, either. In a larger administrative culture seemingly predicated on victim-blaming and cover-ups, a revised sexual misconduct policy may mean the difference between silence and justice.
For the first time in university history, the policy now addresses the issue of consent, defining it as a “knowing, voluntary and affirmatively communicated willingness to participate in a particular sexual activity or behavior.”
The university’s willingness to forge ahead on the issue and revamp its legislation is commendable, and it comes as a sharp contrast to other institutions’ handling of sexual assault allegations. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been mired in media scrutiny after accusations of underreporting rapes and a high-profile honor court case in which a female student faced expulsion after alleging a rape. A Naval Academy midshipman has shaken the school’s reputation after accusing three former football players of raping her.
This university’s decision to focus on helping victims and educating its students proves a far better indication of character than hushing up allegations to protect its name. And with other recent developments, administrators appear committed solely to cracking down on perpetrators and helping victims through the healing process.
The Code of Student Conduct expansion, which allows the Office of Student Conduct to issue sanctions for off-campus misconduct, will empower administrators’ ability to pursue justice in assaults committed outside the university’s boundaries.
Additionally, $500,000 in funding toward the University Health Center Counseling Center will contribute to the university’s resources for sexual assault victims. With 11 new psychiatrist, counselor and psychologist positions, the university will offer more outlets for victims than ever before.
This editorial board applauds the university’s commitment to action against sexual assault. With activists’ and administrators’ continued commitment to education and justice for survivors, the university can take further decisive steps in combating rape culture.
