+
KANSAN.COM
NEWS
-14
Event focuses on sexual assault reporting process
LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
About 40 students gathered in the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center Thursday night to hear from University administrators and talk with them about sexual assault on campus.
The event was the first of many "University Conversations" that have been planned by Student Senate this year. Student Body President Jessie Pringle said the conversations are part of the senate's outreach initiative to involve students in important University issues.
The conversation featured a panel of student administrators that included Tammara Durham, vice provost of Student Affairs; Joshua Jones, interim director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access (IOA); Lance Watson, director of Student Conduct and Community Standards; and Kathy Rose-Mockry, executive director of the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity.
Panelists were asked a series of questions by Pringle and asked to comment on the current climate surrounding sexual assault, including student involvement, awareness and what action the University is taking to handle it.
One of the major actions being taken by the University, Durham said, is the creation of a Coordinating Committee. The committee is designed to consolidate the efforts being taken by different groups on campus and turn them into a consistent, coherent effort.
"We know that there are group programs with work being
done on this issue, but it's being done in pockets," Durham said. "The Coordinating Committee would promote and give a consistent message, it will create training, it will facilitate, it will provide us with a better idea of what we're doing, and then we'll assess it and then we will see the gaps. That way we will see the ways we need to improve and reach different pockets of the campus, because right now that happens in a lot of different ways."
There will be a variety of University groups and offices with representatives on the committee, including the Emily Taylor Center, Student Housing, IOA, the Health Education Resource Office (HERO), the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), the Sexual Trauma and Abuse Care Center, the Willow Domestic Violence Center, Student Conduct and Community Standards, and the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity. The committee will be able to communicate who is doing what in their respective groups so that any gaps in education or outreach can be addressed.
Jones said he hopes the committee will provide a clearer path for dealing with sexual assault on campus.
"I think we have all learned that folks are doing a lot of the same thing, but they're not really talking all the time," Jones said. "Part of this coordinating group is seeing how can we centralize what we're doing right now and set up a safe path for success."
is to unify the efforts against sexual assault and create a clearer message for students on campus.
Durham said the first Coordinating Committee meeting took place earlier this week. Rose-Mockry said the purpose
cooking out for one another is so crucial ... It's not being afraid if you're down at the Hawk and something doesn't feel right. It's asking someone 'What can I do to help you out here?' It's the little things."
LANCE WATSON Director, Student Conduct and Community Standards
"When things aren't coordinated and consistent, we sort of get at [sexual assault], but we don't really, because not everybody has the same information," Rose-Mockry said.
Rose-Mockry also said she believes a coordination of different groups on campus will make it easier to reach those on campus who are hard to access.
"So I think we have a real advantage with this new center to be able to be efficient and reach out to those groups that none of us have been reaching," Rose-Mockry said. "I don't think it means we are all going to be cookie cutter in the way our presentations are going to be provided, but it means the core messages that need to be included will be."
Although formal measures like the creation of the Coordinating Committee are being taken to prevent sexual assault, the panelists Thursday night emphasized student involvement is still critical to successful prevention.
Watson said an important part of student involvement is bystander intervention.
"Looking out for one another is so crucial," Watson said. "It's not being afraid if you're down at the Hawk and something doesn't feel right. It's asking someone 'What can I do to help you out here?' It's the little things."
Jones agreed that bystander intervention is an important part of addressing sexual assault, both on-campus and off-campus.
"It's about educating people on how they can get involved and what they can do," Jones said. "It's not just knowing that they can intervene, but knowing the techniques of how to intervene. It's knowing those red flags that are really key because these are people you see everyday and these are those small changes you need to catch onto."
Jones said one of the biggest things that would help University administrators combat sexual assault is student feedback.
"Every year, IOA does a climate survey," Jones said. "Response rates are fairly low on it. I would like to encourage people to take that survey and let us know what's on. I'm not in the same places you are. I'm not at the Hawk, I'm not downtown, I'm not where students are all the time. So I think that feedback is really important for us and gives us a sense of what we can do better."
In addition to issues within the community, the panel also discussed several federal bills currently in Congress that could potentially affect the way sexual assault cases are handled at the University.
The Safe Campus Act would prevent universities from looking into sexual assault cases until the victim reports the crime to police. When a student goes to the university with a complaint regarding sexual assault, they are not required to file a police report unless they want to. The Safe Campus Act would make a police report mandatory.
Jones said this bill is "very troubling"
"Not only does it require that the University report what they know to police jurisdiction, but it then tells the campus that it cannot take action unless the complainant goes through the police," Jones said. "I think with this you're going to see reporting drop drastically."
Jones said forcing a complainant to go through the legal system would not only be lengthy but traumatizing as well.
"It's not an easy process; it's a lot of times longer than 60 days," Jones said. "Generally as a prosecutor I would probably have to revictimize the accuser at least five times."
Currently, when the University receives a student complaint about sexual assault, the IOA office offers the complainant several avenues for dealing with the situation, including counseling, treatment and, if requested, police intervention. The new bill would restrict those student resources and give the case directly to police.
"I think it tips the control out of out the hands of the person that is making the complaint," Jones said.
Watson said Student Conduct administrators have been lobbying in the House and Senate to prevent this bill from passing. Durham encouraged students to write their state representatives and let them know that this bill will compromise a system that protects students.
Durham said she believes the evening went well and was glad to see students turn out for it. She said hopes students were able to take something away, even if it was as small as speaking up.
"Hopefully it snowballs into something else that snowballs into their engagement around the issue," Durham said. "It could even be tonight that they step into a situation, that they could maybe intervene."
Pringle said she thinks the conversation showed that students are taking an active role in the community and are eager to talk about the issues on campus.
"Students drive the conversation, and students really help make change, and students are the reasons that we have resources now and we are getting better resources and that we as a community are taking this issue seriously," Pringle said.
Pringle said although there are no set plans for another University Conversation, it's definitely something Student Senate will look to host again. Pringle said topics for the next conversation could potentially be a tobacco-free campus or gun policies. Whatever the topic, Pringle said it's important that students are able to directly interact with administrators and talk about change.
"I think there's a lot of things we can talk about with some really awesome people," Pringle said.
HANNAH EDELMAN/KANSAN Joshua Jones, interim director of the office of Institutional Opportunity and Access speaks at the Campus Conversations on Nov. 5.
HANNAH EDELMAN/KANSAN
You live online - why not learn online?
Complement your KU on-campus schedule with online classes that provide the best fit with your work schedule, your learning style and your core education requirements.
Explore the expanded list of JCCC online classes for a custom fit.
www.jccc.edu/distance-learning 913-469-3803
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
kansan.com
sign up for our bi-weekly e-mail newsletter on our website!
connect with us // the student voice for you