Recommend this article…

Read this article in the chronicle today, and I think the authors sums up many of the issues of an unhealthy sexual environment on college campuses right now.

“let’s talk about sex on campus”

By Andrew P. Smiler and Rebecca F. Plante

 “Nonconsensual sex on campus has been a persistent topic of public conversation over the last few years. The current academic year has included a first-person account of rape published in the Amherst College student paper and a subsequent oversight-committee report, student protests that led the administration at Dartmouth College to cancel classes for a day, and claims that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill retaliated against a student who HAD spoken publicly about the institution's lack of response to her claims of sexual assault. And in what seems like an annual event, a high-profile athletic team was investigated for sexual assault; this year it was the University of Montana football team”.

“Administrators may think there is little they can do, because sexual conduct and misconduct reflect individual choices that are beyond institutional control—but we disagree. Campus-based awareness, educational, and support programs—including events to promote safety, rape-awareness activities, and counseling services for victims—suggest that the institution plays an important role. When sexual assault or rape occurs, campus police and the institutional judicial system often, but not always, become involved; local police and courts rarely do”.

“Critics accurately point out that most safety programs teach "don't get raped" instead of teaching "don't rape," and that other programs help victims but don't prevent victimization. They argue that campus judicial systems do not effectively handle subsequent concerns about safety: Victims are typically left to alter their course schedules and living arrangements to ensure that they don't come in contact with perpetrators. This creates neither a sense of safety nor a positive learning environment for those trying to cope. What's more, prohibiting victims from speaking publicly about their cases suggests that these judicial systems are more interested in protecting the college's image than in protecting students”.

Read the rest at: http://chronicle.com/article/Lets-Talk-About-Sex-on-Campus/139353/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en

Please read it and chime in. The solutions do exist.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam