Sexual Assault Policy on Campus

A new piece of legislation proposed by the city’s Public Advocate Letitia James aims to combat on-campus sexual assault by establishing education and prevention programs at universities across the city.

“Survivors of campus sexual assault have been failed by a system meant to educate and protect them,” James said addressing a crowd made up of advocates, educators and students during a Feb. 12 forum at The New School about the legislation dubbed the New York City Campus Safety Act.

Her statements came shortly after The New School outlined its own efforts to educate students, staff and teachers on sexual assault through an online survey- a survey that went unnoticed by many students.

James’ act aims to remedy an epidemic that has received widespread attention by universities and the federal government, with the surfacing of cases like those of Emma Sulkowicz at Columbia and of unnamed students at UVA, CalArts, and Vanderbilt.

“We are having this forum not because all of a sudden this is the issue of the moment, but because sexual violence has always been and will always be unacceptable,” said Rachel Knopf, of the university’s office of Wellness and Health Promotion.

Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, a Columbia senior who co-founded advocate group No Red Tape, and launched a Title IX complaint against the university also spoke at the public forum. She emphasized that a lack of education is what caused her to spend a long time not being able to comprehend her assault, which happened during her freshman year, and classify it as rape.

James and other speakers at the event emphasized the importance of an education based curriculum to combat on campus sexual assaults by citing a series of troubling statistics including that one in five women will be sexualy assaulted during their time at college, according to the oft cited Campus Sexual Assault Study of 2007.

Event attendees broke into groups to discuss James’ legislation that is trying to bridge gaps between government and laws and universities by reviewing and implementing a sexual assault curriculum.

“We need something more useful than an online quiz,” a CUNY educator said in one of the groups.

The New School, on Feb. 2, followed the path many universities have taken, like CUNY, by mandating an online anti-sexual assault training for students, staff and faculty.

The training, administered by Texas-based company Workplace Answers, explains rights under Title IX and asks over 100 multiple choice questions explaining federal anti-discrimination rights under the law.

Administrators did not say how the university would confirm that people completed the training.

“Every member of the community is expected to take the training,” said Linda Reimer, Senior Vice President for Student Services, who sent the email, when asked if completion of the training would be mandatory.

Ninety-six postsecondary schools are under Title IX review by the federal government for sexual assault violations, including Columbia, CUNY Hunter and Sarah Lawrence to name a few in New York. Any school that receives federal funding is required by law to abide by Title IX regulations.

Student reactions to the training aimed at educating them about Title IX regulations range from confused to disinterested.

“I got the email but felt like there was not enough explanation,” said Emma Hersh, a Lang student.

Another student, Dungin Shin, an M.F.A. student who also works in the provost’s office, said she was required to complete the training in order to get paid.

“It was really fascinating, better than what I had expected but also a little too long.” Shin was no longer really paying attention to the training by the end of it, she said.

The university’s new online effort to educate the community about sexual assault joins a collection of existing programs.

The university has a class as part of their freshman workshop seminars that teaches students to make sure all parties consent before engaging in sexual activity.

The New School also offers two information sessions during orientation on definitions of sexual assault and where to report incidents, which Tracy Robbin at The New School’s Counseling Center said are poorly attended.

Though there are resources available at The New School, like the Health and Wellness Office and the Sex-E Collective, it seems that there is a lack of outreach to students.

Though Hersh says that the staff at the Health and Wellness office is very approachable and that she would feel comfortable going there to report an assault, she also said that this would probably be difficult for students not plugged in to that community.

“Isn’t there like the center thingy? Isn’t there like an office or something for that?” said Lang freshman Elizabeth Afutti.

Robbin also said that she is part of a team working on making more resources available to students online and that she is planning on sending out a Campus Climate Survey at the end of February to collect data from students and gauge their sexual assault awareness. This data will inform New School administrators on how to move forward.