In September, a White House task force announced the It’s On Us public awareness campaign to combat sexual assault on college campuses. Nearly 200 schools were already signed on to it including St. Edward’s University.

St. Edward’s name on that list marked the first official initiation of the student body into a national conversation that has been raging on college campuses across the country. 

St. Edward’s is not one of the 85 universities under Title IX investigation. 

A government report issued last January stated that one in five college women are sexually assaulted. 

Since 2011, five cases have been reported to the St. Edward’s University Police Department. 

That suggests that St. Edward’s is far below the national average. 

Sgt. Bobby Garcia of UPD thinks otherwise.

“It’s happening — probably every weekend,” Garcia said. “We just don’t hear about it.”

Sexual assault is a well-known chronically underreported crime.

Students and the administration are responding to the It’s On Us campaign and the issue of campus sexual assault keeping in mind that the university’s victim reports don’t necessarily tell the whole story on campus.

New Ideas

Fresh from a summer as an intern at the White House where the campaign began, junior Victoria Ochoa is leading efforts in conjunction with the Student Government Association to create awareness about the campaign. She’s also wants to show how students can act first to prevent sexual assault on campus.

“The way It’s On Us works is that the White House is engaging student governments across the country and giving them materials they need to organize and leaving it up to student governments to use their own discretion on how best to organize around the issues,” Ochoa said. 

Ochoa is focusing her energies on making more transparent what she believes is already a robust range of services and educational opportunities on campus.

One of Ochoa’s ideas is to engage Campus Ministry so whenever a sexual assault occurs on campus, a prayer vigil may be hosted on campus to pray for peace and show solidarity with the victim.

“We need to reemphasize that we are all each others’ brothers’ and sisters’ keepers,” Ochoa said.

She also supports reaching out to Residence Life to sponsor education on bystander intervention.

By knocking on doors, explaining students’ opportunity and ability to intervene in situations of concern on others’ behalf, and encouraging them to sign a pledge against sexual assault to hang on their door, Ochoa says we will unite the community and make sure sexual assault does not happen on the St. Edward’s campus.

“It’s definitely a symbolic measure, but the point is to get the discussion going and get people the information they need,” Ochoa said.

Ochoa pointed out that at each of these instances, reminders can be given out about resources and information that can spark a culture change at the student level.

“It makes sense to talk about these issues and do something as a community rather than as a top-down reaction to a problem,” Lisa Kirkpatrick, St. Edward’s Title IX Coordinator and Dean of Students, said.

Administration

Kirkpatrick said that the It’s On Us campaign was nothing new to the Dean of Students Office.

Since 2011’s Dear Colleague Letter, response to sexual assault has been a huge issue of concern on campus and was accompanied by: a new Title IX team; website hosting resources and new ways to get in touch; campus wide opportunities for Title IX training for student and faculty leaders; and a new online sexual assault and relationship violence training for all incoming freshmen akin to AlcoholEdu called Haven.

Yet Kirkpatrick is happy to see students organizing around the It’s On Us campaign.

“This is how we empower people at all levels to become more aware of the issues and concerns,” Kirkpatrick said.

Kirkpatrick recently named Ochoa to the Title IX committee under the Dean of Students Office. A town hall meeting to further open the conversation to the St. Edward’s community is planned for November 10. 

Identifying the Problem

Beyond the town hall meeting, both Ochoa and Kirkpatrick are interested in better understanding the campus culture around sexual assault through a campus climate survey, a key recommendation from the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.

“We don’t have the numbers that tell us if people feel comfortable for reporting sexual assault and if they don’t feel comfortable, what those reasons are,” said Ochoa.

Ochoa worries that though resources exist, including information about consent policies, the adjudication process, and victim assistance both on and off-campus, a lack of awareness could mean that these efforts are not living up to their full potential. 

A campus climate survey could lead to more effective communication and education on campus, Ochoa said.

Kirkpatrick supports such a survey but is waiting for a standardized survey. It would allow St. Edward’s to understand how it compares to other colleges, Kirkpatrick said. 

 

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