Marking the beginning of Student Senate’s “Braver Together” campaign, a campus-wide initiative addressing the issue of sexual violence, Anne Hollis, director of student support services, spoke during the general assembly meeting Oct. 5 about Title IX and sexual misconduct.
“Sometimes when people hear about Title IX, they think it’s merely a gender equity law regarding athletics, but it’s much more than that,” Hollis said. “It ensures that students are protected from discrimination based on their gender and are protected from sexual harassment and misconduct.”
Hollis elaborated on what the law requires of college administrations in regards to sexual harassment.
“Under Title IX, if a school knows, or reasonably should have known, that a student has been harassed, then the school has a responsibility to eliminate the harassment, to prevent its reoccurrence and to address its effects,” Hollis said. “Harassment encompasses stalking, sexual exploitation, violence between intimate partners and sexual assault.”
Hollis went on to emphasize the importance of consent and being emotionally coerced.
“Consent is a clear, knowing and voluntary agreement between two people,” Hollis said. “If you don’t hear anything, it doesn’t mean you have consent. You have to hear, ‘Yes.’ If a person is drunk or high, they cannot give consent. If the person is being physical or emotionally coerced, they cannot give consent.”
Hollis listed various services available to students who have been the victims of sexual assault, such as the campus police and the Center for Wellness and Counseling, and she advised the senators on the proper course of action when an individual comes forward with a sexual assault report.
Cydney Young, a representative at the general assembly for the College of Education and Health Sciences, said she found the presentation very informative.
“I didn’t know that only 2 percent of reported sexual assaults are false,” Young, a junior elementary education major, said. “I think there’s a tendency to dismiss reports as being overdramatic, but clearly that’s not the case, so we need to handle those coming forward with respect and care.”
Student Body President Sarah Handler said combating sexual assault was one of the tenants of her platform when she ran for her position.
“We created the ‘Braver Together’ slogan because on campus we really haven’t had a movement of student leaders to step up and say that we aren’t going to tolerate sexual assault anymore,” Handler, a senior industrial engineering major, said.
The “Braver Together” campaign is particularly important during this time of year, according to Handler.
“Right now we’re in what is called the ‘red zone’,” Handler said. “Between the beginning of the school year and Thanksgiving is when students are statistically most likely to be sexually assaulted.”
Handler said Student Senate will be addressing sexual assault awareness in a number of ways.
“We’ve created a PSA video featuring several student leaders about sexual assault and will be releasing other material to support a culture of respect for all students, a culture that does not tolerate sexual violence of any kind,” Handler said.
The video, published Thursday, featured clips of students reciting a speech about how to end sexual violence on campus and how we should be “standing together as a community because this issue affects all of us.”
