It’s no question that any sexual violence claim should be taken very seriously. An instance of sexual violence can be crippling for a student emotionally, academically and physically. When a school is accused of not handling a claim well, it speaks to the level of importance schools give to crimes like these and how much those schools care about the success of victimized students. On May 1, when DU was placed on the list of 55 schools that are currently under investigation for Title IX sexual violence violations by the U.S. Department of Education, it’s no wonder there was a bit of an eruption on campus. Students were understandably angry.
According to an email sent to all members of the DU community from Chancellor Coombe, we’re placed on the list due to a single claim filed a few months ago through the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). With so many resources on campus like the Office for Equal Opportunity (also known as the Title IX office), the Center for Advocacy, Prevention and Empowerment (CAPE) and the Rape Aggression Defense program through Campus Safety, how did we let this happen?
But there are two ways we, as a community, can take this unfortunate news. We can get upset, as so many have, and harp on the administration for the mistakes that were made in handling this case, or we can proactively work to make DU a safer place so that instances like this don’t happen in the future. We should do the latter. It is crucial that we take our placement on the list not as a slap on the wrist for poor practices, but rather as a wakeup call that DU could be doing a lot better in its efforts both to prevent these horrible crimes and to help victimized students cope. This list is a call to action, and we better follow through.
Many schools, including three other Colorado schools on the list—CU Denver, CU Boulder and Regis University—have had to go on the defensive, pointing out their sexual assault policies, resources available and actions they have taken since they learned about their placement on the list. But instead of focusing our energy on the way the public sees us, we should put all of our energy into fixing the problem to the best of our ability. Whether DU is indeed guilty of a Title IX violation or not, obviously something is wrong with our sexual violence protocol—or else we wouldn’t be on the list.
Even schools that aren’t on the list could use a lot of work to improve their system. No school is perfect. As horrible as it is, sexual violence is going to happen on every campus and we all need to work on decreasing its prevalence and improving the lives of victims. No matter how much we’ve done (like the creation of CAPE at DU) there is always more we could do. In some ways, DU’s name on the list could be seen as a blessing in disguise because it can provide motivation to fix what is broken. It’s calling attention to the issue in a big way, so we should use all of this negative attention to turn it into something positive. According to a Denver Post article, CU Boulder is currently in the process of hiring a full time Title IX staff member. DU already has a position like that, but it is this kind of change that we should be striving for—a change in protocol or the addition of resources. The resources we have right now are great, but we can do better.
Harsher punishments should be inflicted for sexual violence crimes. Many students are getting away with these crimes for lack of evidence. More effort should be made to collect this evidence and educate students about ways to make sure their attacker is caught, should such a terrible event occur.
We should also bring more attention to spreading awareness and changing campus culture. The Consent Carnival held a few weeks ago outside of Driscoll by CAPE was certainly a great start. But this issue needs to move further beyond just the administration. Students need to take charge in spreading the idea that consent really is sexy. This case under investigation didn’t just spring up due to poor management by the administration. Sexual assault happens in the first place because of a cultural stigma that says it’s OK. But we have the power to change that.
DU is not the only school on that list, and it is certainly not the only school dealing with issues of sexual violence. It’s not all that surprising that our name is there, because it could have been any school. So we shouldn’t hide in shame and self-pity. But it would be shameful not to do anything. We don’t know the details of the case under investigation, but we know that we can improve the way we deal with sexual violence in more ways than one. Let’s use this incident as an opportunity to make DU a safer, more welcoming place for everyone.
