Sexual assault is prevalent across college campuses

One of the many dangers students throughout the nation face is sexual assault. According to a U.S. Department of Justice report, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college. Nine out of 10 knew the person who assaulted them. Ninety percent of these crimes are never reported.

We take these national statistics very seriously. The University is working diligently to prevent campus sexual assaults. All incoming students are required to complete Haven Understanding Sexual Assault online training, and GEP 101 classes now include a Title IX component thanks to the efforts of Ivy Yarckow-Brown, an instructor in the criminology and criminal justice department. We are also in the process of rolling out the Green Dot program, which is an initiative that recruits bystanders to help prevent sexual assaults and violence.

Title IX coordinator committed to preventing, investigating sexual assaults

This summer we hired Jill Patterson as a full-time Title IX coordinator. Ms. Patterson focuses on preventing and investigating sexual misconduct, and brings 15 years of prior experience in investigating and prosecuting sexual assaults to her new role at the University. As part of her many responsibilities, she trains numerous University student and employee groups each week on sexual assault prevention.

This may seem like a lot of effort to educate, inform and train – devoting so much time and so many resources. However, as noted above, historically 90% of sexual assault cases are not reported – most likely due to fear, shame and social pressures. As the University builds a culture of reporting, young women and men on our campus need not endure sexual and emotional trauma alone when we have multiple resources to provide support, comfort and tools to deal with a life-changing event. By encouraging reporting and diligently investigating complaints, we reduce the number of alleged perpetrators avoiding discipline and prosecution.

Education, awareness increase reporting

The University efforts are yielding results. Last week we issued our sixth timely warning to the campus community regarding a sexual assault and that’s a positive thing. Do we believe there has been an increase in sexual assaults on campus or that suddenly the residence halls have become dangerous? No, because the incidents reported this fall principally involved people who knew each other and many were in or had been in romantic relationships with each other. None of the credible reports involved stranger attacks.

We believe the education and awareness that MSU provides has pulled back the curtain on what sexual assault is, creating a safe and supportive environment for reporting.

Campus community called on to help

I would encourage all members of the University community to review Missouri State’s Sexual Assault: Prevention, Education and Resources webpage and actively engage in our efforts to prevent campus sexual assault. It may make us uneasy to take this kind of aggressive, transparent approach, but we will not change the status quo if we don’t take this kind of action.

The safety and welfare of our students is critically important. We at Missouri State University are committed to reducing sexual assaults on campus, even though it would be easier and feel more comfortable to do nothing different. Sometimes doing what is morally correct is hard, but over time, our course of action will result in meaningful change.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!