Getting the Word Out
Safer campus is the Assault & Sexuality Coalition's goal
April 14, 2009
The Silent Poets perform during Take Back the Night on April 1, which the Assault & Sexuality Coalition helped organize. From left: Alex Grant ’11, Tiffany Hwang ’11, Yazmin Watkins ’09, Tiffany Mane ’10 and Ashley Peel ’11.On a campus of 2,360 students, 55 percent of whom are women, 260 students could potentially experience sexual violence—if one extrapolates from a recent report by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The report states that one in five college women, nationwide, will be the victim of attempted or actual sexual assault during their college years. Nor are men immune: they account for one in 10 victims.
"Sexual assault is recognized as a significant problem on all college campuses, and Dickinson is no exception," says Susannah Bartlow, director of the Women's Center. "[It] is one of the core issues to which the Women's Center must address itself."
In October, Bartlow brought together administrators, faculty and students to plan more effective education, prevention and reporting measures on campus. The result of that initial meeting was the Assault & Sexuality Coalition, which builds on advocacy work done by the student-run Feminist Collective.
The working group meets monthly and combines student-life, public-safety, advocacy and academic approaches not only to sexual violence but also to broader issues such as sex education, sexuality in the classroom, sexual orientation and gender identity.
During the fall semester, the coalition reviewed the results of a campuswide sexual-assault survey and determined that the college's Safe Walk/Safe Ride program would address part of the issue. The successful Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) program, which currently is available to students only, soon will include all women on campus, says Dee Danser, director of public safety and member of the coalition.
Student representatives also recommended more prevention education and a student-oriented space to discuss sexual violence. In addition, with the help of the coalition, the Office of Diversity Initiatives is launching a campus-climate survey on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.
"The coalition has made a difference in getting people talking about something really important," says Jacqueline Phillips '09, a coalition representative from Peers Assisting Learning About Sex (PALS), based in Student Health Services. "There's been a positive change in getting the word out."
This spring, the coalition worked on planning and publicizing campus events related to Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, from Take Back the Night on April 1 to a program on domestic violence on April 7, sponsored by the sorority Sigma Lambda Gamma.
The Clothesline Project, an installation of T-shirts and shoes that raises awareness about violence against women that was featured on April 1 during Take Back the Night, will soon make another appearance. On April 29, the project will be in Memorial Hall from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with a speak-out starting at 7 p.m.
To close out the month, a rough cut of The Human Voice Project, a documentary film by Flosha Tejada '11 and Grace Perry '11, will be screened in the Stern Great Room on April 30.
Bartlow says that the coalition is doing exactly what she hoped: increasing communication among campus constituencies, promoting student advocacy and leadership and offering a forum to address the problem. "The experience provides me with some concrete support networks so we can confront this as a college-wide issue," she says.