Among colleges and universities in Indiana, Notre Dame ranks second only to Indiana University at Bloomington in the number of forced sexual assaults on campus. This ranking given in a November 2010 online article from WISHTV, was confirmed by Phillip Johnson, director of Notre Dame Security Police (NDSP), in an email to THE ROVER.
During the 2009-2010 school year, Susan Steibe-Pasalich, director of the University Counseling Center (UCC) reported, 88 students told a UCC counselor that they experienced unwanted sexual contact during their college experience, 72 students reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact prior to college and 22 reported experiencing it both before and during college.
Steibe-Pasalich explained that UCC “is staffed by trained professionals who can provide specialized support and assistance to students who have been sexually assaulted or harassed.” She added, “Students may seek counseling at any time, whether it is days, months or years later after the unwanted sexual contact. This confidential service is available to the survivor and/or her or his friends who may need support in assisting a survivor. Assistance is also available for individuals who are supporting someone through an incident of sexual assault.”
Notre Dame students have two options for reporting sexual assault. An assault should be reported to the police in the jurisdiction in which it occurred, and, if the offender is a student, the victim can also make a report to the Office of Residence Life and Housing at Notre Dame. According to Johnson, these two options “are not mutually exclusive.”
Although NDSP now falls under the newly created Office of Campus Safety as of October 1, 2010, rather than in its former position under the Office of Student Affairs, Johnson said the restructuring has not caused any change in protocol for reporting and investigating sexual assaults. “We take these cases seriously and investigate them thoroughly, just as we always have,” he said.
Each year the Vice President for Student Affairs appoints the Committee on Sexual Assault Prevention (CSAP), which brings together students, faculty, rectors, and members of the Office of Student Affairs and of Residence Life and Housing. CSAP also includes staff members from the UCC, Gender Relations Center, Saint Mary’s College, the Office of Alcohol and Drug Education, the Notre Dame Athletics Department, and SOS of St. Joseph County. CSAP offers guidance to the Office of Student Affairs on how to support victims of sexual assault.
In correspondence with THE ROVER, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Chair of CSAP Ann Firth said of the committee, “It is a great privilege to work with such a dedicated and talented group of leaders, and I believe in the good work the committee has done thus far. With that said, our work is not done….as long as sexual violence continues to occur at Notre Dame, there is more we can and must do.”
Firth emphasized that the university’s policy on sexual assault response and prevention is rooted in an effort to “embody the notion that all persons have inherent dignity and worth as creations of a loving God.”
“Whenever we act without respect, reverence, and responsibility,” she said, “we deny this fundamental truth. Sexual violence is antithetical to the values of our community and can have no place among us.”
Firth explained that during the 2008-2009 school year, CSAP partnered with Student Government to complete a “review of resources for victims and survivors, policies and procedures, and education and prevention efforts.” “To my knowledge,” Firth said, “this was the first time student leaders, university administrators and faculty worked together to systematically study what was already in place and identify additional needs with regard to sexual assault resources and education.”
After the review, the university made its policy on sexual assault and sexual misconduct more comprehensive, Firth explained. Among other changes, the university enhanced training for hall staff, consolidated information about sexual assault resources available to the university community, and increased the number and availability of its Sexual Assault Resource Persons.
Amidst these changes, the university discovered through research that its policies were already “as strong or stronger than those of our peers,” Johnson stated.
Ava Preacher, associate dean of the Office of Arts and Letters, and Cathy Pieronek, assistant dean of the College of Engineering, serve as Sexual Assault Resource Persons. Preacher and Pieronek are available 24 hours, 7 days a week to offer victims of sexual assault a place to report incidents and to receive information about university resources and options.
Preacher declined to comment on the university’s sexual assault prevention and response policy, explaining that her responsibilities as a Victims Resource Person (VRP) do not include dealing with the university’s policy issues. Her role as a VRP, she said, “is not to advocate, but rather to provide information on resources and options for victims of sexual assault.”
Preacher urged that students join the efforts of CSAP by learning what the committee has to offer and “being aware of how to intervene in developing situations that can lead to sexual assault, especially where drinking alcohol is part of the equation.”
Firth echoed Preacher’s comments on the relationship between alcohol and sexual assault. “One very important conversation the campus community must continue to engage in,” she explained, “relates to the connection between sexual assault and alcohol consumption. While an assault can certainly happen in settings where alcohol is not involved, research shows that the majority of sexual assaults on college campuses involve alcohol use by either assailant or victim. This trend is reflected on our own campus, in terms of the reported cases of sexual assault.”
Firth observed that “the university’s Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Assault Policy speaks directly to the issue of alcohol and consent: ‘intoxication is not an excuse for failure to obtain consent. A person incapacitated by alcohol or drug consumption, or who is unconscious or asleep or otherwise physically impaired, is incapable of giving consent.’”
Firth highlighted the positive efforts of groups like Men Against Violence, as well as the “College HAS Issues” mandatory orientation for freshmen and the “Contemporary Topics” part of the Physical Education Wellness Curriculum.
Gender Studies Senior Fellow and History Professor Gail Bederman also pointed to the issue of consent. Commenting on how Notre Dame could improve its policy on sexual assault response and prevention, she told THE ROVER, “My impression is that there are many more sexual assaults–or, at least unwanted or semi-coercive sexual contacts–on campus than ever get reported.” She added, “I think that we need much more discussion of what ‘consent’ means. Do most students even understand that ‘drunken sex’ with someone who’s confused or half passed out is legally rape?”
She continued, “Students’ perception that athletes are (or even should be) exempt from normal standards is just as bad as a university policy of awarding them special privileges. When students believe (wrongly) that nobody will punish an athlete for a serious infringement of rules, this can be frightening, particularly if somebody does have an unfortunate encounter with an athlete.”
“I myself believe that the administration goes to great lengths not to have a double standard for athletes and non-athletes,” she said. “I have never seen an official situation in which athletes have more leeway or lighter punishments than other students.”
The last week of February marks Notre Dame’s Sexual Assault Awareness Week (SAAW). Special events including a week long “Giving a Voice” poster campaign, “A Time to Heal” dinner, Mass of Healing, “You are not Alone” reception, a self-defense introduction for women, and petitions and prayer cards on SAAW Sunday, February 27.
You know you’ve got a good RA when Elliott Argue hosts Tuesday Teas and takes you to Valentine’s Brunch. Contact her at eargue@nd.edu.
