By Tiera Lee
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Sexual violence on campuses has sparked alarm, anger and fear but also jumpstarted public debates and discussions, as well as forced a scramble for strategies to increase safety and institute protective measures. Colleges and universities everywhere are reassessing policies and procedures that relate to violence, sexual assaults, discrimination and intimidation.
Women on campuses ranging from Towson, North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond recently shared their experiences and feelings.
“I feel the current climate is a little heated at the moment because a student had stated that she was assaulted, and that campus security and dorm service didn’t handle the situation properly,” said Ilonka Walker, who is in her fourth and final year at VCU.
Photo by Theta Rho AKA
Photo by Anthony Bone
Walker, a member of the Theta Rho Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., said she encourages others to participate in the discussion of the climate on college campuses.
Days after classes started at VCU this semester, two Henrico County men were charged in connection with an alleged sexual assault that VCU police say was filmed and posted to social media.
“She [the survivor] took to social media to report her frustrations,” Walker said, “about how her case was being handled. So right now people are discussing it and deciding if our measures are safe enough and if it is enough accountability for these situations. Now it is on everyone’s mind and the administration is addressing it by having a forum.”
The issue of students feeling a lack of support also arose recently at Towson University, where President Kim Schatzel notified students about an assault in late September that resulted in the arrest of a TU student. Days later a male grabbed a woman’s breast in the University Union.
Jasmine Peyton, a Towson senior who is a member of the Lambda Beta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., said she sees little to no difference in the ways colleges across the country protect women against assaults and harassments.
“Towson had no way of covering their tracks, and maybe if they could’ve avoided the police and investigation it wouldn’t have been as widely broadcasted,” said Peyton, who is concerned about transparency.
“Something should’ve been out almost immediately for the support of students, and I just didn’t see this,” she said. “We didn’t get anything directly to us.”
Photo by Natasha Williams
Photo by Whitley
Peyton added that later, “Posting his picture along with the story was both good and bad. We are all human and having his photo up can affect survivors in a negative way, and even his family. However, it’s always good for us to know who the person is, because if other women had occurrences with him, they can also bring other layers to the table.”
Schatzel called for an emergency forum days after releasing information about the assaults. And, about 48 hours after the forum, the Towson administration released a laundry list of changes in policy and operations. Police patrols were increased, including more foot patrols around campus. And, the university authorized seven new positions to be added to the TU Police Department staffing.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center said more than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault. In addition to the facts of sexual assault and dynamics of a rape culture, officials offered a glance at the things that reinforce this violence.
“In a 2010 research study conducted among first-year students at a large northeastern university, over 53% of students strongly agreed or agreed that: ‘If a girl acts like a slut, she is eventually going to get into trouble,’”theRape Myth Beliefs and Bystanders Among Incoming College Students study found.
Some students speculated that the climate campuses are experiencing is from the community and reinforcement of rape culture.
“Even in our communities, people don’t realize things they may see as simple or not harmful contribute and are sexual assault,” said TU junior Jaelyn Heyliger. “The culture from middle school is an example. It was a thing when boys would be walking down the hallway and just slap you on the butt. Things like this are Sexual Assault.”
Schatzel insisted in announcing the campus changes that “improved communications about sexual assault and other criminal events on campus and the inclusion of trigger warnings, when needed, on TU and TUPD communications were also offered as priorities from many that attended the forum. Again, that work has begun as well.”
Photo by Metro Aggies Photographer
Photo by Lyob
Kori Whiteside, the Chief of Staff for the 99th Administration for the TU Student Government Association said, “Trigger Warnings are vital. Some people are triggered by literally seeing the word’s in the byline or subject.”
So efforts are being made to slowly reverse earlier statistics, campus officials said. The goal is to encourage women and men to come forward to report assaults and take advantage of counseling programs.
“When it comes time to talk about racism or issues of hate bias those conversations are brought up, and we will deal with it,” Guelila Iyob told The Baltimore Watchdog. “But when it comes time for sexual assault and rape, why is it that someone who is a survivor and let’s say women, why do women always have to bring it up?”
Iyob, an Environmental Biology major who is an advocate/activist through Towson Freedom School, is visibly disturbed by recent assault cases, the resulting President’s Forum, and a student-organized Unity Rally. She questioned the role of rape culture.
“The statistics show one in four women in college will be sexually assaulted. And someone is raped every 92 seconds,” she said. “Given that, where is the action? Where is the acceptance? It drives me to feel very anxious.”
Iyob added, “Having to see the person who assaulted you plastered everywhere can be very triggering. I think for privacy and well-being there needed to be context. I think the way they went about showing his face and giving the name was done well.
“But in hindsight there needs to be context for those that can be affected by it,” she said.
In Iyob’s organization, she said there are specific times dedicated to be more mindful of this culture: “After the first incident, in our next meeting we were able to give the floor to survivors and actually have people who were affected by this incident talk about how they feel.”
Iyob said the approach works for survivors. However, assailants need more in depth work, she said.
“I feel this is a problem for perpetrators to deal with,” said Iyob. “This is not on women, or those who are assaulted or raped. It’s not our problem to drill it into another person’s mind, to tell them this is what you should be doing. It’s not healthy for us.”
Photo by Heyliger
Despite the progress in improving campus environments, Walker said she remains skeptical. Even with these efforts at VCU, Walker said her personal take is, “it happens quite often. We are in the city and walking down the street we are being cat called or when we’re leaving a party, men rub up against us without permission.”
With the stress of college courses, an active social life, and the pursuit of career goals, Walker said everyday concerns with personal safety fuels fear.
However, Lauren Sullivan, a senior at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, said she sees progress in the approach school administration is using to fix the problem when there are incidents of sexual assault..
“From 2016 to now, A&T’s security system and management has tremendously progressed,” said Sullivan, president of a Student Organization called, Metro Aggies, which caters to students from the DMV. “Showing sexual harassment, gun violence, and robberies are minimal, and relationships with our officers are encouraged amongst the students here at the university.”
Sullivan said she feels a great support system from her faculty and staff at the historically black university.
“My favorite resource is the ample availability from our Counseling Services,” she said. “They are highlighted all throughout campus to encourage students to seek help if and when needed.”
Most students agree that many of the problems with crime, assaults and harassments come from people not associated with the schools.
“A&T is an open university, so locals roam around our campus, some with wrong intentions,” said Sullivan. “As students, we get acquainted and familiar with who’s a local or an actual student of the institution. Locals are our primary concern here at A&T because they are more likely to bring the trouble.”
Still Sullivan is reminded that strangers tend not to present the most problems.
“I learned in Health Psychology that usually sexual assault occurs from an individual that victims know,” she said. “Multiple forums were hosted by the Chancellor to address the prevention of this issue.”
At the University of Maryland, College Park, a solid reporting system and strategy are in place, students said.
“In my four years here at UMD, I have seen a major difference in the protection of both women and men,” said senior Kyra Whitley, a member of the Kappa Phi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. “Now, students are required to take an online course and pass it during the orientation program before being recognized as an official current student.”
One huge problem highlighted with the recent assaults is social media, however. At both VCU and Towson, police said the assailants attempted to post pictures of the assaults.
“I see higher cases of victim blaming on social media,” said Whitley. “There will always be those individuals who blame the victim or sympathize with abusers, but I feel as though today’s movements such as the #MeToo movement have narrowed the scope of victim blaming a little.”
Towson senior Lauryn Scriber attributed the fear to society and media’s platform of news.
“You hear everything that happens bad on the daily, around the clock, wherever it may be,” said Scriber, who is studying Athletic Training and Health Science. “Crazy things, things you would never expect someone to do. The things people have to go through because of these certain situations.”
Whitley said she sees improvements in the ways sexual assaults and similar crimes are being handled at UMD.
“Overall, I think my campus is doing a substantial job on raising awareness while providing resources for assault victims,” Whitley said. “In the future, I would like to see more efforts directed to males involved in Greek life because I do believe these individuals participate in more assaults of women than others. I know there are requirements for training to be conducted anyways, but I think an increase in the amounts will reduce the number of sexual assaults on our campus.”
Towson officials and some students said they favor the idea of requiring special courses and training.
“The Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct also provides many resources and assistance to sexually assaulted victims,” said Whiteside. “They provide the option to allow the victim to make the decision on whether or not they want to report, if they want to attempt to press charges, or even if they want to reveal the abusers name. The Office also works to prevent these incidents from occurring by attending and speaking at lectures to inform students on sexual harassment.”
Colleges and universities everywhere are reassessing policies and procedures that relate to violence, sexual assaults, discrimination and intimidation.
“Right now, our community is very dull,” said Peyton. “People can’t and don’t feel comfortable. They don’t believe Towson is solving problems, as if they don’t handle things.”
As a result, Peyton said she doesn’t confide in the campus right now.
“The main resource that I have, is my black sisters,” she said. “They are my resources first. It’s crazy because of course they aren’t professionals, but honestly if I’m comfortable talking to anyone it would be them first.”
Scriber said she longs for the earlier days when Towson “was a typical campus. These events especially being so close together heighten your sense of awareness.”
“As a freshman, I would have night classes and I’d feel perfectly fine walking across campus,” said Scriber, a member of Sisterhood, a community service organization centered on marginalized women, especially black women.
“I didn’t fear any violent outside situation coming along,” explained Scriber. “But now, being a senior, there’s realization that things like this do happen. “You’d like to think your invincible cause nothing happened to you, until something happens to you.”
Scriber said she notices the culture shifting: “People aren’t as open nor as friendly, were stuck in these places.”
Heyliger, a member of the Mu Mu Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., acknowledged the reality of what she calls the everyday experiences of rape culture.
“It almost seems as if Towson is doing so much after the fact, so in the sense they are doing a lot to treat the problem, instead of talking about it before hand to prevent it from being one,” said Heyliger.
However, Heyliger said, “Even before I was always aware of my surroundings. My head was on a swivel, however, now more than ever, I make sure I’m not alone when walking and in any other situations.”
To raise awareness and promote justice and proactive care, many of these women said they practice mindfulness, and what they feel others must do.
Walker said when it comes to assaults, “Listen to her when she first says something not after the situation goes viral on Twitter. If she reports this, believe her because there may be two or three people who didn’t have the courage to report.”
Iyob added, “The most important thing you can do is be aware of your mental health. Put ‘you’ first because that is the first step in making change in this university. If you need to take time off from class, please do it.”
Peyton raised the points of transparency again: “Y’all must speak up, the people look up to you all. We need y’all. We look for y’all to seek help. Y’all must speak and stick up for the people. Y’all chose to be on this campus. Towson is quick to post a message to the media, but what about your students?”
Scriber said we must be aware and proactive for each other: “Even if we have each other’s locations and are being responsible, when do I really check your location? When I’m looking for you or when it’s too late. Let’s be proactive and be there for each other. Let’s use what we do have in each other.”
Heyliger said she implores people to know “never feel like it can’t happen to you, and for those who’ve survived it never feel like you’re alone. We and our allies must be proactive not reactive and fight the problems before they become these critical issues.”
Sullivan said if she could leave her administration or campus and peers with any words she’d say, “Speak your peace. Tell your story. Be truthful with your narrative.”