Preventing sexual assault on Indiana’s college campuses is getting the attention of state and federal political leaders and policy makers.
On Monday, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education convened a meeting attended by representatives of 21 Indiana colleges and universities — including Indiana State University — as well as sexual assault prevention advocates and elected officials. Among those participating were Teresa Lubbers, Indiana’s commissioner for higher education, fifth district Congresswoman Susan Brooks; and State Rep. Christina Hale, D-Indianapolis.
”I think it was a very positive thing that this meeting took place,” said Hale, who has been outspoken on the issue of sexual assault prevention. “I think it’s significant we had leaders from both sides of the aisle convening to get something done about this problem in Indiana.”
Hale is a Democrat, while Brooks and Lubbers are Republicans (Lubbers previously served as an Indiana state senator).
Among other things, “We’re trying to align state and federal policy and talk with our college and university leaders, including Title IX directors, to see what they need from us to help make their efforts successful,” Hale said.
One issue that Hale would like to address through state legislation is a definition of consent, modeled after language in a new California law.
In California, when a campus sexual assault is investigated, the definition of consent requires “an affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity.” The legislation says silence or lack of resistance does not constitute consent, and someone who is drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep cannot grant consent.
The Commission convened the meeting because the issue of sexual violence on college campuses is receiving much attention by policy makers at both the state and federal levels, Lubbers said. Legislation enacted, and proposed, have implications for students and colleges.
”We felt it was an important topic for the Commission to engage with partner colleges and universities,” she said, crediting Hale as being instrumental in calling attention to the issue.
”We wanted to hear from colleges about their practices,” Lubbers said, “and whether there are areas for improvement in what the federal government is considering or gaps in state policy.”
Brooks, who is a sponsor of the proposed federal Campus Accountability and Safety Act, used the meeting as a listening session to hear from campus leaders who work directly with the issue.
”Sexual assault is a very real problem on our college campuses. I believe we must improve coordination between victims, victim advocates, law enforcement and our universities,” Brooks stated in an email Friday. “I was pleased to join Commissioner Lubbers and nearly 100 administrators from 21 Indiana colleges and universities who participated in Monday’s campus sexual assault discussion.”
The meeting provided an opportunity to learn what can be done at the federal level to lessen the incidents of sexual assault on campuses and improve the processes when an assault does occur, Brooks said.
”Schools need to be supported in developing a clear process to follow when an assault occurs that protects the rights of the victims and the rights of the accused. I believe Indiana’s higher education institutions take this issue very seriously and will continue working on proactive solutions,” she stated. “What I also heard on Monday and what students have told me is that addressing sexual assault must come from the bottom up rather than the top down. We must engage and educate students about how to protect themselves and their peers.”
The proposed Campus Accountability and Safety Act takes aim at sexual assaults on college and university campuses by strengthening accountability and transparency for institutions and establishing stiff penalties for non-compliance with the legislation’s new standards for training, data and best practices.
One summary states: “Currently, an American woman who attends college is more likely to be a victim of sexual assault than a woman who does not attend college. At the same time, institutions of higher education across the country do not have an incentive to acknowledge the problem publicly or address it proactively. The current oversight of the federal laws has the perverse effect of encouraging colleges to under-report sexual assaults. The bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act will create incentives for schools to take proactive steps to protect their students and rid their campuses of sexual predators.”
The summary is from the website of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, a senate sponsor of the bill.
According to an article in the Christian Science Monitor, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act aims to hold college campuses more accountable for preventing sexual violence and supporting students who come forward.
• It would require colleges to provide confidential advisers to students in the wake of a sexual assault.
• It would boost enforcement of current laws and address underreporting.
• Schools would not be allowed to sanction students who reveal a violation such as underage drinking in the course of reporting a sexual assault.
• All campus personnel who investigate sexual assaults and participate in disciplinary hearings would have to receive specialized training on the nature of such crimes and their effects on survivors.
• To improve transparency, all colleges and universities would have to administer a standardized survey on sexual violence, and the results would be published online. This would not only help parents and prospective students, but would also help track national progress on reducing sexual violence on campuses.
• Campuses would be required to create memorandums of understanding with local law enforcement to clarify responsibilities and better share information.
• Schools that violate various requirements would face penalties of up to 1 percent of their operating budgets. The federal government has had the option of withholding all federal aid, but it has not done so. The new provision is considered more enforceable. The bill would increase penalties for Clery Act violations to up to $150,000 per violation from the current penalty of $35,000.
Among those attending Monday’s meeting was Michele Barrett, ISU assistant police chief. One purpose of the session was to get feedback from college representatives about the proposed federal law and potential problems or concerns, she said.
”At ISU we’re pretty up-to-date on everything,” Barrett said. But not all campuses are, and some don’t have their own police departments and must rely on outside police agencies to respond to crimes.
Hale said the goal of all of those attending is to prevent and reduce sexual assaults on campuses and to make campuses safer places. But in moving toward that goal, “We have to take a moment and learn more about the problem ... You can’t develop good policy without talking to people at the grass roots.”