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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Student task force rolls out sexual assault policy recommendations

AUSG President unveils recommendations, including mandatory student sexual assault education

AU Student Government President Sophia Wirth presented recommendations to the AU community to make sexual assault prevention and support services more available to students and to enforce implied mandatory sexual assault education for all students.

Speaking before a packed crowd in the Forman Theater on Nov. 10, Wirth unveiled the Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Task Force’s recommendations for University sexual assault policy changes. 

The task force spent the last several months creating its recommendations to the administration to change the way the University approaches sexual assault prevention, awareness and education. 

Wirth, who was joined by Executive Director of the National Campus Leadership Council and 2011 alumnus Andy MacCracken, as well as Youth Liaison to the White House Kyle Lierman, opened the event by encouraging students to take action. 

“If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” Wirth said. “We must all adopt personal ownership and agency when it comes to tackling this issue, because the reality is that changing the underlying culture that perpetuates sexual assault is up to us. This is our fight.”

Wirth then introduced the task force’s six recommendations: 

  1. Create a Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Program operating out of the Wellness Center.
  2. Move the Sexual Assault Prevention Coordinator and the Coordinator of Victim Advocacy Services offices to the third floor of the Mary Graydon Center.
  3. Implement mandatory preventative sexual assault education for all AU community members in the next three years. 
  4. Dedicate two hours of Welcome Week to in-person peer-to-peer sexual assault education for all first year students in a hybrid version of PEERS and Step Up! training.
  5. Create a flowchart available on AU’s website that outlines available resources for survivors of sexual assault.
  6. Incorporate Title IX language and survivor resources into all syllabi. 

The mandatory student education recommendation received the most attention in Wirth’s presentation. The first step in enforcing the policy would include an implied mandate for students to complete the education in a similar manner as Alcohol Edu. However, within a few years, Wirth said the task force wants to see the University enforce the policy as mandatory. 

While Wirth said she understands that some people may not believe that mandatory education is necessary, she said it is one of the most effective ways to stop individuals from becoming potential offenders of sexual assault.  

“When you look at the research, there is nothing to support the idea that mandatory education is not the most effective method in targeting sexual assault prevention,” Wirth said.

SUZANNE GABER, THE EAGLE

Wirth then opened up the floor to students, who asked questions ranging from the timeline of when the University might implement these changes, how AU is continuing to deal with Epsilon Iota, the accessibility of the Counseling Center and if the University should change it’s dry campus policy to curb off campus parties. 

“If not us, then who? If not now, then when?”
— Sophia Wirth, SG president

In response to questions about the reality of the University implementing the recommendations, Wirth said the task force was careful in creating realistic policies. 

“The task force worked incredibly hard to make sure that the recommendations are all things that the administration can realistically say yes to,” Wirth said. “We outlined why it was needed, exactly how it can be implemented on this campus, and we’re willing to do the legwork needed to make sure administrators understand exactly how these recommendations can happen on this campus.” 

Now that the recommendations have been released, Wirth encouraged students to show the University why they need to be implemented. 

“We need to make our case,” Wirth said. “We’ve done our best to do so in the report, but now it’s on us as a community to make our voices heard and to emphasize that these recommendations are things that need to be implemented not in the next ten years, but now.” 

kmagill@theeagleonline.com 


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