Origins

In the spring of 2006 the Trinity Women in Science & Technology, under the leadership of Denise Pope, Assistant Professor of Biology, held an open forum to discuss relevant topics facing female students, faculty, and staff. One of the topics receiving a great deal of attention was student sexual assault: incidents, policies, and procedures. Concurrently, the Sexual Assault Student Coalition, advised by Cara Taylor, Assistant Director of Residential Education, and Kristin Eisenhauer, Staff Psychologist, was gaining momentum by identifying its purpose and strategies to educate the Trinity community on this topic.

The attention given to sexual assault last spring created a perfect opportunity to do a comprehensive review of the Trinity University Sexual Misconduct policy. An ad hoc committee that included concerned parties from either the forum or coalition was formed.

Membership

The committee members were students LaShell Auger, Julia Grizzard, Ana Grossman, Shae Ffrench, Mary Catherine Lambeth, Ryann Madden, and Dana Watt. Staff members were Kristin Eisenhauer, Stephen Nickle, Chaplain, Denise Pope, and Cara Taylor. I commend this group for their thoughtfulness, tenacity, empathy, and intelligence as they tackled very difficult issues.

The committee met once in the spring and was issued this charge:

1. Review and revise our policies, publications, and resources.
2. Consider and determine the educational role the University serves in informing students about our policies, procedures, publications, and resources about sexual assault.

Our goals were to develop or reinvigorate the following:

1. New policy.
2. New outlook/more positive campus culture (not outcomes based but process based).
3. Continued and increased education.

Highlights

-          A statement of philosophy to begin the policy.

-          A new web page.

-          Publication of our practice that no parties in a case, including witnesses, will face policy violations for alcohol, drugs, etc.

-          A policy statement prohibiting retaliation.

-          Victim’s right to see a full summary of a decision.

-          Guaranteed payment by Trinity for initial testing and exam if all other avenues have been exhausted.

-          A clearer explanation of hearing procedures.

Process

The committee met throughout the fall semester. In order to have a common basis of understanding, we heard from Rick Giprich from the Rape Crisis Center. Dr. Eisenhauer also spoke to us about rape trauma syndrome. Brett Sokolow, who had authored our policy three years ago, was offering a series of web seminars on the topics of greatest concern to the committee. We signed up for two of the three “Webinars” which proved to be invaluable in answering our questions and guiding us in our decision-making.

The Sexual Assault Student Coalition along with the newly formed group Men with Integrity will continue to have the major responsibilities to educate the Trinity community about sexual assault in an effort to decrease incidents on campus. In addition, these groups will hopefully embrace the policies and procedures since students played such a significant role in reviewing them and recommending changes. (Men with Integrity hopes to bring the national One in Four peer education program to campus in the coming months.)

The committee decided that it would be beneficial to have a web page (see attached outline). The web page is intended to be comprehensive, educational, and explanatory. Perhaps the most important component is the Frequently Asked Questions. In the forum last spring it was clear that there were many ideas about sexual assault and how complaints should be handled. Through much discussion the committee has developed some clarity about what we think is the best approach for our University and our students. We hope the new web page will answer many questions and serve as a lasting resource.

The educational information on services and resources (rather than on policy and judicial procedures) will primarily be managed by the Sexual Assault Student Coalition and Dr. Eisenhauer. We determined that the web page, the Student Handbook, and the recently revived brochure, should all contain the exact same information to avoid confusion.

It is the committee’s sincere hope that with the new emphasis on education we will see a reduction in incidents (though we cannot measure this as many are unreported), and perhaps an increase in reporting. Such an increase would show, perhaps, that our policies, procedures, and culture are perceived as effective.

The policy itself has only undergone some minor adjustments. Brett Sokolow generously reviewed the changes and affirmed that the additions did not alter the integrity of the policy. We have added a procedures section to the policy that we hope will show a transparent process that removes the mystery of what happens when a student registers a complaint.

Currently

Dr. Gage Paine, Vice President for Student Affairs, has approved the recommendations and the policy will be reviewed by the Standards Committee in January. The Sexual Assault Student Coalition will formally announce the new web page and policy thereafter.