Sexual assault reports in first months of school ignite protests across nation
TOPEKA, Kan. — Reported sexual assaults have sparked large protests on college campuses in at least seven states just weeks into the new school year, which advocates say reflects both a greater vulnerability among students who spent last year learning remotely as well as a greater ability among young people to make themselves heard on the issue.
Such protests aren’t new, but there seems to have been an unusually large number of them already this semester, with demonstrations over the past month at schools in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Alabama, Michigan, Massachusetts and Missouri. Protesters have accused their schools of doing too little to protect students and being too lenient with on the accused.
“It is this national push that we’re starting to see for accountability of colleges,” said Tracey Vitchers, executive director of It’s On Us, a nonprofit focused on building a movement to combat sexual violence on campuses.
More than half of sexual assaults against students occur between the start of fall classes and the Thanksgiving break, and generally freshmen and transfer students are the most vulnerable because they aren’t familiar with the campuses and haven’t solidified their social networks. Victims’ advocates call the period “the red zone.”
“We’re in a period of a double red zone,” said Shiwali Patel, senior counsel for the National Women’s Law Center. “We have the first-year students and the second-year students who are now being on campus for the first time.” The wave of protests started after a student reported being sexually assaulted at a University Nebraska-Lincoln fraternity house just before midnight Aug. 24. Police received a separate report about a “wild party” there.
The following night, about 1,000 protesters surrounded the fraternity house. Police are investigating the assault report, and the university temporarily suspended the fraternity’s operations as it reviews the group’s conduct.
Protests at the University of Iowa began less than a week later against a chapter of the same fraternity over a year-old allegation of sexual assault that authorities are still investigating.
At Central Methodist University, a small Missouri liberal arts school between Kansas City and St. Louis, about 50 students protested this week in support of Layla Beyer, a 19-year-old sophomore who said a fellow music student sexually assaulted her the first semester of her freshman year.
The Associated Press typically doesn’t identify sexual assault victims, but Beyer allowed her name to be used.
Beyer reported the assault and said she received a no-contact order against her assailant, who played the same instrument and was constantly around. But she said he repeatedly violated it without facing serious consequences.
“A lot of times, survivors don’t have anybody to stand up for them besides themselves,” Beyer said.
Administrators at other colleges have said they’re committed to helping victims and educating students about appropriate behavior.
University of Nebraska Chancellor Ronnie Green outlined plans that included expanding from two to four a team that helps victims and improving training and education about sexual assault.
Eastern Michigan’s new initiatives include annual training for students and separate training to encourage people to intervene if they see inappropriate behavior. It also is considering the future of a fraternity at the center of multiple sexual assault allegations.
Vitchers said helping survivors is no longer enough. She said universities must educate students to prevent assaults and punish the perpetrators and groups fostering an environment in which sexual violence is viewed as normal or no big deal.
At the University of Iowa, 18-year-old freshman Amelia Keller and her friends turned to Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to rally people to the recent protest at the school. Keller also has worked with a campus group advocating for rape victims.
“We want to be able to trust and depend upon those who claim to care about the protection of vulnerable students,” Keller said. “Right now, we cannot.”