Ideas to prevent rapes on campus

Accreditation, information preferable to fines, shaming

Education and legislation are discussed — but what is best?

In the past four years, the landscape of safety in higher education has changed dramatically. From the U.S. Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague Letter” to updates of the Clery Act and the Violence Against Women Act, safety on college campuses has been under more federal scrutiny than ever. After more than 20 years in the profession, I do believe something should be done to prevent campus rape; however, layering more requirements — both at the state and federal level — is not the answer.

What seems to have developed is an “us v. them” dynamic that is not dissimilar to the current political scene. Institutions and their respective public-safety/law-enforcement groups generally want to do the right thing; that is, investigate crimes and take steps to ensure that similar ones do not occur in the future. Unfortunately, with increasing fines, public shaming via investigative lists and a lack of understanding of issues by legislators, their jobs are becoming increasingly difficult.

None of this is conducive to reducing sexual assaults. With the nonprofit Clery Center for Security on Campus’ transition from assisting victims with reporting to educating colleges and universities, the campus personnel who are now charged with responding to sexual and gender violence have somehow become the enemy. Many in the media have advocated moving the investigative and reporting process from institutions to local law enforcement. Doesn’t this take the choice away from the survivor? What if the survivor is not psychologically ready to move forward? Isn’t it our responsibility to provide options, medical/psychological care and on-campus judicial proceedings before reporting to law enforcement?

Unlike what’s currently being proposed, new legislation should focus on providing easily accessible, safety-related information to current and prospective members of the campus community. This year, my annual safety report will be almost 60 pages long. How many 18-year-old students have the patience to read through this information as they matriculate to Rollins?

Additionally, concern remains regarding the accurate comparison of crime statistics and information from one institution to another — especially when comparing large public institutions to small private ones. It would be more effective to create a list of 15-20 questions that can be standardized so that safety at each institution can easily be compared. Questions should address issues such as the percentage of the institution’s annual operating budget dedicated to public safety/law enforcement; the ratios of public-safety personnel and licensed mentalhealth counselors to students; and the number of hours of annual inservice, sexual and gender-based crime investigation and trauma-informed response training provided to public-safety personnel. Facilitating this information through an online database would empower students and their families to make better decisions about their safety, which is at the heart of the Clery Act.

I also suggest mandating public-safety accreditation for all institutions receiving federal funding. Involvement of higher-education public-safety groups such as International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and The National Center for Public Safety could assist with this process. If an institution was found to be out of compliance, it would be provided an opportunity to improve in a set period of time or be fined and penalized. Satisfaction of the requirements would be expected and the entire community would play a role in completion of them.

These scenarios would be much more favorable than waiting to obtain a letter from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Just because an institution has not been investigated, does not mean it is safer than one that is under investigation.

A change in the current environment is needed so that we can provide the care and diligence that communities and survivors deserve — without ever-increasing fines and apprehension.

Legislation should focus on providing accessible, safetyrelated information to current and prospective members of the campus community.