Ashley Burt

Research Paper

December 15, 2017

A Campus Epidemic

The american university system is sick and has been for years. The epidemic of sexual

assault has spread to even the most prestigious colleges. A study by the American Association

for University Women has found that sixty two percent of women has experienced sexual

assault, while thirty five percent of women and twenty nine percent of men report the assault

being physical in some form (“Nearly Two-Thirds of College Students Say They Have Been

Sexually Harassed, According to the Most Comprehensive National Research to Date”). An

institution of higher education is trusted by parents to protect their children as they pursue their

degree, but they are failing the students, the parents, and the country by not enforcing federal

policies on sexual harassment. Sexual assault on college campuses is fueled by a, “casual

relationship,” culture that has detrimental effects on the self esteem and educational

environment of its victims.

Where did it start? Why do so many men and women across the country believe they

have the right to sexually assault another human being? Many claim they drank too much or

her outfit was “asking for it,” but in reality this isn’t the case. The “boys will be boys,” attitude

has always been prevalent in the United States, and is ever present in our university system,

however the causes lie deeper than that. One in four middle school students experience some

form of unwanted sexual harassment either physical or verbal (Sultan). These shocking

statistics reflect how these men grow to treat others in their life. Title IX was passed in 1972

following the increased discontent from women across America. In short, the amendment

banned discrimination on basis of sex in public institutions, and schools that fail to reach these

expectations are no longer eligible to receive federal funding. Colleges and universities across
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the country opened the doors for women in all aspects such as sports. However the

enforcement of gender equality has failed to protect women from sexual harassment, assault,

and rape. The phenomenon of the “Shadow Thesis” states that despite the fact that men are

more likely to be victims of crime except for sexual assault, women are more fearful of being

assaulted. To relax this fear the Clery Act requires higher education facilities to disclose crime

statistics and allow prospective and current students or parents to view what life on campus is

like (Lane). However, the protections have failed. Former assistant dean of students at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Melinda Manning was just one of the women who

were silenced for speaking out. Manning stepped down from her position after the campus

president told her the amount of assaults she was reporting, in compliance with the Clery Act,

was “too high,” (Suran). Democratic Senator Patty Murray from Washington has lead a charge

against the Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos. Murray has accused the Office of Civils

Rights, the legal body in charge of Title IX cases, of choosing to protect the establishment over

the victims (Murray). In Title IX cases the institution has too often come before the victim.

The question however remains, why are campuses a hub of assault? The “Routine

Activities Theory” states that a crime will occur when a motivated offender, a suitable target, and

an absence of capable guardians all in one time and space, all of which occur on campus.

Therefore, college age men and women are more likely to become victims especially in cases of

sexual assault. Also campus culture add another side to the issue. The anomaly of casual

relationships, and the easier access to alcohol prohibits many students from making informed

decisions in social contexts such as fraternity parties (Cass). Sexual assault does not

discriminate in terms of victims, but does affect men and women disproportionately. “The reality

being that although most men won’t commit sex crimes, most sex crimes are committed by

men,” (The Reality of Campus Sexual Assault). Also the effects of the assault are

disproportionate because women are more likely to experience a decrease in their self value

(“Nearly Two-Thirds of College Students Say They Have Been Sexually Harassed, According to
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the Most Comprehensive National Research to Date”). Also, sexual assault cases can be found

across the country; some of the most prestigious universities in the country including Yale

University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2011 Yale University was

accused of failing to respond to an incident where fraternity members stood outside of an all

female dorm holding signs and chanting, “No means yes, yes means anal.” Male members of

Yale’s athletic teams released a,” preseason scouting report,” which detailed fifty girls from the

incoming freshmen class and rated them on how drunk they needed to be to hook up with.

Lastly, at UNC Chapel Hill, a student brought rape charges against her former boyfriend which

lead to his departure from the school. The student was assured if he were to return to the

university she would be notified and he would be housed as far away from her as possible. Six

months later the student learned her rapist was living across the street and the UNC honor court

was attempting to charge her with creating an intimidating environment for her rapist (Suran).

Too often the victim is blamed and asked how her actions provoked the attack in order to

protect the assailant and the world has to change.

What have the institutions or politicians done to rectify the situation? The Obama

administration lead a charge to educate national fraternities through his “It’s on Us,” campaign

and the affirmative consent bill. This law highlighted the matter of the individual initiating has

received a yes rather than the other making sure they said no. This has helped to shift the focus

from just say no to make sure she said yes. Also a website was established by assault

survivors to educate women to know their rights under Title IX and how they can report to the

federal government to invoke real change rather than through the traditional avenues provided

by the university (Bazelon). These legal measures have helped to raise the standard of

discipline for infractions.

Therefore the issue of sexual assault lies directly in the institution which is trusted to

protect the future minds of America. President Obama made strides to protect university

women, but more needs to be done to truly invoke change. Rather than hold the victim
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accountable for what they choose to wear or how much they drank that night, we need to

emphasize that assault is not and never will be acceptable by any standard despite the

examples set by our president.

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Works Cited

Bazelon, Emily. “The Meaning of Yes.” New York Times Magazine, 2014, pp. 13–14.

SIRS Issues Researcher, sks.sirs.com. Accessed 27 Nov. 2017.

“Campus Sexual Assaults Get Second-Class Justice.” Usa Today, 2017, p. A.7. SIRS

Issues Researcher, sks.sirs.com. Accessed 27 Nov. 2017.

Cass, Amy. “Routine Activities and Sexual Assault: An Analysis of Individual- and

School-Level Factors.” ProQuest,

search.proquest.com/docview/208556875/FB234504B39044FCPQ/12?accountid=3785.

Lane, Jodi, et al. “Fear of Violent Crime Among Men and Women on Campus: The

Impact of Perceived Risk and Fear of Sexual Assault.” ProQuest, 2009,

search.proquest.com/docview/208557718/FB234504B39044FCPQ/20?accountid=3785.

“Nearly Two-Thirds of College Students Say They Have Been Sexually Harassed,

According to the Most Comprehensive National Research to Date.” ProQuest, 1ADAD,

search.proquest.com/docview/453702382/5087354A40AD4A37PQ/1?accountid=3785.

“The Reality of Campus Sexual Assualt.” ProQuest,

https://search.proquest.com/docview/1802482722/FB234504B39044FCPQ/16?accountid

=3785.

“Sen. Murray: DeVos' Actions on Campus Sexual Assualt COuld Allow Schools to Once

Again 'Sweep Sexual Assualt Under the Rug'.” ProQuest, 12 July 2017,

search.proquest.com/docview/1918712613/C2E0BC0D50BC4627PQ/31?accountid=378

5.

Sultan, Aisha. “Sexual Harassment Starts in School.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2017, p.

H.1. SIRS Issues Researcher, sks.sirs.com. Accessed 29 Nov. 2017.

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Suran, Emily. “Title IX and Social Media: Going Beyond the Law.” Proquest, 2014,

search.proquest.com/docview/1648955494/5087354A40AD4A37PQ/7?accountid=3785.

Labeling Key
verb form
verb tense
strong word choice
poor word choice
spelling error
awkward phrasing
capitalize word
lower case - do not capitalize
Provide an example to support your point
sentence fragment
run-on sentence
repetitive
Punctuation error
_

Label Name Extracted Text

capitalize word american

verb form has

Punctuation Melinda Manning

error

_ Civils