National research strongly suggests women experience a heightened risk for sexual assault sometime near the beginning of their college career – the “red zone,” which commonly spans between move-in and Thanksgiving break.
At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, monthly concerns reported to the Office of Title IX peaked between August and November for both 2023 and 2024, according to an analysis of the office’s annual reports.
Thirty percent of the 967 total concerns reported to the office in the last two years involved alleged prohibited conduct committed by a student. Of the total concerns, 17.3% involved sexual misconduct.
The Title IX office — established in 2017 — addresses sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and retaliation at UT through education, prevention efforts and supportive measures for students with Title IX concerns.
Students reported 758 of the 967 concerns total between 2023-24. Of those student concerns, 38.2% involved alleged prohibited conduct, which includes sexual misconduct, dating/domestic violence, stalking and retaliation. About a fifth — 22.0% — of all student concerns involved alleged sexual misconduct, totaling 167 concerns overall over the two-year period.
Research suggests one-in-five women experience sexual assault during their time in college. Among college-age women who experience sexual violence, only 20% of female college students who are sexually assaulted report the sexual assault to police, according to a 2014 report by the U.S. Department of Justice.
This chart illustrates how monthly reported concerns trended during 2023 and 2024. It reflects the combined total of employee and student concerns at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville — the Title IX office does not separate the two in their month-by-month data.
In addition, this chart combines prohibited conduct reports, pregnancy-related accommodations and concerns that do not rise to a policy violation and policy-related concerns, because they are combined in the publicly available reports.
“It is important to note that the date a concern is reported does not necessarily correspond to the date the incident or issue occurred, as individuals may report concerns to the Office of Title IX at any time,” the office said in a statement.
The office said they would not speculate on how monthly reported concerns would trend during the ongoing fall semester.
Only data from 2023 and 2024 was utilized because the Title IX office began publicizing month-by-month reports of concerns in their 2023 Annual Report. The office said they will compile data for the 2025 annual report in the first quarter of 2026.
The Office of Title IX said that the university’s sexual violence education and prevention efforts — and increased awareness and strong reporting culture at UT as a result — may influence the number and nature of reports the Office of Title IX receives.
The Title IX office, Center for Health Education and Wellness, UT Police Department and other university units collaborate on multiple levels to prevent prohibited conduct and educate students on available support and resources, according to a statement from UT.
For example, The Office of Title IX and CHEW co-chair the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Team, composed of 30 members from across UT and the city of Knoxville, focused on educating students on ways to prevent relationship and sexual violence.
The Office of Title IX considers individual, relational, community and societal factors that influence behavior to prevent prohibited conduct across all levels of campus, according to their statement.
Every new student, faculty and staff member receives prevention education through CHEW, the Title IX office said, on topics such as consent, healthy relationships, interpersonal wellness and bystander intervention.
The Title IX office further works with CHEW on interactive programming, such as “Consent T-Shirt Pop Ups”. They collaborate to help train student leaders in Vols ACT annually, to help them recognize and engage with students in need, according to UT.
The Office of Title IX also provides students with personalized care and support for their circumstances, according to UT. Last year, the Title IX office provided 341 supportive measures to students and employees.
UTPD offers educational programming, like the Rape Aggression Defense course, as well as compiling safety tips and resources for students. UT encourages students to install the Safe at UT app, which allows students to call or text UTPD, to share their location while walking or driving, to file a report with campus agencies and to report dangerous activity.
Students who want to help prevent sexual violence could participate in CHEW’s programming, request a training by CHEW or the Office of Title IX, take ACTive bystander training, or support peer education efforts such as VOLS 2 VOLS, according to the Title IX office.
Within the campus community, students serve as advocates and friends to one another in preventing sexual violence.
For example, the Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee student organization supports students with sex education, tabling events, distributing sexual health resources and hosting a Plan B hotline. During one meeting, students described how tabling, social media, word of mouth and personal stories help decrease stigma around and increase awareness about sexual violence.
Brooke Ion, co-president of SEAT and a junior psychology and women and gender studies major, said that language can be a barrier to sexual violence education.
“I feel like so many people on this campus and just in general are afraid of the language that they use,” Ion said. “They’re afraid to say sex, they’re afraid to say rape. I think that, in order to confront such large issues like rape, you have to be able to use the word, you can’t tiptoe around it.”
Marilla Neubauer, a sophomore psychology and pre-med major and member of SEAT, reflected on how men stigmatizing women for their sexuality can contribute to sexual violence.
“I think the reason men have such that culture of, they talk to themselves in secret like that, is also in tandem why sexual violence still exists in the way that it does — is that it’s not allowed to be talked about. And when it is talked about it is in these man-circles. And it is to be joked about. And it is sometimes bragged about, or it’s not talked about at all,” Neubauer said.
Ny’Arie Myers, a sophomore finance major, said peer-to-peer education can feel more relatable than formal prevention programs.
“If you need to intervene if someone is in a risky situation or encouraging friends to report incidents, in communities like mine, peer education can feel a lot more relatable and accessible than formal programs because it’s coming from people who understand our shared cultural experiences or our shared experiences in general,” Myers, a member of UT’s Black Student Union, said.
Some students, including Myers, see opportunities to improve UT’s sexual violence prevention and education resources.
For example, Myers thinks UT can create safer, visible spaces for marginalized students to talk about domestic and sexual violence without stigma.
“In many African American communities, there can be cultural pressure to keep it in the family or avoid involving outsiders — which makes survivors, or people, less likely to seek help,” Myers said.
The American Psychological Association’s fact sheet on campus sexual violence says that individuals with more than one marginalized identity — such as being black and female — increases one’s risk of experiencing campus sexual violence.
Harmful stereotypes about Black men being aggressive, or Black women being strong, cause people to feel dismissed or not believed when they seek help, according to Myers. Myers said that UT having more black counselors, especially male black counselors, and peer advocates trained in trauma-informed care could make a difference for black students.
“UT would be able to partner with so many student organizations, like Black Student Union, to host workshops that directly address these issues in a way that can feel culturally relevant and affirming rather than generic,” Myers said.
Lilly Heidkamp, a sophomore political science major and member of SEAT, said that UT has an opportunity to improve the campus culture around sexual violence by developing more thoughtful sexual assault prevention courses for freshmen.
Annalise Martinez, a senior psychology and women, gender and sexuality major and member of SEAT, suggested that UT could expand outreach about sex week and require overall sexual education courses. She noted that sexual education is not required in Tennessee schools.
Myers said that sexual violence, no matter who is directly affected, affects the campus community as a whole.
“If one group feels unsupported, the entire community becomes less safe and less inclusive, and sexual and violence prevention is not just about protecting individuals, it’s about building that culture of respect and equity,” Myers said.
