On Aug. 20, Chancellor Jimmy Cheek announced the adoption of an interim sexual assault policy that would serve as the go-to policy for the fall semester. In the meantime, an appointed Sexual Assault and Misconduct Task Force would spend the semester rewriting a comprehensive and easily-accessible policy.
That task force met Thursday in the Carolyn P. Brown University Center to present its final product to university students and staff, allowing them the opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns and generally provide feedback before the policy is sent to the Chancellor on Feb. 20 for approval.
Nicky Hackenbrack, Task Force member and senior in biological sciences, said she hopes the implementation of the policy will lead to a change in culture for the university.
“There’s a lot more to do and we still need to implement the policy, but the policy as it stands is a significant step forward for the university,” Hackenbrack said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do to change campus culture and get everyone on campus on the same page when it comes to what this policy means and what consent means.”
Aspects of the policy largely discussed Thursday included sections regarding consent and amnesty.
Associate Director and Task Force Chair Jenny Richter noted that consent in particular was a factor the Task Force “chewed over” for quite awhile, requiring more than one of their meeting sessions.
The revised interim policy states affirmative consent must be obtained for any and all sexual acts. The policy also includes information on how to obtain consent and specifies that consent for one sexual act or encounter does not translate into consent for further acts or future encounters among other components.
Richter said the consent policy is one she is particularly proud of.
“We started at a very difficult place, and now we are requiring that consent be affirmative,” Richter said. “I think that the way we’ve described it in the policy is clear.”
Hackenbrack mirrored this sentiment, expressing her excitement for the comprehensive and clear nature of the policy.
“Obviously, the consent policy is amazing,” Hackenbrack said. “I’m super happy with how it turned out and how it’s laid out now.”
Establishing an amnesty policy was also a priority for the Task Force. Richter said administrators often fear that students are reluctant to report incidents of sexual assault or misconduct fearing consequences from the university for engaging in activities like underage drinking.
To remedy this, the former policy, which granted amnesty to the complainant reporting a sexual assault incident, has been extended to include individuals who might provide information to the university or testify in an investigation.
“It didn’t make sense to put them at risk of fearing university disciplinary action when in fact we want to encourage them to come forward and participate in the investigation and get to the truth of the matter,” Richter said.
Richter said she is hopeful the chancellor will be pleased with the final product after adding in concerns and revisions brought up Thursday. Her main concern then, she said, will be figuring out how to get the policy into the hands of students.
“As a student, you know how much information you get all the time and how many times people put things in front of you and say ‘This is important, pay attention to this,” Richter said. “We are going to use every means possible to get the message out and hope that it provides information for people.”
