Correction appended.
AU will hire an additional sexual assault prevention coordinator and victim advocate, according to a July 15 summer update email by Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson. AU will also begin giving the Metropolitan Police Department the sites where illegal drug and alcohol use occurred last year.
The addition of another victim advocate is part of the University’s plan to address sexual assault following the alleged misconduct by the unrecognized group Epsilon Iota, according to Hanson. The victim advocate position will help to ensure that the University has enough staff to support students’ education in sexual assault prevention and support survivors.
“We want to be sure that we have enough [staff] capacity to help people when they need help,” Hanson said. “With the addition of another full time person we ought to have both the confidential resources and the training resources covered.”
To help AU connect with other area universities in addressing the issue, the University’s sexual assault prevention coordinator will represent the University at monthly meetings with the D.C. College Consortium, which is a non-profit education association that seeks to advance higher education in the region, and the DC Office of Victim Services, according to the July 15 email.
Administrators decided the position was necessary following an evaluation report that details how staff resources were being used, Hanson said. She said that because of the recent increased focus on sexual assault awareness, more staff resources will be utilized by students this coming year.
“There are going to be a lot of people that are going to step forward that in the past didn’t,” Hanson said.
The University plans to post the position in the next few weeks and fill it for the fall. More updates on the job will be sent to students next month, according to the July 15 email.
Adding another sexual assault coordinator and victim advocate is a good first step in addressing campus sexual assault, Student Government President Sophia Wirth said. But more still needs to be done to educate students on sexual assault prevention and survivor support, she said.
“The first [step] is increased survivor support, [which] in this case comes in the form of the victim advocate,” Wirth said. “The other critical element of this is preventative education and active prevention efforts.”
Regular sites of illegal activity to be reported to MPD
AU Public Safety will provide outside authorities with several off-campus locations where AU students have been been reported to be participating in high risk or illegal activities with drugs and alcohol, according to Hanson’s July 15 email.
The information was gathered from an analysis of last year’s alcohol and drug student conduct cases and specifically targets off-campus locations, according to the email. The data will be given to the MPD and Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration.
The MPD could not immediately comment on the situation, according to Public Information Officer Paul Metcalf.
Incoming students complete new training
Members of the incoming Class of 2018, who attended a two-day Eagle Summit session this summer, completed STEP UP! training, which is the University’s new program to address sexual assault awareness and bystander intervention, The Eagle previously reported.
The University reported that 90.8 percent of students who participated in the training responded that they were familiar with the “critical issues” facing the AU community as well as resources that are available to address those issue, following a session at Eagle Summit that included information on sexual violence, according to Hanson’s July 15 email.
Currently, the training is targeted at athletes and Greek organizations, Hanson said.
Although the program is a good first step in educating students about sexual assault prevention, Wirth said she believes more should be done to educate a greater number of students.
“That leaves a significant gap in educating students,” she said. “As a community we would do well to look more into sexual assault awareness and prevention education.”
New students were also assisted with downloading the free U ASK DC app to their phones, which provides immediate access to sexual assault information and resources on nine District of Columbia campuses, according to Hanson’s July 15 email. The app offers four prompts: “Get Medical Help,” “Talk with Someone,” “Get Help in the City” and “Get Help on Campus,” which allow the user to find legal, medical and emotional support.
Looking towards the fall, Hanson said she hopes the new training and education will help more students look out for one another and embrace sexual assault prevention.
“We are a community that cares about each other,” Hanson said. “If we see worrying things happening, we do something to help stop bad things from happening.”
A previous version of the article said “students education.” It has been corrected to “students’.”
