SEXUAL MISCONDUCT Myths and Realities at Lewis & Clark

BY CASSIE BISHOP AND BEAU BROUGHTON

ARTS EDITOR AND FEATURES EDITOR

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT MAY BE TRIGGERING OR UNCOMFORTABLE TO READ. ewis & Clark College has a very comprehensive sexual misconduct policy. The policy, which can be found on the LC website, claims that the College does not tolerate sexual misconduct in any form and provides detailed information regarding both preventing and responding to the following offenses: sexual harassment, non-consensual sexual contact, non-consensual sexual intercourse and sexual exploitation. A handful of administrators, including Director of Health Promotion and a Sexual Assault Response Advocate, Melissa Osmond, have commented on the strengths of the policy. Osmond believes that LC is more liberal in defining what constitutes sexual misconduct than pertinent federal legislation. Results from sexual misconduct hearings, according to Osmond, have been mostly satisfactory for the survivor. We have been able to successfully remove perpetrators from campus. LCs policy also provides clear definitions of consent and outlines individuals responsibilities in reducing risk. Its a very comprehensive policy, said former Forest Area Director and former SARA, David Rosengard. I dont think it gets hung up on legal definitions. I think it is more focused on what has actually happened to a person. The SARA program consists of a team of seven administrators divided between the undergraduate, law and graduate campuses. The team circulates a pager that, according to the SARA website, provides 24/7 anonymous [and] private support for survivors and friends regarding any form of sexual misconduct. Rosengard explained that the primary goal of the SARA program is to balance the wishes of the survivor with the safety of the greater LC community. According to Rosengard, SARA attempts to maintain the survivors degree of control because they have already had far more control taken away from them than ever should have happened. However, reporting to a SARA is only one of several primary avenues available for students. The Feminist Student Union and Queer Resource Center are both student-run safe spaces that operate in ancillary reporting capacities. I think the tradeoff there is that youre going to be reporting to someone [a Resident Advisor] who has a connection to a much deeper range of resources, Rosengard said as he discussed the difference in reporting to a FSU or QRC representative as opposed to a RA. Though all groups are trained by Osmond in survivor support, the difference is that RAs, as student staff, are required to report to their AD if a survivor comes forward.

RAs play a critical role. They are here to speak for students who are not in a position to speak for themselves, Rosengard said. Ive certainly worked with students who wouldnt have reported if they hadnt been able to report to an RA that they trusted. The College is required to comply with Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 which mandates that educational institutions report all instances of sexual misconduct, among other statistics, to the Department of Education. The team of Deputy Title IX Coordinators is spread between LCs three campuses with Vice President and Provost Jane Atkinson as the coordinator. In addition to Title IX, LC adheres to both the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (commonly referred to as the Clery Act) and the Dear Colleague Letter. The Clery Act, named after a university student who was assaulted and killed in her residence hall in 1986, requires colleges and universities to

collect, report, and disseminate crime data, which includes everything from hate crimes to instances of sexual misconduct. While Clery provides comprehensive guidelines, Osmond conceded that there are some gaps. One of these gaps is the discrepancy between Clerys reported instances of sexual misconduct and the much higher number of unreported assaults taking place within the LC community. I try to figure out how [Clerys definitions] match with our definitions of sexual misconduct, Osmond said. Were more liberal in defining what constitutes sexual misconduct, and its a broad range of behaviours and activities from sexual harassment to penetrative rape. Osmonds disappointment in Clerys narrow definitions and the aforementioned gap was echoed by Rosengard: There are going to be some things that constitute sexual misconduct in the Colleges eyes that dont fit any of the Clery Act categories and therefore arent reportable. You can only

report exactly what it wants you to report. The Colleges on-the-ground resources for survivors is a hefty list of trained professionals and ancillary support groups. Osmond said that throughout her tenure at LC the outcomes have been mostly satisfactory for the survivor. Osmond explained the transformation she has seen survivors undergo: from being traumatized to finding the right help and resources for them and [coming] through that process as okay as they can be. However, she acknowledged that making someone whole after an experience like that is not necessarily possible. LCs survivor support network has a purposefully diverse base so that students are able to contact whomever they are most comfortable with. SARAs, RAs, ADs, the QRC, the FSU, Deans, Campus Living, the Provost and Deputy Title IX Coordinators are only some of the initial channels studentswhether they are survivors, friends or perpetratorscan contact to get support.

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PHOTO BY HANNAH PRINCE