After a fun night of drinking and partying at Penn State, young men and women are exposed to the possibility of sexual assault from individuals they had just met that evening, or even worse, someone they thought they could trust.
At Penn State, it seems that there are about 2-3 assaults every month, but the question comes about: how many assaults have actually occurred and have gone left unsaid?
L*** T****, a sophomore Management major and President of Sister’s on the Runway: Penn State Division, a club that raises awareness for domestic violence and sexual assault for the local women’s center, says that it isn’t the sexual assaults that are increasing but the action of people reporting them and being more open to speaking up about the issue.
“Often times, people overlook sexual violence,” said T****. “People have become more educated on the severity of this issue and are now more comfortable to report it.”
The concern on what exactly is considered sexual assault is a big debate on college campuses. According to the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, sexual assault is rape and does not have to include physical force. Any type of harassment, such as verbal or physical, is considered assault and charges can be pressed.
According to the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, 57 Penn State students were served at their center and 37 cases required a response team to the Mount Nittany Medical Center for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. Besides these reported cases, over 500+ hours were spent in needs of crisis and support counseling to these victims.
In recent years, many women and men are no longer afraid to speak up about their own personal assaults. According to the 2013 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, there were 56 on-campus assaults and 16 dorm room rapes reported and according to the 2014 Report, there were only 8 dorm room rapes and 17 on-campus assaults reported.
With such a significant drop in reported assaults here at Penn State, it’s hard to believe that these numbers are actually true. After standing on the corner of College Avenue and Shortlidge Road on a busy Thursday night evening, about 90 percent of the people were walking in groups and about 50 percent were in couplets. The occasional “I’m so glad I just met you!” or a “Thank you for walking me home after meeting at such and such frat” rang throughout the streets and made the atmosphere seem uncomfortable, almost in an untruthful way. What could happen next could have possible been next day’s news story that there was another sexual assault that had occurred on campus because of this couple casually walking home together after meeting each other that very night.
The next few days, there were no sexual assaults reported that evening but it’s hard to differentiate if any of those people were too afraid to speak up about their assault or the other they were with was smart enough not to assault them.
According to the Centre County Women’s Resource Center’s webpage, most victims are afraid to speak up about their assault because they don’t want to put “blame” on the other or are afraid he/she might go to jail because of it. The Centre County Women’s Resource Center provides a page on their website with tips on how to know if your friend might had been assaulted and how to go about it. According to their site, the most important components to helping them deal with the situation is simply listening and believing what they have to say.
K**** T****, an I** P** major in the sorority *** ***, says that it’s always important to watch out for signs and to keep an eye on your friends while out.
“It doesn’t hurt to check in once in a while with your friends who are with a guy to see if they’re doing okay and if they need your assistance, if in need,” said T****.
Something that has been a huge factor in helping prevent assaults is educating the public on the importance of not assaulting men and women.
T**** thinks that there are several ways and approaches to prevent sexual assaults.
“One approach that I think has the potential of being quite effective is to educate our students more on domestic abuse using real statistics and facts,” said T****. “Relating an issue to our environment and community makes the issue seem more relevant to some students.”
With clubs like Sisters on the Runway (SOTR), students are becoming more educated and aware of the dangers of sexual assault and violence that occur on Penn State’s campus.
T**** is taking the approach of spreading awareness by hosting Walk a Mile in Her Shoes and holding signs with statistics on domestic violence and assault that people read while watching the walkers. Another huge project is their “chalking event.”
“We will soon be chalking the Penn State sidewalks and campus roads with interesting facts, statistics, and more,” said T****. “This has been a success in the past, and I look forwards to seeing its effect on a larger campus.”
Students who aren’t highly involved in clubs preventing sexual assault have been giving out great ideas on how they can educate the student body.
A*** M***, a sophomore I** major in the fraternity *** *** ***, thinks the campus should have better education programs on the cause.
“We should have a seminar on sexual assaults right when we get to Penn State as a freshman,” said M***. “Kind of like our New Student Orientations.”
T**** mentioned possibly having some sort of reference number to contact if in need.
“We should have a sexual assault hotline that basically all of the Penn State students should have,” said T****. “If we already have that, then I don’t know about it and it should be advertised more.”
The interesting thing about raising awareness for sexual assaults are the amount of people involved with Greek Life who are very involved and willing to speak about the issue.
On April 9th, the Men Against Violence, Center for Women’s Studies, the IFC and the Peers Helping Reaffirm, Educate, and Empower all teamed up together to create a Walk A Mile in Her Shoes campaigned, bringing out many men from Penn State’s fraternities to promote the phrase “Yes Means Yes” campaign.
Men from all different organizations, especially those involved in Greek Life, came out in groups to support those who had been sexual assaulted, especially so recent with the Kappa Delta Rho case.
D*** W****, a junior T** major, thought highly of the fraternity men getting involved with the cause.
“I think it was really inspiring to see these boys take a stand,” said W****.
T*** likes the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes cause because it brings out men and women of the community to take a stand on a very important subject.
“[The Walk a Mile in Her Shoes] was extremely effective when getting our message across,” said T*** “Men walking in heels caught people’s attention.”
Whether or not sexual assaults will stop for good, it is important to always be educated on the dangers of non-consensual contact, especially on college campuses today.
Sexual Assaults on Campus - Spring 2015
In the recent months, the Penn State Panhellenic Council has completely changed the social policy for sororities causing Greek Life to start the year with a fresh new slate of changes.
Some of the changes that were made to the new social policy are requiring an attendance sheet that all sisters are required to sign-in. The allowed number of socials a week has been reduced from three to two, wristbands are required for 21+ sisters to wear at each social, and week-long social events and requiring a two-week dry period after recruitment, according to a report made by the Panhellenic Council.
A*** E***, a freshman marketing major in P***, enjoys the new social policies that were put into place.
“I think the new social policies are good for sororities because it keeps everyone safer for when they are drinking,” says E***.
These new social policies were implemented back in early November and have been effective ever since.
In the past month, fines ranging from $800-$1200 have been put into effect for breaking any of these social policies. Sororities also have the possibility of being put on probation by the Panhellenic Council, which would prevent them from being able to participate in the upcoming fall recruitment.
Since the social policies are so new, the Panhellenic Council is still trying to find ways to crack down on unregistered socials and sororities breaking the rules.
Before each social, the social chairs of each sorority and fraternity must submit paperwork to the IFC and the Panhellenic Council where their social will be hosted and with whom. Sororities must submit a list of designated sober sisters that stay sober the entire night to keep an eye on sisters.
“I know some sororities do not take these rules seriously and put their girls in more danger by having socials that are unregistered,” says N*** B***, a sophomore CSD major in P***. “This means they do not need to submit a sober sister list, so no one is responsible for the girls who get out of control. This can cause girls to be unaccounted for by the end of the night, which is scary and extremely dangerous.”
B*** is on the executive board of the new sorority on campus, P***. Part of her job, as well as the rest of the executive board, is making sure each social event runs smoothly for the boys and most importantly the girls.
With the new rules put into place some sororities and their sisters reacted to the changes positively and negatively.
A*** F***, a sophomore public relations major in Z***, was skeptical of the social changes in the beginning.
“At first I wasn’t in favor of them but to be honest, now they really aren’t too bad,” says F***. “They really haven’t impacted me personally because I usually leave the weekdays for schoolwork and the weekends for parties. I understand that they did it for our safety so I’m not mad about the new rules.”
From a different perspective, C*** G***, a sophomore psychology major in P***, thinks the social policies are going to take some time to be fully effective.
“It is a little difficult at this point with such a sudden change in how things are run when Greek Life has been used to doing things a certain way for so long,” says G***.
The social policies are simply there to keep things in line and to make things a lot safer for the sisters.
“The rules were meant to protect, but due to girls not following them they almost cause more of a risk,” says B***. “I feel the new social policies had great intentions to keep girls safe and as long as people follow them, they will do exactly what they were set out to do.”
New Changes to Panhel - Spring 2015
Caitlin Flanagan, a writer for The Atlantic, hesitantly opened her speech to a quiet and timid crowd, as they expected the worst – being lectured something they have been so used to for the past week and a half on the evils of fraternities and why they should be shut down, in lieu of the recent Kappa Delta Rho incident. Yet, her speech was the complete opposite.
The Foster-Foreman Conference occurs twice a year and invites some of the best writers in the country to Penn State’s campus for free, according to the College of Communications website. Caitlin Flanagan opened up this year’s conference at the State Theatre and definitely brought the house down with her scholarly and detailed information she provided on fraternities.
Flanagan compared her excitement of being at this extinguished conference to the thrill of someone who participates in BDSM, the Bondage & Discipline, Dominance and Submission & Sadism and Masochism, according to an Urban Dictionary definition. The crowd seemed to not know whether to laugh or sit back in their seats feeling a tad bit awkward, somewhat like the lead to her renowned article “The Dark Power of Fraternities.”
Caitlin explained the reasoning behind her fraternity story due to her college experience, one that involved going to fraternities.
“There were people who hated the system and there were people who loved it,” said Flanagan. “Nobody could answer the questions I had behind it.”
Flanagan addressed the crowd of her questions that included “Where had the money come from to fund the houses?” and “Did the universities do so?” or “Why would men risk so much to join a club?” With these questions that were raised while writing her story, she switched sides of the spectrum of frats to the problem of rape within the house. She used the example from her story, a college freshman girl from Wesleyan University who had been victimized at a fraternity house.
“I was told by my friend in a fraternity to never go upstairs at a frat house,” said Flanagan. “He just said no matter what you do, just don’t go upstairs.”
Flanagan stated that this fraternity at Wesleyan was known for their rapes and everyone knew about them, besides the new freshman that had just come to the university. She also stated that the school president’s office was directly across the street from the fraternity house and didn’t do anything about the occurrences.
After dampening the mood of the audience, Caitlin did a complete 180 by explaining the Tour de Franzia she had discovered by fraternity “knuckleheads” and lightened the mood. She explained the Tour de Franzia was a drinking game that the boys would butt chug Franzia wine and most of the time would get completely hammered. After being dubbed the champion of the Tour de Franzia, one fraternity brother was dropped off at the local University’s hospital without any assistance from his “brothers.”
“An unfortunately fraternity injured brother, possibly inebriated, was dropped off at the University of Tennessee Health Services with no name, no explanation, nothing,” said Flanagan.
As her speech came to a close, Flanagan explained that a task force would be taken here at Penn State and that the University does not have power over these fraternities.
“Do not have much trust on your task force,” said Flanagan. “People that are angry will go on to graduate and others will go to their summer activities, other national news will happen and new personal issues will arise and that terrible thing is in the past and things have changed.”
Flanagan urged students to speak up on what might have personally happened to you or what has happened to a friend and for women that were assaulted to find someone they can speak to.
“These are not only women that are being victimized but also men, due to hazing,” said Flanagan. “These men have shame of experiencing it and a shame in participating in it.”
Caitlin closed her speech by saying she isn’t trying to reprimand those in fraternities and encouraged the audience to clean up the fraternities here at Penn State.