Since the publication of the Amherst student’s account of her experience with rape, sexual misconduct has at last recaptured the attention of college campuses across the country.
Hopkins is no exception: Sexual Assault Resource Unit (SARU) has become a more visible force on campus; multiple articles related to the issue have appeared in The News-Letter; and, as reported in Audrey Cockrum’s article in last week’s edition, the offices of Student Life and Institutional Equity have taken strides in developing resources for victims.
Concerns expressed in Cockrum’s article – that the administration does not take the issue of sexual assault seriously and that Hopkins does not provide the environment necessary to feel safe reporting cases – are not uncommon ones. I am pleased to say that, in response to these concerns expressed prior to the publication of Cockrum’s article, Student Government Association and the Office of Student Life had begun an initiative to address and combat sexual assault on our campus.
This committee consists of four members of SGA, Dean Boswell and two other students, including me. Dedicated to removing the stigma from the conversation around sexual assault, improving the resources provided to students and raising awareness in the hope of preventing its occurrence, we seek to create a safer environment for our campus.
Our programs will begin in April, the month dedicated nationally to sexual assault awareness. Among our plans are bystander training, to educate students in how to recognize and respond to situations in which assault may occur; a tee shirt campaign, to raise visual awareness for the cause; speaker events, both to discuss the issue from an intellectual standpoint and to make students aware of its prevalence; participation in marches; Vagina Monologues and other events.
In addition, we have plans to address the issue prior to incoming students’ arrival on campus, and to implement effective programming at their orientation.
It is true that the issue of sexual assault is pressing and deserves constant attention, and that April is not soon enough to begin addressing it as a campus. In the meantime, we have begun efforts to increase the resources available to students and to centralize related information so that it is readily accessible. Efforts to train counselors from the Counseling Center to be on call 24/7 as sexual assault specialists are already underway.
Sexual assault is profoundly isolating and difficult to process. But remember that Hopkins cares, and that there are already resources available to those in need.
SARU Emergency Hotline: (410) 516-7887 (available 24/7)
Counseling Center: (410) 516-8278 (open M-F 8:30am-5pm)
Safety and Security: (410) 516-4600 (available 24/7)
The Office of Institutional Equity: (410) 516-8075
The Office of Student Life: (410) 516-8208
Additionally, a counselor from the counseling center is on call 24/7 via Safety and Security.
Eliza Schultz is a sophomore International Studies major from Brooklyn, N.Y.
