The sexual assault awareness lecture series that began last Monday is a step in the right direction, but UNC should make sexual assault education mandatory.
Attending the open lectures is voluntary, and the majority of students would not choose to add another lecture after a day full of classes, unless they are particularly interested in the subject.
Sexual assault has moved toward the front of the University’s issues to address, especially throughout the last year.
Therefore, the administration should be more aggressive about ensuring that as many incoming and current students as possible are exposed to some kind of sexual assault education.
One effective way to do this would be to tackle the issue from the front end, with incoming freshmen.
Much like the online alcohol abuse class that students are required to take the summer before their first year, the University could require new students to take an online sexual assault class.
This would ensure that all students would come to Chapel Hill with a basic understanding of what exactly sexual assault is and how to stop it from happening.
Another way to introduce incoming students to sexual assault education is through orientation.
Although orientation does touch on sexual assault briefly during its “Carolina Way” segment, not enough time is spent on the issue for new students to fully grasp the concepts.
