TO THE EDITOR:
Throughout the sexual assault policy “debate,” there’s one thing that is absolutely astonishing about the University’s response to sexual assaults: that it handles them in much the same way as purely academic matters such as plagiarism. But the University is wrong. Sexual assault is not an academic matter. Frankly, it’s frightening that the Title IX Office, among other groups, believes sexual assault is to be treated no more seriously than, say, cheating on a test.
But as the DTH reported on Friday, Ew Quimbaya-Winship characterized the University response to sexual assault as “the academic side.” Yet — and it bares repeating as many times as necessary — there is no academic side to sexual assault. Sexual assault is a crime, full stop.
Of course, the University is required to handle sexual assault in some way. Let me propose a simple but extremely effective process the University could use when it becomes aware of a possible sexual assault:
Step 1: Assist the reporting party through the process of reporting to the police. Step 2: Provide whatever personal support to survivors that they may require, such as counseling or medical services. Step 3: Liaise with the legal system to assist with no-contact orders and other legal remedies.
This process would fulfill all of the legitimate goals of a sexual assault response policy. Of course, one goal that wouldn’t be fulfilled is the creation of as many high-profile, high-paying positions for Title IX officers and other administrators to conveniently fill … So don’t expect to see it implemented anytime soon.
David Adler ’15
Computer science
Mathematics
