Taking a break from my studies this past Sunday night, I attended a discussion sponsored by SAGE (Sexual Awareness Through Greek Education). I had joined the group earlier this summer with some hesitation. Although I was certainly aware of the importance of this topic on our campus, I feared that maybe students thought they had already seen and heard it all during Social Issues Night, pledge education and REACT road shows. I wondered if my classmates would be willing to wrestle with this issue yet again.
After the discussion began, I quickly realized that we were taking an interesting and fairly unique approach to the problem. We were not talking exclusively about what constitutes sexual assault. Instead, we focused on students' behavior in routine social settings.
The group examined what role the Greek system plays both in facilitating and debilitating interaction between the sexes. We questioned what responsibilities Greek members have at a party when witness to a situation that appears potentially dangerous. Both sexes seemed to agree that they felt more comfortable in their own houses, and would be more apt to intervene if they suspected a problem.
Students traded stories of incidents that they had experienced, explaining what they did and what they wished they had done. One woman pinpointed a "suck it up" mentality that many Dartmouth students have. This mentality often leads them to keep quiet rather than point out wrongdoing.
After this dialogue had continued for about an hour, one participant stated that although he found our discussion interesting, we were not getting any closer to solving the problem. He expressed a skepticism regarding why the campus needs SAGE and questioned what we were really accomplishing. He proposed that we try to find an easier way for cases of troublesome behavior to be reported.
Our discussion certainly leant itself to such a conclusion. If there were more avenues for incidents to be reported, perhaps fewer would take place. However, merely making it easier to report such cases does not help to define them as dangerous or not. We also need to change attitudes. Students need to be alert to situations where they or someone else are uncomfortable. This type of knowledge comes from discussing the issues.
There is a clear distinction to be made between sexual awareness and solving the problem of sexual assault. Sunday night's group began with the former in an attempt to arrive at the latter. For this reason, the hour spent examining behaviors was not wasted time. Although we did not "solve" anything, we raised awareness. We reassured ourselves and those around us that certain behaviors are not acceptable. I believe that I will now be more apt to act in a situation if I suspect that someone is at risk. I plan to pass this message along to friends who are involved in Greek organizations and to those who are not.
It is unreasonable to expect 20 students assembled on one night to find a solution to the problem of sexual assault at Dartmouth. However, the first step in gaining advancements in a problem that divides the sexes is to bring them together. The co-ed group seemed to share the opinion that students deserve to feel comfortable wherever they are on campus, be it the library or a fraternity basement.
From this discussion, I learned that both awareness and action are needed to combat the problem of sexual assault. Talking about an issue is worthwhile even if the conversation does not generate a definitive solution. Personal feelings and reactions can often be just as crucial.
