The Subcommittee on Stalking, a branch of the Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment committee, will make recommendations at the end of this term regarding how the College should address stalking on campus.
The subcommittee's findings and recommendations as to whether the College should create a permanent committee on stalking will be included in SASH's annual report, said Liza Veto, co-chair of the subcommittee and acting coordinator of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program.
Veto said SASH formed the subcommittee during Fall term in response to suggestions several groups of students made to Dean of the College Lee Pelton last spring and to anecdotal evidence that stalking exists on the campus.
The recommendation for a new subcommittee to focus on the problem of stalking was one of the elements of SASH's annual report last year. The subcommittee's initial goal was to assess the need for a committee on stalking because a large portion of the initial evidence about stalking on campus was anecdotal, Veto said.
Students, staff and faculty have reported many types of stalking -- some are sexual in nature. Cases reported include stalking in person and incidents of stalking via e-mail or letters, she said.
Area Director Chris Chambers and Veto are heading the committee with the support of several students involved with SASH.
For now, Chambers and Veto said, the committee's primary goal is to educate and raise campus awareness about stalking. Once they discover the scope of the problem, they may decide College policy changes are necessary.
The subcommittee released a survey this term that asked people to provide their own definition of stalking, along with examples of stalking on campus and suggestions of techniques to help deal with the problem.
While the subcommittee initially distributed these surveys to sexual assault peer advisors and area coordinators, it recently expanded its survey to include a variety of student groups, Chambers and Veto said.
They said the surveys have not been tabulated yet.
In addition to compiling survey information, Veto said subcommittee members have attended conferences on stalking.
Veto said the subcommittee has also researched stalking policies at other colleges and universities.
Veto said the subcommittee has researched existing laws that govern stalking in different states.
New Hampshire's state stalking laws have been effective in maintaining a quick response to these kinds of problems, Veto said.
While Dartmouth students have not used resources like the Hanover police, the courts and the Women's Information Service to deal with stalking in the past, Veto said these are viable options.
