College officials have formed a new Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault, to improve "prevention, education, and support services" relating to sexual assault at Dartmouth, the Dean of the College Office announced in a campus-wide e-mail on Wednesday.
The committee is the latest in a series of initiatives by the College to combat sexual assault at Dartmouth. It will seek to implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Sexual and Physical Assault, which was formed in January 2009, according to the e-mail. It will also replace and expand upon the Sexual and Physical Assault Advisory Board, which College officials created this January.
Alicia Driscoll '11, who will co-chair the committee with another student who has yet to be selected, said the new committee will be charged with building upon the recommendations of previous groups and will seek to streamline the way College sexual assault resources and institutions work together.
"We want to maximize the efficiency and efficacy of those groups," she said.
The new committee will work in conjunction with the Office of the President, the Dean of the College Office, College Health Services, the Center for Women and Gender and other resources on campus, the announcement stated.
The committee's first major project is the creation of a new website, which will be launched by June, according to Driscoll. The regularly updated website will centralize important information about sexual assault and will be more interactive than previous sites, she said.
The Committee on Sexual Assault will split into five subcommittees, concerned with the website, Greek life, accountability, education and emergency health services, Driscoll said. Each committee will seek to implement improvements within their respective areas.
One of the committee's long-term goals will be the improvement of emergency response services, according to the e-mail.
The committee will seek to create a service for sexual assault victims with similar brand recognition to the College's much-publicized Good Samaritan policy, Discoll said. One proposal would create a 24-hour hotline to provide victims with support and information about health services, according to Driscoll. She said she hopes students would take advantage of the service, which would guide sexual assault victims through the support process.
The committee will also seek to make health services more efficient and accessible, Driscoll said. Current sexual assault treatments involve "a lot of hoops to jump through," and can only be obtained at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, she said, adding that offering these treatments on campus would make them more convenient and approachable for assault victims.
The e-mail also outlined objectives including improved orientation programs for incoming freshmen, increased educational programming for current students and a reorganization of peer advocate and educator training programs. Most of the committee's ideas have been generated by students, and Driscoll said the College administration will assist in effectively implementing the proposals.
"We are actually focusing on implementing [the Task Force's] proposals," she said. "Our goal is to actually produce change in a pretty quick timeline."
