Friday's Verbum Ultimum discussed one of the College's new health and safety policies for addressing sexual assault. How would you assess the general efficacy of these new prevention and response programs?
More efforts need to be made to create dialogue about how sexual assault affects Dartmouth students especially in terms of reducing the stigma attached to speaking out about the issue. The policies enumerated in the health and safety update seem appropriate for an urban school where late-night attacks from strangers are a real threat. In Hanover, where most reported incidents occur indoors, between fellow students, they seem for the most part irrelevant. Lauren Rosenbaum '11
The College's shuttle service demonstrates not ignorance, but rather a touch of cunning. The service will reduce the number of students arrested while walking home drunk and will simultaneously appease the zealous Hanover Police with the pretense of reform.
Matt Stumpf '12
I completely agree with last week's Verbum that the new College-sponsored shuttle service is largely irrelevant to the issue of sexual assault. I hope that the other new policies the Self-Defense and Empowerment Training Program, the new handbook and the resource video will be more effective.Jonathan Pedde '14
While instituting a late-night shuttle is not the sine qua non for ending sexual assault on campus, I applaud the administration for taking a necessary step in improving the safety of students. A late-night shuttle will do very little, if anything, in the fight against sexual assault, but at least this luxury will ensure that intoxicated students reach home safely.Suril Kantaria '13
Sexual assault is a complex issue that will only decrease if a significant portion of campus is educated about the underlying causes, accepts that information and acts on it. This will not happen quickly. While I doubt the shuttle will directly reduce incidents of sexual assault on campus, I hope it is a sign that the administration is trying new solutions to chip away at this very real problem.Sapna Chemplavil '11
The shuttle, while unlikely to produce tangible results, may be reassuring for students who feel uncomfortable walking home in the dark in subfreezing temperatures. To really address sexual assault, the College would have to fundamentally rethink Greek life. Roger Lott '14
The policies created by the administration, while well-intentioned, will realistically have little impact on sexual assault. The community must instead take it upon itself to stay safe through heightened vigilance and preventative measures such as staying in groups and locking doors at night.Natalie Colaneri '12
The College's efforts are ultimately off the mark the sexual assault problem at Dartmouth is entirely cultural. Until students are conditioned to identify situations with the potential for sexual assault and take active steps to prevent it from occurring, it will always be a problem, with or without the shuttle.Raza Rasheed '12
Students across campus will be glad to learn that they can now grab a warm and comfortable shuttle home at 2 a.m., just in time to drunkenly order EBAs. Will administrators continue to support this program after they realize the shuttles, while admittedly providing a slight protection against the ultra-rare Hanover street predator, are mainly used as defense against the cold?Keshav Poddar '14
The College's efforts to promote awareness of sexual abuse on campus and encourage discussion on the topic seem to be effective options. However, programs like the shuttle service risk being a sort of lip service ineffective gestures that only serve the appearance of effort.Jacob Batchelor '12
