The Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault released recommendations on Monday that organizers hope will help combat sexual assault on campus. Sent to administrators and campus leaders yesterday morning and later in a campus-wide email, the recommendations left few constituencies unaddressed.
The document comes out of months of deliberations, town hall meetings and the organization's second annual symposium on sexual assault, held on April 7. The recommendations propose specific policies for different groups to adopt.
Founded in May 2010 to facilitate communication between students and administrators, SPCSA does not implement the recommendations but presents them to the administration.
"We're more of a communication group, and the idea is that we're bringing together a synthesis and plan for action from all the different groups," SPCSA summer chair Sophia Pedlow '15 said. "I have high hopes that the administration will take serious notice of the recommendations and have them drive the work they're already doing."
Pedlow said the recommendations do not reflect the events of spring term, including the Dimensions protest and the Clery Act complaint filed against the College in May.
SPCSA chair Will Scheiman '14 said these events may increase students' receptivity to the recommendations.
"Given the recent attention brought to various campus issues, specifically sexual assault, our recommendations come at an opportune time," he wrote in an email.
The recommendations charged student body president Adrian Ferrari '14 with carrying out his campaign proposals to give financial and programmatic support to SPCSA in its collection of student feedback on sexual violence.
Ferrari said recent focus on campus sexual assault will increase the report's relevance.
"I think it will appropriately be given more attention than it otherwise would have," he said. "A terrible incident is a terrible incident, and it's never good that something like that happens, but campus is talking now, and there's maybe a small silver lining there."
One section of the SPCSA recommendations asks for more institutional data about assault on campus, which many students began to notice this spring when it became apparent that the Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Office had not released a community report in two years.
The recommendations are consistent with other universities' recent efforts to curtail sexual violence. SPCSA called on the College to include the word "rape" in the Student Handbook and make expulsion the expected sanction for students found to have perpetrated sexual assault. Duke University adopted a similar policy earlier this month.
The report also asks College President Philip Hanlon to deliver "firm messages" to campus and attend annual events, such as the SPCSA symposium, Speak Out and the "Take Back the Night" march.
"I think that it was smart of them to ask President Hanlon to be public about no tolerance," Ferrari said. "It's almost silly that we have to debate no tolerance."
Alumni were asked to join a proposed interest group, to be facilitated by alumni relations vice president Martha Beattie, and to model appropriate behavior and mentor student organizations.
Many proposals are meant to promote education about sexual assault across campus. First-year advisors, incoming freshmen, faculty and off-campus program leaders were all asked to participate in trainings.
Morgan Wharton '13 proposed the recommendation directed at the Off-Campus Programs office, which asked all faculty leading a trip to undergo first responder training in case any incidents of sexual assault occurred while abroad. Her research began with a grant from SPCSA and developed as she conducted interviews with various faculty and staff.
The office is working to offer varied training options, including possible specific trainings for sexual assault, Wharton wrote in an email.
"It will likely be up to individual departments to ensure that the faculty leading their programs attend rather than the mandate coming from Off-Campus Programs," she said.
Other recommendations call for creating more female-controlled social spaces by increasing the number of local sororities, enforcing membership standards for student organizations and increasing student participation in the Dartmouth Bystander Initiative.
Flipping through the six-page document, Ferrari said that although he was impressed by the SPCSA's dedication to the issue, the report's effectiveness has yet to be determined.
"This is a great jumping-off point, but I think in order to make sure we're not just talking about sexual assault, after these recommendations, we set the goal," Ferrari said.
The committee chose to release the document shortly after Hanlon's arrival so that it would not be "lost" at the end of spring term, Pedlow said.
Due to their summer term travel plans, however, many administrators were off campus when they received the report.
With most students away from Hanover, Ferrari suggested that the SPCSA re-release its report to campus in the fall. He added that summer term was the right time to publish the recommendations because they had already been completed, and because repeating the message would help it stick.
Scheiman said the committee's previous recommendations, released last May, had a tangible impact. Results included the creation of the Dartmouth Bystander Initiative, a second SAAP coordinator position and a research grant program.
"Last year's recommendations were both read and implemented," Scheiman said in an email. "I have no reason to believe otherwise this year, especially at such an important time of transition for the College."
Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson, Sexual Assault Awareness Program coordinator Rebekah Carrow, Off-Campus Programs director John Tansey and Beattie were away from their offices and unavailable for comment by press time.
Interim Provost Martin Wybourne and Dean of the Faculty Michael Mastanduno were also unavailable.
