A new sexual assault counselor will join the College’s Counseling and Human Development clinical staff to be used as a “confidential” resource, CHD director Heather Earle said, following the change of the Sexual Assault Awareness Program from “confidential” to “private.” The College will conduct a national search for candidates. Interested candidates will be screened and interviewed by a search committee, which will include both faculty and student input from diverse parts of campus.
Title IX and the Clery Act require the College to keep a record of reported incidents of sexual assault, dating violence and gender-based harassment. Resources deemed “private” are required to report incidents to the College’s Title IX and Clery Act compliance officer, Heather Lindkvist. In contrast, those resources deemed “confidential” may not release any information shared by an individual unless granted express permission.
SAAP, which provides support to survivors and connected them to other resources, was recently changed from a confidential to a private resource, Earle said. This change was a major motivation in the creation this new counseling position, which Earle said would be a confidential and privileged resource.
“With the changes taking place, we really wanted to make sure there’s an identified person who can be confidential, and this is a great way to be able to have that,” Earle said.
Currently, all of the College’s clinical counseling staff know how to work with survivors and how to address post-traumatic stress disorder, Earle said. While some of the clinical staff work as generalists, Earle said that others have subspecialties working with students and developing programs on issues such as drug abuse, suicide prevention and eating disorders. Earle said this new position would fit into this current structure by adding a counselor with “above-and-beyond” qualifications for working with survivors and in-depth knowledge of government regulations including Title IX and the Clery Act.
Susy Struble, founder of the nonprofit advocacy group Dartmouth Change, said that while the added position is a strong indication of the College taking more steps to support survivors, one issue survivors often face is barriers to resources. In particular, Struble pointed out the cap placed by most schools on the number of counseling sessions students can have in any given year. In addition, Struble said that understaffing in counseling departments across the country can lead to long waits before a survivor can see a professional.
At Dartmouth, students are generally allowed between 10 to 12 sessions at CHD per academic year, Earle said, depending on the issues they bring forth. Counseling sessions at Dick’s House, she said, are not charged to a student’s insurance, and students are referred to outside providers for continuous or more specialized care.
Struble pointed to a conflict of interest, such as concern over school reputation and reporting numbers, that can be inherent when institutions provide support to survivors. She said directing students to outside programs — like WISE — would remove this conflict.
“When I say conflict of interest, I don’t mean it as fingerpointing,” Struble said. “It’s a natural thing to occur in this area, and I’d rather we be up-front and address it. There can be times where there’s a gap between what the survivor needs and what is in the College’s best interest.”
As Dartmouth waits for the Office of Civil Rights to rule on its Title IX and Clery Act investigations, Struble said that the College’s recent actions to promote resources for survivors could be preemptive of what it expects the investigations to recommend.
Caroline Heldman, co-founder of the advocacy group End Rape on Campus that helped lead a Title IX complaint against Occidental College, said that students often face less concrete barriers to reporting and seeking help. She cited a culture of repeated poor handling of sexual assault cases by institutions and law enforcement where what happens to survivors is not taken seriously. In addition, Heldman identified informal barriers to reaching out, such as social pressures.
“Oftentimes, survivors will experience their friends turning on them,” Heldman said. “It’s really hard, losing your friend group, and that can be a huge barrier to healing.”
Colleges that have prominent support systems for survivors will have trained nurses, advocates and mental health providers for those who have experienced sexual assault, she said. Heldman also said, however, that most schools do not have trained mental health professionals who are capable of responding to the trauma of sexual assault. She cited a lack of money as the reason why schools sometimes cap the number of visits a student can have each year.
“This position is a wonderful sign that Dartmouth is putting its money where its mouth is,” Heldman said. “It’s one piece of a larger puzzle. Dartmouth does appear to be making a concrete step, but we’re a long way off from having all the data and knowledge to address this problem.”
