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The regents of Iowa’s three public universities have approved new policies for the investigation of campus sexual misconduct in the wake of a bungled response to a sexual assault complaint at the University of Iowa last fall.
In September of this year, an independent investigation found that administrators had mishandled an incident in which a student claimed that two football players raped her in a dorm room. According to the report, the university failed to provide complete and coherent information to the student throughout the complaint and investigation process and acted ineffectually in responding to her reports of harassment on campus after she filed the complaint.
In the past six months two UI faculty members have committed suicide while under investigation for sexual misconduct. In August, a political science professor shot himself while facing criminal prosecution for soliciting sexual favors from four students in exchange for grades, and in November a music professor asphyxiated himself after a former student sued him for sexual harassment.
I recently stumbled across an interesting study of hazing in American colleges and universities, released earlier this year. I haven’t had the chance to fully digest it yet, but I thought I’d pass it along.
A few highlights of the executive summary:
55% of college students involved in clubs, teams, and organizations experience hazing.
Hazing occurs in, but extends beyond, varsity athletics and Greek-letter organizations and includes behaviors that are abusive, dangerous, and potentially illegal.
Alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep- deprivation, and sex acts are hazing practices common across types of student groups.
In more than half of the hazing incidents, a member of the offending group posts pictures on a public web space.
More students perceive positive rather than negative outcomes of hazing.
In 95% of the cases where students identified their experience as hazing, they did not report the events to campus officials.
Nine out of ten students who have experienced hazing behavior in college do not consider themselves to have been hazed.
The study defines “hazing” quite broadly, and I’m not sure I buy all of its premises, but it’s certainly worth a peek.
As you’ve all noticed, I’ve suspended the blog for the time being so that I can participate in the negotiations surrounding the bailout bill currently under consideration in the nation’s capital. I’ll be back tomorrow, though, with the first in a long string of exciting new entries.
In the meantime, I’d like to ask a favor of my New York readers. There’s a bill on the governor’s desk right now that supports women and children who have been subjected to domestic violence and sex trafficking, specifically those who are undocumented immigrants. It’s a low-profile bill, but an important one, and if the governor doesn’t sign it by tomorrow night it won’t become law.
I’ve put up a full explanation of the situation over at my other blog, and I’d very much appreciate it if the New Yorkers among you could take a couple of minutes to go read that post, and if you find it compelling, make a phone call. It’s literally a fifteen-second call, and it could make a big difference in the lives of women who are trying to put their lives back together in very difficult circumstances.
Thanks.
Last week we reported about Anna Minkinow, a Tulane student who brought a complaint against a fellow student for raping her in a dorm and then mounted a campus protest when he was found guilty of sexual misconduct, but neither expelled nor suspended.
This afternoon an anonymous commenter passed along word that Minkinow has started a blog. Here’s how she describes her project:
MY NAME IS ANNA, AND, AS OF JULY 2007, I BECAME A SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVOR. AFTER MY ATTACKER BEAT THE UNIVERSITY JUDICIAL SYSTEM AND A WHIRLWIND OF AGONIES, POLITICS, AND LOSSES FOLLOWED, I BECAME A NEW TYPE OF SURVIVOR. THIS IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH I AM BECOMING A DIFFERENT TYPE OF SURVIVOR THAN I WAS FOR THE NINE MONTHS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE ATTACK. THESE THOUGHTS, ACTIVISM PROJECTS, AND MOLTEN ENERGIES ARE HOW I WILL ENSURE THAT THERE WILL BE AN UNPRECEDENTED CHANGE NONE CAN IGNORE.
We’ll be following Anna’s blog, and we thank the commenter for passing along the link.
There’s a new addition to the “Resources” section of our blogroll this morning — SAFER Campus.
SAFER Campus is a non-profit organization that supports student campaigns to improve sexual assault prevention and response on their campuses. Founded at Columbia University in 1999 and incorporated the following year, SAFER Campus provides organizing trainings, mentoring, and publications to student activists throughout the United States.
On top of everything else, they’ve got a great blog. Check ’em out.
studentactivism.net 
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