Currently, a number of colleges and universities across the U.S. are under investigation for violations of Title IX, a statue that aims to provide equal opportunities for all students.
In response, schools were given two options: conduct the White House survey or come up with their own. Colorado College was among the schools that chose to create a modified survey in order to address the issues that the school felt were not covered in the White House survey.
CC’s survey addresses a number of issues including stalking, sexual assault, how people felt about the incident-reporting process, awareness of resources on campus, and much more.
Students answer anonymously, even though some demographics are taken in order to see if certain groups are at an increased risk for different kinds of assault.
Although many students have complained about the detail into which the demographic questions go, the demographics asked in this survey are not being looked at in order to identify the individual. Rather, they aim to identify what groups are more at-risk and to aim future programs more towards that cohort.
“We did our own survey because we didn’t think the questions being asked were very good or that they pertained to the things that we really care about,” said Gail Murphy-Geiss, Associate Professor of Sociology and Title IX Coordinator. “Most of the surveys don’t have anything about stalking but stalking has been an issue here at CC so we wanted to ask about that.”
Title IX states:
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
“From our previous surveys, women who were in sorority houses were at an increased risk for certain kinds of sexual assault involving physical force,” said Heather Horton, Director of the Resource Center. “Also, first-year students tend to be, across the country, of increased risk.”
This will be the first climate survey done since 2009 at Colorado College. With these responses, the College will be able to better cater to students and their needs.
“I think that this is a really unique opportunity for students to be fully anonymous and really candid about their experiences and what they see,” said Tara Misra, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. “Certainly, my role is to be an advocate so I want to respond to things that people bring to my attention.”
Colorado College believes that they ahead in terms of how much they attend to their students’ needs and their sexual misconduct procedures, especially compared to other schools. A lot of this is based off of the steady and increasing number of reports filed annually.
“People who aren’t familiar with these issues can think ‘Oh my god Tara, what the hell is wrong! Why are so many people coming to you?’” said Misra. “Again, I feel like we have had this program here for over 10 years and the trust we’ve built in our students is reflected in these numbers.”
“I am constantly hearing from folks that do this at different institutions how far they have to travel to get to where we are,” Misra continued. “Whether that means developing a Sexual Misconduct Policy or determining who is going to be a confidential resource.”
In order to see how true their beliefs are, however, they believe that they need quantitative proof.
“I think at CC we’re doing really well but we don’t have a lot of data to show that,” said Murphy-Geiss. “We have a sense that we’re doing well but that’s also because we hear about the nightmares that are going on in other schools and because we hear anecdotal stories of our students who were happy with their filed complaints.”
The Colorado College faculty are heavily concerned with how to tackle sexual assault; many say that the college has been criticized for being too strict. For the past ten years, they have stayed ahead of the curb in terms of their sexual assault response center and resources. For the College, safety will remain a priority.
“The truth is that if someone feels uncomfortable or violated, I want to follow up on that. I believe that safety is a right that students are entitled to hear and we’re very clear on our expectations of each other’s behaviors,” said Misra.
Students are encouraged to take the survey. It will remain open until 1,000 responses have been recorded. With candid and intentional responses, Colorado College can begin to improve on their weaknesses and fortify their strengths in protecting all students’ rights under Title IX in a more specialized way than the general White House survey.