The growing political and social divide in the United States continues to impact campus communities. Issues like freedom of speech, racism, sexual misconduct, and hazing can quickly create deep philosophical divides. While those working in student affairs who have had unique academic training related to the holistic development of all students…

Sexual assault is a pervasive problem on university and college campuses. Although not a new problem, media and political attention has placed renewed pressure on institutions of higher education to prevent and respond to campus sexual assault. To be effective, policies and procedures need to fit with the contextual and administrative realities of…

Sexual assault is a prevalent, yet underreported and stigmatizing crime that disproportionately affects college-age students. The literature of Library & Information Studies does not currently address the ways in which survivors may seek information after an assault. Blending findings from Psychology and LIS, this study proposes the…

The events surrounding Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court will have an effect of college campuses--and not just in the near term. Campuses will be brimming over with concerns about how people treat each other, how people engage with each other, how people of different views can respond to each other and how we form attachments to…

Over the last few years, there have been some egregious examples of rape culture on college campuses that call into question the effectiveness of current sexual-assault policies. This article contains brief recaps of four recent events that took place at prominent American universities, drawn from a laundry list of contemporary examples. They…

The debate over sexual violence on campus is reaching fever pitch, from headlines about out--of-control fraternities, to the "mattress protests" by female students at Columbia University and other colleges. "The Hunting Ground," the new documentary by award-winning filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, has taken this debate to…

Recent sexual assault scandals have brought public attention to the fact that there is a need for colleges to aggressively address the issues surrounding sexual assaults on their campuses. Studies indicate that one in four women are being sexually assaulted each year, but few women report this. Women suffer major psychological issues when…

In this rethinking of how curriculum can be approached in times of trauma, ideas around opening the curricular space to talking about taboo topics like suicide and sexual violence are discussed. Both deeply personal issues, our classrooms and students are not immune from their effects. A distinction between controversial issues and taboo topics is…

At a conference last fall, Kirsten Dierking came across "College Girl: A Memoir," a book by Laura Gray-Rosendale that tells the story of a brutal sexual assault she experienced as a college student. While she purchased a copy of the book, it sat unopened on her desk for a while; also a victim of brutal rape in college, she was not sure…

Collegiate communities are often faced with difficult situations from sexual assault, rape, and other forms of interpersonal violence. These events are not only tragic or traumatic for the individuals involved but also have ripple effects and create collateral damage within the campus community. Many universities are instituting bystander training…

Recently, sexual assault on college campuses has received increased national attention. In its first report, the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault highlighted steps colleges and universities can take to curb the number of sexual assaults on campuses. For the first time, the U.S. Department of Education has released the…

This report describes the policies and programs implemented and reported through an institutional survey undertaken by Association of American Universities (AAU) member universities to prevent and respond to campus sexual assault and misconduct. Fifty-five of the 62 leading research universities that comprise AAU's membership completed the survey,…

Many higher education institutions are scrutinized by their campus community and the media for the way that they respond, or fail to respond, to allegations of sexual assault. Tack on the fact that nearly 100 colleges and universities are currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for possible…

To begin to address the problem of campus sexual assault, we conducted a Teach In, an educational forum used to explore complex social problems. All students, faculty, and staff at our small liberal arts college were invited to participate. This paper summarizes our Teach In program, goals, and methods. By engaging in constructive, informed…

This fact sheet presents questions and answers related to teen dating violence in the United States. It defines teen dating violence, describes the extent of teen dating violence in U.S. schools, how teen dating violence affects our schools, and things schools can do to help. This fact sheet also contains resources and publications for further…