A Generation Behind

Are Senior Student Affairs Officers Doing Right by the Profession?

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Content Warning: this post will refer to incidents of sexual violence and the response to these incidents. 

When I started working in Student Affairs in 1989, the policy for response to a reported “rape” included notifying the “victim’s” parents/guardians. I’ve put these terms in quotes because that was the language that was used at the time. These policies by the University resulted in traumatizing student survivors, created a chilling effect toward notification of University officials and campus police, and were coupled with other messaging that targeted University women. Messaging ranged from giving advice on what to wear/not to wear, how to travel in groups, and how to keep your drink safe.