The public relations of campus sexual assault

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The public relations of campus sexual assault

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Content THE PUBLIC RELATIONS OF CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULT
by
Micaela Stevens
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL
FOR COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)
August 2021
2021 Micaela Stevens

ii
Dedication
This thesis is dedicated to my dad, who has spent his life working tremendously hard to
give educational opportunities to many. Thank you for my schooling and thank you for teaching
me that when you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence. I hope I can
make you and mom proud.

iii
Acknowledgments
I would like to extend gratitude to my mom and all loved ones, to my educators and
peers. Most of all, I want to thank my thesis committee: my chair, Burghardt Tenderich, whose
academic and professional guidance has helped me throughout my time at the University of
Southern California. I am grateful to my committee members Jennifer Floto and Dr. Caroline
Heldman; I could not have completed this thesis without their counsel, support, and expertise.
To love an institution is to celebrate its good samaritans while providing solutions for its
ethical lapses. It is to be an agent of change. I want to thank the campus administrators across the
nation whose hearts are in the right place and follow through with action—a somewhat rare
combination. It is not as easy as it should be.
I remain consistently in awe of student and faculty activists (especially Dr. Heldman, a
topic expert whose fierceness and unwavering support for survivors I hope to emulate),
advocates, and survivors. The only way to get through this world as a survivor of sexual assault
is with other survivors at your side. Thank you.

iv
Table of Contents
Dedication ..................................................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................................ iii
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................................... v
Part I: Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 1
Part II: The Landscape of Campus Sexual Assault .................................................................................................. 2
Campus Rape is Different .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Laws, Policies and Ambiguity .................................................................................................................................... 5
Part III: The “Why” .................................................................................................................................................... 9
Rape Culture ............................................................................................................................................................ 10
"As American as Apple Pie" .................................................................................................................................... 14
The Experience of College Spaces ........................................................................................................................... 17
Spotlight: Greek Life and Sexual Assault ................................................................................................................ 18
Part IV: Campus Activism ........................................................................................................................................ 25
The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement .................................................................................................................. 25
The Stakeholder Structure of Colleges .................................................................................................................... 27
Part V: The College PR Machine .............................................................................................................................. 33
College Public Relations Goals and Activities ........................................................................................................ 33
Crisis Communications and Higher Education ....................................................................................................... 34
The Ethical Issues .................................................................................................................................................... 37
Internal and External Statements ...................................................................................................................... 37
Sanctions ............................................................................................................................................................. 41
Terms & Definitions ........................................................................................................................................... 49
Case Study: Occidental College ......................................................................................................................... 50
Part VI: Institutional Harm ...................................................................................................................................... 55
Part VII: A New Approach ....................................................................................................................................... 55
The Student Empowerment Model ........................................................................................................................... 56
Part VIII: Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 59
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................................... 63

v
Abstract
This paper explores the landscape of public relations efforts of higher education
institutions following campus sexual assault crises. It shines a light on some ethical errors that
schools make as part of a goal to prioritize image and best protect against reputational damage.
The purpose of this study is to recognize core issues in schools' communication practices and
outline possible remedies to allow for a safer educational environment that emphasizes positive
dynamics between students and administrators.
This thesis begins with an overview of the campus sexual assault epidemic in the United
States, looking at a culture that creates an environment conducive to gender violence. I then
transition into the rise of campus activism, which has critically increased the importance of how
colleges craft their public relations efforts. I point to various schools' communication efforts in
their responses and outline some of the ethical errors made. I conclude by suggesting new tactics
and approaches to how colleges and universities should prepare their internal and external
communications regarding campus sexual assault.
As our society continues to pay more attention to widespread sexual assault following the
Me Too movement's onset, and as the field of public relations emphasizes a priority of
implementing best ethical practices, this topic is more deserving than ever.

1
Part I: Introduction
Every American college has a sexual assault problem: in fact, almost one in five women
and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while on campus.
1
Campus sexual assault not only
affects those victimized, but it also has detrimental consequences on the student body through a
ripple effect. How schools respond to specific incidents, and the epidemical overall factors into
the school environment and level of student outcry.
Campus activists have been attempting to gain widespread public recognition of campus
sexual assault issues for over forty years, and recent internet activism has allowed the matter
more momentum.
2
And such momentum translates to federal efforts. Over the past decade, The
Department of Education has investigated hundreds of schools across the country for their
handling of sexual misconduct, with the first substantial wave of Title IX cases in 2013, a second
significant wave in 2014, and several cases in the following years. These cases were all catalyzed
by a strategic network of student and faculty activists. By 2016, the number of Title IX
investigations topped 200.
3

This increased momentum of campus rape activism means that there is a growing
importance on the ways that colleges and universities respond to sexual assault. More people are
scrutinizing schools than ever before. Critics look at preventative measures, reporting
mechanisms, support for survivors, administrators and staff adequacy, adjudication policies,

1
“Statistics About Sexual Violence.” National Sexual Violence Center,
https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications_nsvrc_factsheet_media-packet_statistics-about-sexual-
violence_0.pdf
2
Heldman, Caroline, et al. The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement: Internet Activism and Social Justice. Lexington
Books, 2018.
3
Kingkade, Tyler. “How Colleges Are Able To Keep Title IX Investigations Hidden.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 16 June
2016, www.huffpost.com/entry/title-ix-investigations-sexual-harassment_n_575f4b0ee4b053d433061b3d.

2
punishments for perpetrators, and communication efforts, and transparency about campus sexual
assault to campus, law enforcement, and the public.
This paper draws on sociological theories because we cannot discuss how to
communicate about a uniquely American problem without recognizing the country's roots of
sexual violence and the college landscape itself. I focus heavily on the communication between
administrators and students, which is imperative because positive dynamics between a school
and its current student body (especially activists) are necessary for an institution to maintain a
positive image. While faculty have also played an important role in campus activism, this paper
focuses primarily on students.
As a note to the reader, while the terms "college" and "universities" are not identical in
meaning, this paper will use “college” to refer to both for the sake of brevity (except when
referring to specific schools). This paper focuses on schools where most students live on campus,
which is critical to the issue at hand—schools that are primarily commuter comprise entirely
different dynamics.
Part II: The Landscape of Campus Sexual Assault
Campus sexual assault is a uniquely American epidemic. While theories as to why this is
the case vary, the public and media alike commonly accept that campus is not as safe as it ought
to be. On average, almost one in 5 women and one in 16 men will be sexually assaulted during
their time at college.
4
18-24-year-old college women are at risk of sexual violence three times

4
“Statistics About Sexual Violence.” National Sexual Violence Center,
https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications_nsvrc_factsheet_media-packet_statistics-about-sexual-
violence_0.pdf

3
more than all women.
5
Freshman year is particularly dangerous. Students in their first year are at
an increased risk, and more than 50% of college sexual assaults occur from August through
November.
6

While campus rape data heavily focuses on women as victims of sexual assault, it is crucial
to note that men, too, are sexually assaulted. Women indeed tend to be sexually assaulted at higher
rates than men, but men, too, can be victims, regardless of the body’s physiological response—
something that we too often ignore. Erection and ejaculation are normal bodily responses to
stimulus and do not equate to consent.
7
Although men are usually assaulted by other men, they can
also be assaulted by women.
8
Very few men come forward about experiencing sexual violence.
Some male victims are ashamed because of a false belief that it cannot happen to them or other
men.
9
Men can be sexually assaulted regardless of their size or strength.
10
We also know that gay
and bisexual men are over ten times more likely to experience sexual assault than heterosexual
men.
11

We also know that female students who are lesbian or bisexual are more likely to be
sexually assaulted on campus than heterosexual women.
12
Over 23% of transgender, genderqueer,

5
“Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics.” RAINN, Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network,
www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence.

6
Ibid.
7
“Sexual Assault Information for Men.” Department of Health, Government of Western Australia,
healthywa.wa.gov.au/Articles/S_T/Sexual-assault-information-for-men.
8
Ibid.

9
Ibid.

10
Ibid.

11
“Statistics.” Know Your IX, Know Your IX, 13 Mar. 2017, www.knowyourix.org/issues/statistics/.

12
“Sexual Assault on College Campuses Is Common.” Office on Women's Health, 13 Sept. 2018,
www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/sexual-assault-and-rape/college-sexual-assault.

4
nonconforming (TGQN) students have been sexually assaulted.
13
While there is limited data
surrounding sexual violence perpetrated against LGBT students, students of color, disabled
students, and undocumented students, we do know that members of marginalized communities
face sexual assault at higher rates.
14

Campus Rape is Different
College is unlike any other period in a person’s life. A transitional path between
adolescence and adulthood, it usually comes at a pivotal time in young people’s life where they
are shaping who they are and have not yet reached their full emotional and mental development.
Few other times in people’s lives emphasize socializing with others as much as throughout college.
One of the factors that makes campus sexual assault so unique compared to sexual assault as
a whole is that 90% of assaults are committed by perpetrators that the survivors know. Because
students are in close contact with others throughout their college careers, survivors have to see
their perpetrators in various settings: classes, dorms, library, the quad, parties, and at other social
events. In general, college women are at the highest risk of sexual assault by acquaintances and
dates.
15
Alcohol—a large part of college culture—is often the perpetrators’ weapon of choice and
is the number one date rape drug (Bliss 2013).
16

13
“Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics.” RAINN, Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network,
www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence.

14
“Statistics.” Know Your IX, Know Your IX, 13 Mar. 2017, www.knowyourix.org/issues/statistics/.
15
Copenhaver, Stacey and Elizabeth Grauerholz. Sexual Victimization Among Sorority Women: Exploring the
Link Between Sexual Violence and Institutional Practices.” Sex Roles, vol. 24, no. 1, 1991, pp. 32.

16
Bliss, Jessica. “Police, experts: Alcohol most common in sexual assaults.” USA Today, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2013.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/28/alcohol-most-common-drug-in-sexual-assaults/3285139/

5
Scarily, an estimated one in every ten men on a college campus will commit an assault by
the time they graduate; half of these men will have been and will most likely continue to be serial
predators.
17

Not only can sexual assault have an immediate effect, campus sexual assault also often has
a tremendous impact on students' long-term academic and mental health. 34% of college student
survivors have experienced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as opposed to 9% of non-
survivors.
18
33% of college student survivors have experienced depression compared to 11% of
non-survivors.
19
Survivors often use drugs or alcohol to self-medicate; drug or alcohol abuse was
reported by 40% of college student survivors instead of 17% of non-survivors.
20

Laws, Policies and Ambiguity
The most important legislation surrounding campus sexual assault are Title IX (1972),
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act
(commonly referred to as The Clery Act) (1990) and its supplemental Campus Sexual Assault
Victims’ Bill of Rights, the Campus SaVE Act (2013), the Violence Against Women Act (1994),
and the Obama Administration’s definition of sexual harassment. However, these laws can be
challenging for students to understand. Even topic experts must work hard to stay up to date.
Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in
any educational program or activity that receives federal funding (which includes 7,000 colleges)

17
Swartout, Kevin M., et al. “Trajectory Analysis of the Campus Serial Rapist Assumption.” JAMA Pediatrics, vol.
169, no. 12, 2015, p. 1148., doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0707.

18
Kilpatrick, Dean et al., “Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated, and Forcible Rape: A National Study.” National
Criminal Justice Reference Service, July 2007, https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/219181.pdf

19
Ibid.

20
Ibid.

6
and addresses sexual harassment, sexual violence, and all gender-based discrimination.
21
Under
the Obama administration, the definition of sexual harassment was widened to “unwelcome
conduct of a sexual nature.” Before the Trump administration made changes, the law required
specific actions to be taken including providing survivors with counseling resources, explaining
all options to a survivor, protecting survivors from retaliation, and conducting impartial,
unbiased proceedings with a clear timeframe.
22
In early 2017, right before Trump took office,
then-Vice President Joe Biden issued an open letter about sexual assault to college presidents
urging them to step up. The letter came with an accompanying guide with suggestions, based on
findings from is White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.
23
The call to
action included the idea that college presidents are responsible for creating an environment free
of sexual assault, that they should send a clear message to all stakeholders that sexual
misconduct will not be tolerated, to pay special attention to certain areas such as athletics and
Greek life citing that they have historically been sites of sexual violence, and more.
24

In 2017, President Trump’s Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, withdrew the Obama
administration’s guidance on campus sexual assault.
25
In 2020, the Department of Education

21
“The Laws.” End Rape on Campus, endrapeoncampus.org/hbcu-laws; Johnson, KC, and Stuart Taylor. “The Path
to Obama’s ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 31 Jan. 2017,
www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/01/31/the-path-to-obamas-dear-colleague-letter/.
22
“The Laws.” End Rape on Campus, endrapeoncampus.org/hbcu-laws; Johnson, KC, and Stuart Taylor.
23
Biden, Joe. “A Call to Action for College and University Presidents, Chancellors, and Senior
Administrators...” Medium, Medium, 5 Jan. 2017, medium.com/@VPOTUS44/a-call-to-action-for-college-and-
university-presidents-chancellors-and-senior-administrators-52865585c76d.
24
Ibid.

25
Melnick, R. Shep. “Analyzing the Department of Education's Final Title IX Rules on Sexual
Misconduct.” Brookings, Brookings, 11 June 2020, www.brookings.edu/research/analyzing-the-department-of-
educations-final-title-ix-rules-on-sexual-misconduct/.

7
replaced Obama-era rules, expanding rights of the accused, allowing them to cross examine their
accusers through a lawyer or representative, and narrowing definitions of sexual assault.
26
Critics
have argued that DeVos’ actions make it more difficult for victims to come forward with
complaints.
27
Her rules, in a 2,000-page document, took effect in August 2020.
28
The regulations
were condemned by Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and have been challenged in
court.
29

On November 25th, 2020, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against
Women, then President-Elect Joe Biden released a statement on Instagram reaffirming his
administration’s commitment to restoring Title IX protections for student survivors of sexual
assault, stalking, and dating violence.
30
However, changes may not be as easy as advocates
would like. Although Biden promised Americans a “quick end” to the Trump administration's
Title IX regulations on the campaign trail, and his campaign’s policy director told reporters that
Biden plans to “return to and then build on” the Obama-era policies, change is not likely to take
place swiftly.
31
Because DeVos used a formal rule-making process, the Biden administration

26
Strauss, Valerie. “Betsy DeVos's Controversial New Rule on Campus Sexual Assault Goes into Effect.” The
Washington Post, WP Company, 19 Aug. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/14/betsy-devoss-
controversial-new-rule-campus-sexual-assault-goes-into-effect/.

27
Ibid.

28
Ibid.

29
Melnick, R. Shep. “Analyzing the Department of Education's Final Title IX Rules on Sexual
Misconduct.” Brookings, Brookings, 11 June 2020, www.brookings.edu/research/analyzing-the-department-of-
educations-final-title-ix-rules-on-sexual-misconduct/.

30
Biden, Joe. “Office of the President Elect Statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence
Against Women.” Instagram, 25 Nov. 2020, https://www.instagram.com/p/CIBzbnJFdFg/

31
Kingkade, Tyler. “Biden Wants to Scrap Betsy DeVos' Rules on Sexual Assault in Schools. It Won't Be
Easy.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 12 Nov. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-
election/biden-wants-scrap-betsy-devos-rules-sexual-assault-schools-it-n1247472.

8
will have to go through the same procedures—which can take two years—to overhaul the new
Title IX regulations, unless there is congressional action.
32

The Clery Act is meant to provide transparency around campus crime policy and
statistics.
33
Under the act, schools must thoroughly understand the law, their responsibilities, and
how to actively foster safety.
34
The Clery Act contains the Campus Sexual Assault Victim’s Bill
of Rights, which expanded the rights survivors have on campus. Rights include issuing timely
warnings to the campus that poses a serious or ongoing threat to students and employees,
informing students of their right to notify local law enforcement, unconditional disclosure
(meaning the survivor can share the outcome with anybody they desire) and more.
35
The Clery
Act was named after Jeanne Cleary, who in 1986 was raped and murdered by a fellow student in
her dorm room.
36
In 2013, the Campus SaVE Act expanded the Clery Act, broadening
requirements to address all incidents of sexual violence (sexual assault, domestic violence, dating
violence and stalking) and requiring more narrow policies regarding prevention and response.
37

To provide more context on the topic, it is essential to understand that rape is the United States’
most underreported violent crime.
38
90% of sexual assault survivors on college campuses do not

32
Ibid.

33
“Summary of the Jeanne Clery Act.” Clery Center, clerycenter.org/policy-resources/the-clery-act/.

34
Ibid.

35
Ibid.
36
“Clery Act.” Know Your IX, 12 July 2018, www.knowyourix.org/college-resources/clery-act/.
37
“Clery Act.” Know Your IX, 12 July 2018, www.knowyourix.org/college-resources/clery-act/.; “Frequently Asked
Questions.” The Campus SaVE Act, thecampussaveact.com/faq/.
38
Truman, Jennifer et al., “Criminal Victimization, 2014.” United States Department of Justice, 29 Sept. 2015,
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv14.pdf

9
report their assaults.
39
That sexual assault is underreported means that the Clery Act does not
cover all incidents, but just incidents where students have come forward with what they
experience.
While many elements of The Clery Act are the same across the board, institutions have
different guidelines for which locations qualify as part of campus. For example, some colleges
require off campus properties as “on campus,” like Greek houses or nearby public property, and
some do not.
40
This breeds ambiguity.
Much of the confusion and ambiguity surrounding laws and policies stems from the fact
that different states have different definitions of rape and different laws. For example, some
states require affirmative consent and others do not. How we define sexual violence directly
impacts cultural, social, political, and legal consequences —especially when looking from a
public relations perspective. Words shape narratives and tell a story about who and what is
important. In some cases, students may not even realize that what they have been through
“qualifies” as sexual assault. A significant factor at play is how clearly and effectively schools
explain their policies to students before anything happens.
Part III: The “Why”
Researchers and scholars have examined the “why” of campus sexual assault for decades.
Below, I outline some of the research and point to landmark studies. Some of the data refer to

39
“Statistics About Sexual Violence.” National Sexual Violence Center,
https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications_nsvrc_factsheet_media-packet_statistics-about-sexual-
violence_0.pdf

40
“Clery Act.” Know Your IX, 12 July 2018, www.knowyourix.org/college-resources/clery-act/.

10
sexual violence in this country and some is based on the unique environment of higher education
institutions. While these two subjects differ, they are also closely intertwined.
Placing the campus rape problem within America's overall context is to acknowledge that
the United States ranks among the top ten most dangerous countries for women. According to a
Thomson Reuters Foundation's survey of the 193 United Nations member states, the United States
came 10th overall. It ranked third when respondents were asked where women most risk sexual
violence, harassment, and coercion into sex—tied with Syria. It ranked sixth in domestic abuse.
41

Rape Culture
The 1970s saw the coining of the term "rape culture," which refers to "a pervasive ideology
that effectively supports or excuses sexual assault."
42
The term first appeared in a New York
Radical Feminists Collective book, "Rape: The First Sourcebook for Women," in 1974. It refers
to a set of values and beliefs rooted in gender inequality that provide an environment conducive to
rape. In recent years, rape culture as a theory has entered the mainstream from academic spheres,
becoming increasingly popular. Women have tapped into online media as a tool to share their
stories and emphasize how widespread sexual assault is, which is an element of the New Campus
Anti-Rape Movement. Under rape culture, schools feel the overall society's effects, perpetuating
a cycle.

41
Wulfhorst, Ellen. “Exclusive: U.S. among 10 Most Dangerous Countries for Women amid #MeToo Campaign -
Poll.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 25 June 2018, www.reuters.com/places/africa/article/us-women-dangerous-poll-
usa-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-among-10-most-dangerous-countries-for-women-amid-metoo-campaign-poll-
idUSKBN1JM02G.

42
Burt, Martha R, “Cultural Myths and Supports for Rape.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 38,
no. 2, 1980, pp. 218.

11
The classic theory identifying a rape-prone environment identifies four belief systems:
acceptance of rape myths, gender-role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, and acceptance of
interpersonal violence as core aspects of a culture supporting sexual assault.
43
In other words, rape
culture means that environments are conducive to upholding culture wherein rape is allowed to
persist. Through the lens of rape culture, the prevalence of rape stems from and is supported by
systemic norms in society as a whole, operating as a continuous cycle—something that many
academics, advocates, and activists use to define the United States' ecosystems.
Peggy Sanday, an anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania and author of a
groundbreaking book about fraternity gang rape, was the first to study rape as it connects to the
cultural context in which it occurs. Throughout the 1970s, she researched the social context of rape
in a cross-cultural sample of 95 band and tribal societies to question the then prevalent assumption
that rape was universal. Her findings demonstrated variation in the prevalence of rape cross-
culturally, exposing the falseness of the prevailing biological argument that all men will rape if
given a chance. She found that rape was rare in 47 percent of the societies studied and common in
18 percent.
44
The relative frequency of rape was "significantly correlated with gender roles and
status." In the more rape-free societies, males and females were integrated in everyday life,
especially in domestic activities, and women held relatively high status.
45
In the more rape-prone
communities, there was greater sexual segregation, males were socially dominant, more

43
Bannon, R. Sean et al., “Sorority Women’s and Fraternity Men’s Rape Myth Acceptance and Bystander
Intervention Attitudes.” Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, vol. 50, no. 1, 2013, pp. 2–87.

44
Sanday, Peggy Reeves. “The Socio-Cultural Context of Rape: A Cross-Cultural Study.” Journal of Social Issues,
vol. 37, no. 4, 1981, pp. 5-27.

45
Ibid.

12
interpersonal violence occurred, and women were subordinate.
46
In concrete terms, Sanday's study
recognizes that rape occurs less in more equal societies and that rates of rape decrease as societies
become more egalitarian.
Examples of rape culture include victim-blaming (ex. Blaming a woman for wearing a
short skirt), trivializing sexual assault (ex. "Boys will be boys!"), sexually explicit jokes, inflating
false rape report statistics, graphically extreme gendered violence in entertainment, defining power
in sexuality differently across genders, and refusing to take rape accusations seriously.
47
Rape
culture puts pressure on women to sacrifice freedom to stay safe, placing the burden on women
and blaming them when they cannot avoid sexual violence.
48
Under this theory, perpetrators are
the ones empowered to set boundaries on the lives of potential victims. In other words, our culture
teaches people not to be raped rather than not to rape. As Zerlina Maxwell describes in a personal
essay for Time, the first words she heard when she told a trusted friend about her rape were "you
were drinking, what did you expect?"
49

Rape culture is a stacked deck that shapes whether a survivor is believed.
50
A study
affiliated with the Harvard Kennedy School finds that rape culture is a bias that shapes how people
determine what a believable rape case is and who is a "real” rape victim. Factors that lead to

46
Ibid.
47
“Rape Culture.” Marshall University Women's Center, Marshall University , www.marshall.edu/wcenter/sexual-
assault/rape-culture/.
48
Taub, Amanda. “Rape Culture Isn't a Myth. It's Real, and It's Dangerous.” Vox, Vox, 15 Dec. 2014,
www.vox.com/2014/12/15/7371737/rape-culture-definition.
49
Maxwell, Zerlina. “Rape Culture Is Real.” Time, Time, 27 Mar. 2014, time.com/40110/rape-culture-is-real/.
50
Pazzanese, Christina. “How Rape Culture Shapes Whether a Survivor Is Believed.” Harvard Gazette, Harvard
University, 25 Aug. 2020, news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/08/how-rape-culture-shapes-whether-a-survivor-is-
believed/.

13
whether people believe survivors include their prior relationship with the perpetrator and their
personal sexual history.
51
Other biases to whether victims are believed include lack of intense
physical injury, delayed reporting, inconsistencies in victim statements (a relatively normal
response to trauma) and if the accused does not fit (often times racially motivated) stereotypes of
what people think a rapist may look like.
52
Some think that real rape happens through a forcible
attack by a male stranger. Think of the stereotypical scene: a masked man in a dark alley.
53

However, this is not the norm in any setting and especially on college campuses.
No meaningful data supports the common notion that many women lie about being raped.
The data signify just the opposite. According to FBI statistics, false rape accusations are no more
common than for other crimes.
54
Other methodologically rigorous data finds that only 2-8% of
rape accusations are false.
55
And some law enforcement agencies might label claims as “false” due
to lack of corroborating evidence, not lack of sexual violence. Because college is such a unique
environment wherein people have to face the accused continuously, I would argue that this
percentage is even less in campus cases. The number of rapes and sexual assaults that are never
reported or prosecuted far outweighs the number of men who are convicted of rape because of fake

51
Ibid.

52
Lonsway, Kimberly, et al. “False Reports: Moving Beyond the Issue to Successfully Investigate and Prosecute
Non-Stranger Sexual Assault.” National Sexual Violence Resource Center, The National Center for the Prosecution
of Violence Against Women, 2009, www.nsvrc.org/publications/articles/false-reports-moving-beyond-issue-
successfully-investigate-and-prosecute-non-s.

53
Taub, Amanda. “Rape Culture Isn't a Myth. It's Real, and It's Dangerous.” Vox, Vox, 15 Dec. 2014,
www.vox.com/2014/12/15/7371737/rape-culture-definition.

54
MacKenzie, Doris L., et al. Different Crimes Different Criminals: Understanding, Treating and Preventing
Criminal Behavior, Anderson Publishing/LexisNexis, 2006, pp. 109.

55
Lonsway, Kimberly, et al. “False Reports: Moving Beyond the Issue to Successfully Investigate and Prosecute
Non-Stranger Sexual Assault.” National Sexual Violence Resource Center, The National Center for the Prosecution
of Violence Against Women, 2009, www.nsvrc.org/publications/articles/false-reports-moving-beyond-issue-
successfully-investigate-and-prosecute-non-s.

14
allegations.
56
Only 6% of rapists will ever see a day in jail.
57
Even when reported, sexual assault
cases are notoriously hard to win. Prosecutors want to win cases. In 2012, Rouman Ebrahim, Los
Angeles County deputy district attorney for the sex crimes division, told Tucker Reed (whose
perpetrator confessed to raping her) that he would not take the case because he doubted the jury
would take her side.
58

It is important to note that another product of rape culture is that men who have been raped
(by men or women) are often not believed because they are generalized as the great “initiators” of
sex. Additionally, people point to physiological responses as proof of consent, but the body’s
response to stimulation (like natural lubrication or involuntary movement) does not necessarily
equal consent. The stereotype that men cannot be raped is one reason why there is limited data on
men's rape, which further perpetuates the stereotype.
While 1970 saw the coining of the term “rape culture,” the pervasive ideology that
effectively supports or excuses sexual assault existed on campus long before feminists created the
language and long before it became a research topic. While researchers did not focus on the subject
until the middle part of the 20
th
Century, rape culture is not a modern notion.
"As American as Apple Pie"
History and laws contribute to a country's culture. The subordination of women and people
of color in the United States was codified in the union's founding documents and has continued to

56
Kay, Katty. “The Truth about False Assault Accusations by Women.” BBC News, BBC, 18 Sept. 2018,
www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45565684.

57
“Stats and Facts about Rape and Sexual Assault.” Crisis Center.
https://www.crisiscenter.org/pdfs/Stats_and_Facts_about_SA_doc.pdf
58
Kingkade, Tyler. “Prosecutor to Rape Victim: 'Maybe You Had A Weak Moment'.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec.
2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/college-rape-prosecutors-press-charges_n_5500432.

15
haunt legislation. At the adoption of the Constitution, married women's legal existence was bound
up with their husbands. White women were not granted the right to vote until the Nineteenth
Amendment in 1920. While textbooks often credit the Nineteenth Amendment as giving women
the right to vote, most Black women had to wait almost 50 more years to exercise that right. The
Equal Rights Amendment, first introduced in 1923, has yet to be passed.
The country also has a dark history when it comes to rape legislation. Sexual violence
perpetrated against Black women was common during slavery and there was no legal recognition
for the rape of black women. Rape was used as a tool to force enslaved women into submission,
to further the profit of slaveholders through breeding, and to perform white masculinity.
59
Societal
scripts still hypersexualize Black women today.
It was not until the 1970s that rape shield laws were passed when Congress adopted rules
412, 413, 414, and 415 into the Federal Rules of Evidence; before 1975, defendants could use a
victim's sexual history to discredit him or her. However, while rape shield laws are codified, such
victim-blaming themes are part of rape culture and still present in current-day lawsuits.
It was only in 1993 that marital rape became a crime nationwide—before then, the law
viewed the term as an oxymoron. But states still make exceptions for marital rape.
60
As of 2019,
in 17 states, a spouse cannot be convicted of raping a partner who was unconscious, drugged, or
otherwise incapacitated, and in 39 states, a spouse cannot be convicted of raping a partner under
laws criminalizing statutory rape and sexual contact between people with a supervisory

59
Feinstein, Rachel A. When Rape Was Legal: The Untold History of Sexual Violence during Slavery. Routledge,
2018.
60
Pauly, Madison. “It’s 2019, And States Are Still Making Exceptions for Spousal Rape.” Mother Jones, 21 Nov.
2019, www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/11/deval-patrick-spousal-rape-laws/.

16
relationship.
61
While progress is being made, the timeline is not as fast as one would imagine for
a developed nation.
Many powerful, public figures do not face adequate reputational consequences for their
perpetrations of sexual assault. For example, after professional boxer Mike Tyson was convicted
of rape, he was welcomed back into the world of boxing and even given a role in blockbuster hit
“The Hangover.” Situations like this one have the potential to signify that powerful men are more
valuable than their victims.
62
In a 2019 Guardian article, Arwa Mahdawi argued that rape culture
is as American as apple pie.
63
Mahdawi contends that the country's leadership correlates to an
acceptance of and numbness to rape; Donald Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women by
grabbing them "by the pussy," and almost 62 million people voted him to be president.
64

Additionally, many point to the fact that it took decades for high-profile people like Harvey
Weinstein and Bill Cosby to be punished for their sexual crimes as products of rape culture.
According to Lydia O’Connor and Tyler Kingkade, it is telling that even the most privileged cannot
always win—who pointed to what happened to singer Kesha.
65
She filed a lawsuit against her
producer for years of abuse, including an incident of rape. A judge ruled against her request to be
released from her contract requiring her to make more albums with him.

61
Ibid.

62
Hopkins, Molly. “Sexual Assault on College Campuses: Feeding a Culture of Dismissal.” Ramapo Journal of Law
& Society, 2017. https://www.ramapo.edu/law-journal/thesis/sexual-assault-college-campuses-feeding-culture-
dismissal/

63
Mahdawi, Arwa. “Rape Culture Is as American as Apple Pie.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21
Sept. 2019, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/21/culture-american-apple-pie-week-in-patriarchy.

64
Ibid.

65
O'Connor, Lydia, and Tyler Kingkade. “If You Don't Get Why Campus Rape Is A National Problem, Read
This.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 24 June 2016, www.huffpost.com/entry/sexual-assault-
explainer_n_5759aa2fe4b0ced23ca74f12.

17
A popular theory of gender as a social structure in the United States, first contributed to
sociology in the late ‘90s by Professor Barbara Rissman, conceptualizes gender as comprising
three distinct, interlocking levels.
66
The levels are individual, interactional, and institutional. It is
their recursive relationship that constructs and perpetuates gender inequalities. Numerous studies
have drawn upon Risman’s framework, including some that center sexual violence on campus.
67

The Experience of College Spaces
A 2020 book, “Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on
Campus” provides perspectives based on a landmark research project by the Sexual Health
Initiative to Foster Transformation. One of the most comprehensive studies of campus sex and
sexual assault, ethnographic research was conducted between summer 2015 and January 2017.
There were over 150 interviews, a survey of 1600 and an additional survey of 500. The data
provides detailed portraits of a wide range of undergraduate sexual experiences and is substantial
in its depth and because most large-scale studies on the topic are decades old. The book
emphasizes looking at social roots and argues that understanding what young people are trying to
accomplish with sex, why, and the contexts within which sex happens are essential for a
comprehensive analysis of sexual assault.
Professors Jennifer S Hirsch and Shamus Khan introduce three terms that work together
to explain why sexual assault is a predictable consequence of the way American society is
organized: sexual projects, sexual citizenship, and sexual geographies. Sexual projects
encompass the reason why anyone might seek a particular sexual interaction or experience (for

66
Rissman, Barbara. Gender Vertigo: American Families in Transition. Yale University Press, 1998.

67
Armstrong, Elizabeth A, et al. “Sexual Assault on Campus: A Multilevel, Integrative Approach to Party
Rape.” Social Problems, vol. 53, no. 4, 1 Nov. 2006, pp. 483–499., doi:https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2006.53.4.483.

18
example, what pressures someone may feel as part of their college’s ecological landscape).
68

Sexual citizenship denotes the acknowledgment of one’s own right to sexual self-determination
and recognizes the equivalent right in others; sexual citizenship is fostered, institutionally and
culturally supported (for example, the sexual education messages taught to students in their
adolescence).
69
Sexual geographics encompasses the spatial contexts through which people
move and the peer networks that can regulate access to those spaces. In sexual geographics,
space has a social power that elicits and produces behavior.
70
Spaces shape sexual interaction,
and a student’s level of resources and social position affects their experience of the same place.
In other words, physical spaces, social geography, and economic inequality all factor into the
prevalence of campus rape and how people experience it.
Below, I discuss one context through which students move: Greek life.
Spotlight: Greek Life and Sexual Assault
Greek life is a system unique to college campuses and is a significant part of some
college experiences. While there is limited data on the Greek system in the U.S., The National
Panhellenic Conference has about 400,000 sorority members nationwide. The North American
Interfraternity Conference (NAIC) has about 384,000 fraternity members. While this does not
represent most students, it is essential to remember that Greek life affects some schools' social
ecosystem in their totality.

68
Hirsch, Jennifer S., and Shamus Khan. Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus.
W.W. Norton & Company, 2020.
69
Ibid.

70
Ibid.

19
In recent years, activists have called for schools to abolish Greek life, in part because of
its connection to sexual assault (as well as a legacy of exclusion, sexism, racism, classism,
mental and physical abuse and hazing). However, this goes against the financial interest of many
schools because of alumni networks and donors.
71
According to Noah Drezner, Columbia
associate professor of higher education, Greek alumni are disproportionately represented on
trustee boards and in administrative positions.
72

A significant amount of the data surrounding campus sexual assault focuses on Greek life
and fraternities. Much of this data is old; most research studies surrounding Greek life and rape
tends to be from the ‘80s and ‘90s. It is also important to note that the research I examined is rooted
in heteronormativity because of when it was conducted and how fraternities and sororities tend to
operate. Many have identified how fraternities across the country perpetuate rape culture and
provide spaces for sexual violence to persist.
73
Numerous studies have found that fraternity
members are significantly more likely than non-members to engage in coercion and alcohol as a

71
Nguyen, Terry. “Why It's so Difficult to Abolish Sororities and Fraternities.” Vox, Vox, 29 Sept. 2020,
www.vox.com/the-goods/21492167/abolish-greek-life-campus-covid.
72
Ibid.

73
Sanday, Peggy Reeves. “The Socio-Cultural Context of Rape: A Cross-Cultural Study.” Journal of Social Issues,
vol. 37, no. 4, 1981, pp. 5-27; Martin, Patricia and Robert Hummer. “Fraternities and Rape on Campus.” Issues in
Intimate Violence, 1989, pp. 57–68; Copenhaver, Stacey and Elizabeth Grauerholz. Sexual Victimization Among
Sorority Women: Exploring the Link Between Sexual Violence and Institutional Practices.” Sex Roles, vol. 24, no.
1, 1991, pp. 31-41; Kalof, Linda and Timothy Cargill. “Fraternity and sorority membership and gender dominance
attitudes.” Sex Roles, vol. 25, no. 7, 1991, pp. 417-423; Boeringer, Scot B. et al., “Social Contexts and Social
Learning in Sexual Coercion and Aggression: Assessing the Contribution of Fraternity Membership.” Family
Relations, vol. 40, no. 1, 1991, pp. 58; Sanday, Peggy Reeves. Fraternity Gang Rape: Sex, Brotherhood, and
Privilege on Campus. New York University Press, 2007.; Boswell, A. Ayres et al., “Fraternities And Collegiate
Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?” Gender & Society, vol 10, no. 2,
1996, pp. 133-147.

20
sexual strategy.
74
One 2007 study found that fraternity members are three times as likely as non-
members to commit assaults.
75

Some research signifies that sorority members are at a higher risk of experiencing sexual
assault than non-members.
76
One 2004 study found they are 74% more likely to experience rape
than other college women.
77
Data show that the prevalence of sexual assault incidents among
sorority women is in part due to more significant interaction with fraternity men.
78
In a 1991 first-
ever study of sorority women's sexual victimization, nearly half of the rapes occurred in a fraternity
house. Over half occurred either during a fraternity function or was perpetrated by a fraternity
member. Even after controls are included for alcohol consumption and attendance of Greek-hosted
parties during which alcohol is served, research has shown that sexual assault experiences are
reported by sorority women at a rate four times that of non-sorority women.
79

74
Gwartney-Gibbs, P. and J. Stockard. “Courtship Aggression and Mixed-Sex Peer Groups.” National Criminal
Justice Reference Service, 1989, pp. 185-204; Boeringer, Scot B. et al., “Social Contexts and Social Learning in
Sexual Coercion and Aggression: Assessing the Contribution of Fraternity Membership.” Family Relations, vol. 40,
no. 1, 1991, pp. 58.

75
Foubert, John D et al., “Behavior Differences Seven Months Later: Effects of a Rape Prevention Program.”
NASPA Journal, vol. 44, no. 4, 2007.

76
Copenhaver, Stacey and Elizabeth Grauerholz. Sexual Victimization Among Sorority Women: Exploring the Link
Between Sexual Violence and Institutional Practices.” Sex Roles, vol. 24, no. 1, 1991, pp. 31-41; Mohler-Kuo,
Meichun, et al., “Correlates of Rape while Intoxicated in a National Sample of College Women.” Journal of Studies
on Alcohol vol. 65, no. 1, 2004, pp. 37–45; Minow, Jacqueline Chevalier and Christopher J. Einolf. “Sorority
Participation and Sexual Assault Risk.” Violence Against Women, vol. 15, no. 7, 2009, pp. 835-851; Bannon, R.
Sean et al., “Sorority Women’s and Fraternity Men’s Rape Myth Acceptance and Bystander Intervention Attitudes.”
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, vol. 50, no. 1, 2013, pp. 2–87.

77
Mohler-Kuo, Meichun, et al., “Correlates of Rape while Intoxicated in a National Sample of College Women.”
Journal of Studies on Alcohol vol. 65, no. 1, 2004, pp. 37–45.

78
Copenhaver, Stacey and Elizabeth Grauerholz. Sexual Victimization Among Sorority Women: Exploring the Link
Between Sexual Violence and Institutional Practices.” Sex Roles, vol. 24, no. 1, 1991, pp. 31-41; Bannon, R. Sean et
al., “Sorority Women’s and Fraternity Men’s Rape Myth Acceptance and Bystander Intervention Attitudes.” Journal
of Student Affairs Research and Practice, vol. 50, no. 1, 2013, pp. 2–87.

79
Copenhaver, Stacey and Elizabeth Grauerholz. Sexual Victimization Among Sorority Women: Exploring the Link
Between Sexual Violence and Institutional Practices.” Sex Roles, vol. 24, no. 1, 1991, pp. 31-41.

21
While much literature existed before the late ‘80s about individual fraternity members
perpetrating sexual violence, a 1989 study was the first of its kind to look at fraternities as social
contexts that encourage the sexual coercion of women. Their analysis of the norms and dynamics
of fraternity brotherhood's social construction revealed the masculinist features of fraternity
structure and process. Features included concern with a narrow, stereotypical conception of
masculinity and heterosexuality; a preoccupation with loyalty, protection of the group, and
secrecy; the use of alcohol as a weapon against women's sexual reluctance; the pervasiveness of
violence and physical force; and an obsession with competition, superiority, and dominance. They
concluded that the physical and socio-cultural context of fraternities encourages the sexual
coercion of women. It is important to note that this study does not claim that fraternities are "bad"
or that all fraternity members are rapists. The observations indicated that sexual violence is
especially probable in fraternities because of the types of organizations they are, who the members
are, what practices the members engage in, and little university or community oversight.
80

However, this data does not account for changing norms surrounding masculinity.
Millennials and Gen Zers have more progressive views surrounding what it means to be "a man"
(although many say that this is a facade) and more acceptance of those who identify as LGBTQ+.
Other literature from the ‘80s and ‘90s furthers Martin and Hummer’s focus on context and
the environment in which the endorsement of rape culture persists.
81
According to Kalof, variables
associated with increased sexual victimization, such as rape-supportive attitudes and sexual

80
Martin, Patricia and Robert Hummer. “Fraternities and Rape on Campus.” Issues in Intimate Violence, 1989, pp.
57–68.

81
Gwartney-Gibbs, P. and J. Stockard. “Courtship Aggression and Mixed-Sex Peer Groups.” National Criminal
Justice Reference Service, 1989, pp. 185-204; Kalof, Linda and Timothy Cargill. “Fraternity and sorority
membership and gender dominance attitudes.” Sex Roles, vol. 25, no. 7, 1991, pp. 417-423; Boswell, A. Ayres et al.,
“Fraternities And Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?”
Gender & Society, vol 10, no. 2, 1996, pp. 133-147.

22
aggression, are learned and rendered legitimate in peer-group cultures such as those found in
fraternities and sororities.
82
Peer-group cultures provide an environment in which gender
stereotyping, sexual aggression, and victimization are learned and legitimized.
83
A 1991 study
furthers this analysis, finding that these ideas and behaviors are particularly pervasive in Greek
organizations on college campuses. Their survey of attitudes about interpersonal dominance found
that affiliation with Greek organizations was associated with traditional male dominant-female
submissive attitudes. The study compared Greek life members' responses with independent (non-
Greek life) college students’ responses by using an interpersonal dominance factor scale developed
from nine attitude items.
84

A 1996 study focused on a campus comprising 4,500 students where 49.4% were affiliated
with Greek organizations and found that the fraternities on campus determined the settings in
which men and women interacted.
85
They discovered that rape culture exists in some fraternities
due to members’ desire to be accepted. The fraternity system intensifies a groupthink system
emphasizing an us-versus-them mentality. “Torn Togas: The Dark Side of Campus Greek Life”
finds that Greek life nurtures conformity to gain acceptance, and in some of the darkest of
circumstances, includes incidents of gang rape.
86
Some theories suggest that sexual aggression is

82
Kalof, Linda, “Rape-Supportive attitudes and sexual victimization experiences of sorority and nonsorority
women.” Sex Roles, vol. 29, no. 11, 1993, pp. 767-780.

83
Gwartney-Gibbs, P. and J. Stockard. “Courtship Aggression and Mixed-Sex Peer Groups.” National Criminal
Justice Reference Service, 1989, pp. 185-204.

84
Kalof, Linda and Timothy Cargill. “Fraternity and sorority membership and gender dominance attitudes.” Sex
Roles, vol. 25, no. 7, 1991, pp. 417-423.

85
Boswell, A. Ayres et al., “Fraternities And Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous
Places for Women?” Gender & Society, vol 10, no. 2, 1996, pp. 133-147.
86
Wright, Esther. Torn Togas: The Dark Side of Campus Greek Life.” Fairview Press, 1996.

23
learned in settings such as fraternities and is not part of predispositions or preexisting attitudes.
87

An additional 1991 study found that fraternities represent a social context that tolerates if not
encourages sexual coercion of women.
88
The isolation of fraternities and athletic teams may
enhance a sense of privilege and entitlement that spills over into interpersonal violence against
outsider males or sexual abuse of female party guests, according to Peggy Sanday, author of the
widely acclaimed book, “Fraternity Gang Rape.”
89

Fraternity house parties, in particular, have received a lot of attention in the academic
literature. Because fraternities host parties that other college students attend, they control their
parties’ environment. Many national sororities cannot host social events at their chapter houses,
based on their national headquarters' rules. Various studies conclude that these parties lack
protective measures to ensure the safety of female guests.
90
One of the researchers who authored
the study with 4,500 students with almost half affiliated with Greek organizations, attended
fraternity parties each weekend at two fraternity houses.
91
Said researcher observed the ratio of
men to women, the party decor and theme, the use and control of alcohol and level of intoxication,
and explicit and implicit norms. The conclusion was that rape culture exists at some “High-risk

87
Boeringer, Scot B. et al., “Social Contexts and Social Learning in Sexual Coercion and Aggression: Assessing the
Contribution of Fraternity Membership.” Family Relations, vol. 40, no. 1, 1991, pp. 58.

88
Copenhaver, Stacey and Elizabeth Grauerholz. Sexual Victimization Among Sorority Women: Exploring the Link
Between Sexual Violence and Institutional Practices.” Sex Roles, vol. 24, no. 1, 1991, pp. 31-41.

89
Sanday, Peggy Reeves. Fraternity Gang Rape: Sex, Brotherhood, and Privilege on Campus. New York
University Press, 2007.

90
Martin, Patricia and Robert Hummer. “Fraternities and Rape on Campus.” Issues in Intimate Violence, 1989, pp.
57–68; Boswell, A. Ayres et al., “Fraternities And Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More
Dangerous Places for Women?” Gender & Society, vol 10, no. 2, 1996, pp. 133-147.

91
Boswell, A. Ayres et al., “Fraternities And Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous
Places for Women?” Gender & Society, vol 10, no. 2, 1996, pp. 133-147.

24
houses.” There was no area to sit at these houses and just a dance floor, the music was loud and
disallowed for meaningful conversation, and there were no non-alcoholic beverage options.
“Fraternity Gang Rape” brings forth the nature of gang rape at fraternity parties. She used
the highly publicized gang-rape by five to eight Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity members at
their chapter house in 1983 at the University of Pennsylvania as a case study. In interviews,
fraternity members admitted that the goal of their parties is to get women drunk by making their
drinks strong to “loosen up some of those inhibitions.”
92
Her book also states that when the
fraternity faced possible one-year expulsion from campus, the brothers defended their actions by
saying such events were common knowledge across campus.
Some writers focus on the attitudes surrounding sexual assault at the most elite
educational institutions in the country, the Ivy Leagues. Such institutions are where student
identities are grounded in a narrative of exceptionalism, as Jill Filipovic wrote.
93
According to
Boston-based sexual assault educator Jaclyn Friedman, young women are bussed in from Boston
University and Wellesley to attend parties at Final Clubs (Harvard’s version of fraternities).
94
As
analyzed by Friedman, the attitude is that the women are lucky to be at parties with Harvard
men—an inherent power dynamic that feeds into rape culture.
95
Filipovic theorizes that the
culture of exceptionalism at such an elite school may lead to violence.
96

92
Sanday, Peggy Reeves. Fraternity Gang Rape: Sex, Brotherhood, and Privilege on Campus. New York
University Press, 2007.
93
Filipovic, Jill. “If Ivy League Men Feel Entitled to Sex, Why Is Harvard Stuck on 'No Means No'?” The
Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3 Apr. 2014, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/03/ivy-league-
harvard-anonymous-sexual-assault-victim.
94
Ibid.

95
Ibid.

96
Ibid.

25
Part IV: Campus Activism
The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement
Campus rape activists have been organizing for decades, but this new wave is different.
According to sociologist Manuel Castells, the new movement is decentralized; activists come
together around shared problems through new communication technologies.
97
In other words,
campus rape activists across the nation are able to create networks with each other, strategize,
and reach their goals. The networks of activists use new tools like federal complaints, group
lawsuits, social media shaming, and take advantage of the intense media coverage on the issue.
98

Social media does not only allow for activists to work in cohort; it also enables survivors
and activists to share stories of sexual violence and their experiences navigating school
responses. A key part to the movement is public survivors.
99
Through the use of digital media,
survivors can control and frame their message and attract the attention of mainstream media.
100

In their 2018 book, “The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement,” topic expert Caroline
Heldman and colleagues coin the term “the new campus anti-rape movement” and describe 2013
as the beginning of the movement. That year, a network of students strategically filed Title IX
and Clery Act complaints that garnered media coverage and nationwide public attention.
101
The
purpose was to gain legitimacy and be part of the national conversation. It worked. By late 2013,

97
“‘Going Public:" The Shifting Technological Landscape.” The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement: Internet
Activism and Social Justice, by Caroline Heldman et al., Lexington Books, 2018, p. 106.
98
“‘Silence Has the Rusty Taste of Shame:" The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement.” The New Campus Anti-Rape
Movement: Internet Activism and Social Justice, by Caroline Heldman et al., Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 42–63.
99
“‘Women Should Stop Dressing Like Sluts:” Campus Rape Prevention Programs.” The New Campus Anti-Rape
Movement: Internet Activism and Social Justice, by Caroline Heldman et al., Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 113.
100
Ibid., pp. 115.
101
Ibid.

26
the media coverage of campus rape increased eight times over.
102
By the end of 2014, the
Department of Education had 100 open Title IX investigations of varying types of colleges
nationwide involving sexual misconduct. By 2016 there were over 200.
103

Even those not very familiar with campus rape issues have probably heard of Emma
Sulkowicz, the “mattress girl” at Columbia University, whose story garnered substantial media
attention and became a topic of conversation.
104
In 2014 she filed a complaint with Columbia
University that fellow student, Paul Nungesser, raped her. After feeling betrayed by her
institution when the campus adjudication process found Nungesser “not responsible,” Emma
developed her visual arts thesis, Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight). She carried around
a 50-pound mattress throughout campus and across the stage at graduation. Hundreds of students
carried the mattress with her throughout the project.
The new campus anti-rape movement marks the first time that campus sexual assault
became a national priority, with President Obama, in 2014, giving credit to student-led activism
for putting the issue on the agenda.
105

One obstacle that activists face in addition to school responses is backlash to their work
from Conservatives and men’s rights activists (MRAs) like denying the existence of the problem,

102
“‘Silence Has the Rusty Taste of Shame:" The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement.” The New Campus Anti-Rape
Movement: Internet Activism and Social Justice, by Caroline Heldman et al., Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 54.
103
Kingkade, Tyler. “How Colleges Are Able To Keep Title IX Investigations Hidden.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 16 June
2016, www.huffpost.com/entry/title-ix-investigations-sexual-harassment_n_575f4b0ee4b053d433061b3d.
104
“‘Silence Has the Rusty Taste of Shame:" The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement.” The New Campus Anti-Rape
Movement: Internet Activism and Social Justice, by Caroline Heldman et al., Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 57.
105
Ibid.

27
victim-blaming, vilifying whistleblowers and turning perpetrators into victims.
106
Specific
tactics comprise of challenging the data, treating the issue as a personal miscommunications
problem and challenging the definition of rape and illegally obtaining and publicizing Title IX
reports to scare future victims from reporting. Like activists, such people also use social media as
a tool.
107
Another obstacle for activists is that holiday breaks, busy finals weeks and graduation
can jeopardize meaningful progress.
108
Every four years, there is an entirely new student body,
and if students are not able to connect with former students, then they may be missing
knowledge that could help prove their point, or even repeat actions rather than build on them.
The Stakeholder Structure of Colleges
There are various stakeholders when it comes to a college’s operation. The chart below
outlines the relevant stakeholders and outlines each player’s primary roles and interests.
Stakeholder Name Roles and Interests
President ● Fundraising
● Providing vision
● Overseeing staff
● Engaging with various communities (academic, local, etc.)
as a figurehead
Student Deans ● Setting academic and behavioral standards for student
success
● Providing student support
● Liaising between the president and students/professors

106
Heldman, Caroline. “Campus Rape: The Second Wave of the Backlash Against Anti-Rape Activism.” Dr.
Caroline Heldman, 19 Aug. 2014, drcarolineheldman.com/2014/08/19/campus-rape-the-second-wave-of-the-
backlash-against-anti-rape-activism/.
107
Ibid.
108
Whitford, Emma. Student Activists' Biggest Obstacle Often Is the Rhythms of College Activism Itself, 3 Jan. 2019,
www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/03/student-activists-biggest-obstacle-often-rhythms-college-activism-
itself.

28
Communications/Marketing
Department
● Promoting the college
● Maintaining a positive and strictly created image
● Increasing recruitment, retention, engagement and giving
● Coordinating public awareness activities
● Creating visual and written collateral
● Establishing and maintaining contacts (media, the
academic community, etc.)
Admissions Office Staff ● Increasing recruitment and number of applications
● Supporting enrollment of a diverse population
Chief Financial Officer ● Preparing, managing and maintaining budgets
● Ensuring fiscal health
● Providing oversight regarding financial risk
● Advocating for college interest
Title IX Coordinator ● Coordinating and monitoring compliance with Title IX
● Supporting and creating policies to prevent sex
discrimination
● Conducting investigations and enforcing disciplinary
action
● Staying up to date on all policies and laws
General Counsel ● Providing legal representation
● Reviewing and recommending institutional policies and
procedures
● Providing legal opinions
Campus Sexual Assault
Prevention/Intervention Office
● Creating preventative programming
● Providing student resources and support
● Contributing to a nonviolent, healthy school culture and
social climate
Academic Faculty ● Research
● Teaching effectively
● Providing academic advising, counseling and mentorship
● Developing curriculum
● Personal career development
Students ● Learning and gaining knowledge
● Expanding career options or following a specific career
path
● Increasing earning potential
● Gaining job security
● Attaining new life experiences
● Socializing and making lasting connections
● Finding direction

29
Student Activists ● Causing political, environmental, economic or social
change
● Acting on behalf of student needs
● Gaining traction (often through new media)
● Contributing to the wellbeing of the student body and
overall campus environment
Prospective Students ● Finding the right academic, social, geographic and
economic fit
Parents of Prospective Students ● Finding the right academic, social, geographic and
economic fit
● Ensuring a positive and safe experience
● Feeling positive about where they put their money
Parents of Current Students ● Ensuring a positive and safe experience
● Remaining positive feelings about where they put their
money
Alumni ● Celebrating a shared history
● Supporting college reputation
● Recruiting students
● Contributing to revenue
● Inspiring students
Board of Trustees ● Overall governing
● Approving college mission, goals, and objectives
● Establishing policies
● Approving budget and fees
● Advising the president
Donors ● Providing financial support (to students in need, new
technology, faculty research, and more)
Campus Safety Office
(campus police)
● Providing security
● Providing emergency response services
● Pointing students to the local police department if so
desired
● Patrolling campus
Local Police Department ● Enforcing laws
● Arresting violators
● Responding to emergencies
● Providing support services
U.S. Department of Education ● Coordinating federal financial assistance
● Enforcing federal education laws regarding privacy and

30
civil rights
● Supporting education research and development

In some cases of crises, colleges hire external crisis firms. Some firms specialize in
higher education issues; upon the “Dear Colleague” letter in 2011, the industry of college sexual
misconduct consultants began to boom. Though President Trump’s Department of Education
formally rescinded the letter as part of an effort to loosen Title IX regulations, the “Dear
Colleague” letter reinterpreted Title IX as giving the government authority to dictate specific
adjudication procedures for colleges. This chart outlines all of the duties of these firms.
109

As discussed in the following section, it makes most sense for universities to have crisis
strategies prepared before any sort of controversy. However, when institutions hire these firms, it
is most likely responsive rather than proactive.
Higher Ed Crisis
Communications Firms
● Strategic planning for crises
● Planning for emergencies
● Conducting studies
● Recommending/writing procedure
● Training school employees
● Responding to crises to ensure least amount of
reputational damage

All stakeholders matter for colleges to successfully operate, yet the stakeholders have
different interests and sometimes competing priorities. Thus, they are likely to hold differing
opinions. For effective change to be created, stakeholders must work together, not against one
another. However, campus activism can have a combative nature. For activists to fight for what

109
Baker, Katie J.M. “Rape Victims Don't Trust The Fixers Colleges Hire To Help Them.” BuzzFeed News,
BuzzFeed News, 25 Apr. 2014, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katiejmbaker/rape-victims-dont-trust-the-fixers-
colleges-hire-to-help-the.

31
they believe in, they typically have a group they are fighting “against” to rally the student body.
One key element of student dissatisfaction with the landscape is a disconnect between students
and administrators. The relationship between administrators and students is interesting because
while administrators are authority figures, they have a financial and ethical responsibility to
ensure student success in and beyond the classroom. According to Erin Hennessy, a
communications specialist who is often called in to help colleges communicate with students,
staff and alumni after protests, a critical mistake that the administration makes is making an
enemy of the students.
110
Hennessy has found that protests that escalate into power struggles
between the college and students, becoming a battleground, are the ones that become bigger,
garnering media attention.
111
In the case of another widespread activist topic on campus, anti-
racism, Hennessy says that rather than focusing solely on immediate negative consequences (like
declining applications, enrollment, donations, alumni giving and negative perceptions in the
media), if schools work together with students to solve problems, they can attract helpful
attention from the news media as well as donors and potential students who want to contribute to
activist efforts.
112

Not all stakeholders agree on the widespread existence and scope of sexual assault, how
reflective it is of the campus environment, who/what is at fault, and how to combat it. Not all
stakeholders have the same amount of information on what is going on throughout campus,
which activists argue is a primary goal of administrators—limiting the knowledge of goings-on.
The reality is that all stakeholders are human, and nobody wants to feel like they are at fault for

110
Whitford, Emma. Student Activists' Biggest Obstacle Often Is the Rhythms of College Activism Itself, 3 Jan. 2019,
www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/03/student-activists-biggest-obstacle-often-rhythms-college-activism-
itself.

111
Ibid.

112
Ibid.

32
an ethical lapse or wrongdoing. Within an issue, primarily through the activist perspective, there
is the right thing to do and the wrong thing to do, and it is appropriate to point blame when
attempting to shine a light on an issue of human rights.
According to sexual assault educator Jaclyn Friedman, the no. 1 red flag is a school that
says, “We don’t have a problem with sexual assault.”
113
A 2015 Gallup survey for Inside Higher
Ed found that only 6% of college and universities presidents agree that sexual assault is prevalent
at their institutions.
114
32% of those 647 nationwide presidents surveyed agree that sexual assault
is prevalent at American colleges and universities in general, suggesting they perceive their
institution disproportionately favorably.
115
The 2014 survey of the same kind found that 95% of
college presidents say they handle sexual assault allegations on campus appropriately.
116

According to Dr. Caroline Heldman, this is substantial because out of all institutional players,
college presidents have the most power to make change, through hiring decisions, policies and
day-to-day leadership. According to Heldman, a major factor of the sexual assault epidemic is
failed leadership at the top.
117

113
Filipovic, Jill. “18 Questions to Ask About Your School's Sexual Assault
Policy.” Https://Www.cosmopolitan.com/College/News/a30503/Questions-to-Ask-about-Your-Schools-Sexual-
Assault-Policy/, Hearst Corporation, 28 Aug. 2014, www.cosmopolitan.com/college/news/a30503/questions-to-ask-
about-your-schools-sexual-assault-policy/.
114
Baskin, Morgan. “Study: 6 Percent of College Presidents Say Sexual Assault Is Common on Their
Campus.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 20 Mar. 2015,
www.usatoday.com/story/college/2015/03/20/study-6-percent-of-college-presidents-say-sexual-assault-is-common-
on-their-campus/37401443/.
115
Ibid.

116
Ibid.
117
Heldman, Caroline. “Why Are University Presidents Leaving Campus Rape Survivors Out in the Cold?” Ms.
Magazine, 2 July 2018, msmagazine.com/2015/03/18/why-are-university-presidents-leaving-campus-rape-survivors-
out-in-the-cold/.

33
While the college president is important, they cannot singlehandedly create change.
Changing processes require input from many stakeholders.
118
That change needs to be a group
effort to be effective is one of the reasons why stakeholders need to be communicated with
effectively, on both the side of the activists and the office of the president.
Part V: The College PR Machine
College Public Relations Goals and Activities
Like all institutions, maintaining a particular image type is crucial for the health and
longevity of colleges. What colleges are selling is an education, and that service is primarily
based on their brand and the story they tell about who they are. Colleges are incentivized to
create the best image possible to retain an attractive student body, especially top schools
characterized by their competitiveness. School communication departments seek to present a
unified message of the school and highlight its success. Colleges spend high amounts of money
into marketing their specific brands to high schoolers and their parents in an effort to compete
for top spots on U.S. News and World Report’s best colleges list.
119
Writer Dana finds that,
reputation, not education, is the goal.
120
For some schools, individual Title IX investigations and
criticism toward institutional response may not be a learning experience, but rather a potential
threat to financial security.

118
Whitford, Emma. Student Activists' Biggest Obstacle Often Is the Rhythms of College Activism Itself, 3 Jan. 2019,
www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/03/student-activists-biggest-obstacle-often-rhythms-college-activism-
itself.

119
Bolger, Dana. “OPINION: When Schools Put Their Brands before Assaulted Students.” Al Jazeera America, 10
June 2014, america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/6/college-sexual-violencerapeeducationtitleixbranding.html.
120
Ibid.

34
I group college PR goals into two main categories: external communications (to the
public to promote the institution) and internal communications (to those affiliated with the
school, like current students). I found similar responsibilities across schools for each category by
analyzing the webpages of various college marketing/communications offices. In terms of
external communications, these departments are in charge of developing messages and
overseeing implementation through participating in advertising, public relations, and marketing
(including creating promotional collateral). Offices of marketing/communications are the
primary contact to media outlets, including print, broadcast, and digital media. In terms of
internal communications, these offices are important for any sort of substantial communication
to the student-body, faculty, and parents of current students.
Crisis Communications and Higher Education
Crisis communications helps organizations strategically respond to adverse situations and
dialog with the relevant stakeholders. Issues, which turn into crises, have distinct stages.
In one theory by Max Meng, issues management encompasses potential, emergent, and current
stages of an issue’s evolution before it reaches the crisis stage.
121
Public relations scholar
Timothy Coombs has defined three states of crisis communications: 1) the pre-crisis stage, 2) the
crisis stage and 3) the post-crisis stage.
122
Crisis management consultant Ian Mitroff has outlined
five stages: 1) detection, 2) prevention/preparation 3) containment 4) recovery and 5) learning—

121
Meng, Max. “Issue Life Cycle Clarifies Difference between ‘Issues Management’ and ‘Crisis
Management.’” Alexander Public Strategies, 25 Feb. 2009, alexanderps.com/blog/blog-issuelifecycle.html.
122
Coombs, W. Timothy. Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing, and Responding . SAGE, 2012.

35
emphasizing that the learning phase is meant to bring about change to help prevent future
crises.
123

Another theory about crises focuses on “organizational” crises, which the Institute for
Public Relations defines as a significant threat to operations that can leave long term, negative
consequences that can result in injuries or cause financial loss.
124
This definition is used in
instances of workplace violence and is undoubtedly applicable to campus sexual assault.
These crises are often human-made and are attributable to management or operational
failures, criminal behavior, or a lack of oversight of people and processes.
125
Leading crisis
counselor Jim Lukaszewski defines a crisis as rooted in having victims. Victimhood creates a
sense of urgency that both the public and media tend to focus on in a crisis.
126
Page and Parnett
cite that such crises comprise three players: a victim, a villain, and a vindicator—which is a
helpful way to understand the way student activists may feel about campus sexual assault and
school’s communications efforts.
127

While putting out a fire is a valuable skill, preventing one is more beneficial. Issues
management is proactive, whereas crisis communications is reactive. Higher education
institutions fail to be proactive in their communications and policies for the campus sexual

123
“Crisis and Crisis Management.” The Arthur W. Page Center, The Pennsylvania State University,
www.pagecentertraining.psu.edu/public-relations-ethics/ethics-in-crisis-management/lesson-1-prominent-ethical-
issues-in-crisis-situations/crisis-and-crisis-management/.
124
“Crisis Management and Communications.” Institute for Public Relations, 19 Nov. 2020, instituteforpr.org/crisis-
management-and-communications/.
125
Page, Janis Teruggi, and Lawrence J. Parnell. Introduction to Strategic Public Relations: Digital, Global, and
Socially Responsible Communication . SAGE, 2019.
126
Ibid.

127
Ibid.

36
assault epidemic. An organization’s attention to managing certain issues early on—in its
potential and emerging stages—is what prevents it from becoming a crisis and a risk for
reputational damage.
128

The best crisis strategy is to maintain good relationships, which means that the
relationship between an institution and its stakeholders is essential. I argue that the most crucial
relationship in maintaining a positive image is that of a school and its students, particularly due
to the new campus anti-rape movement, in which students have fully immersed themselves. In
Benoit’s image restoration theory, companies or individuals go through denial, evasion of
responsibility, reducing the offensive act, taking corrective action, and mortification before they
reach the step of admitting guilt and apologizing.
129
Colleges must not follow this route in their
efforts.
Among the conversations of organizational theorists are two approaches: open-systems
and closed-systems.
130
Open systems respond to environmental changes, adjust, and adapt to
accommodate variations. Closed systems have impermeable boundaries and do not exchange
information with their environments; open systems, on the other hand, exchange inputs and
outputs with their environments and are permeable. Closed-systems public relations tactics
include news releases, email blasts, and other reactive responses suggestive of defensive
thinking. Organizations with closed systems are not adaptable to change and may eventually
disintegrate; open systems are responsive to change, maintain balance and survive. Through an

128
Page, Janis Teruggi, and Lawrence J. Parnell. Introduction to Strategic Public Relations: Digital, Global, and
Socially Responsible Communication . SAGE, 2019, pp 300-324.
129
Benoit, William L. “Image Restoration Theory.” 2015,
doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405186407.wbieci009.pub2.
130
“6: Public Relations and Organizational Effectiveness.” Mastering Public Relations, LibreTexts.

37
open systems approach, public relations tactics may comprise legitimate structural change
because of the permeability to outward environments.
131

The Ethical Issues
According to Dana Bolger for Al Jazeera, schools are shifting to model themselves after
corporations and adopting bureaucratic administrative structures and risk management strategies
seen in the business sector.
132
Private colleges have increased administrative spending 36 percent
(for a comparison, faculty spending has increased 22 percent), and membership in the University
Risk Management and Insurance Association doubled between 1999 and 2009.
133
Popular firm
the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM) gives advice to schools
om how to avoid investigation by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights in a
“Twenty Steps to OCR-Proof Your Campus on Title IX” guide.
134
When schools prioritize
reputation, sexual assault victims are seen as liabilities who need to be managed.
Internal and External Statements
The ways that college leadership communicates about sexual assault internally to
students and other campus members and externally to the media, is crucial to administration-
student relations. Some student victims have described feeling betrayed by their schools, even

131
Broom, Glen M. Cutlip and Center's Effective Public Relations: International Edition. 11th ed., Pearson
Education, 2012.

132
Bolger, Dana. “OPINION: When Schools Put Their Brands before Assaulted Students.” Al Jazeera America, 10
June 2014, america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/6/college-sexual-violencerapeeducationtitleixbranding.html.

133
Mills, Nicolaus. “The Corporatization of Higher Education.” Dissent Magazine, 29 Oct. 2012,
www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-corporatization-of-higher-educationl; Bolger, Dana. “OPINION: When
Schools Put Their Brands before Assaulted Students.” Al Jazeera America, 10 June 2014,
america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/6/college-sexual-violencerapeeducationtitleixbranding.html.

134
Ibid.

38
comparing that betrayal to how they felt during their assault. Below are some examples of failed
leadership in such communication efforts.
School Communications Descriptions
University of Connecticut
135
In 2013, at a press conference, the president stated that
survivor complaints were “astonishingly misguided
and demonstrably untrue.”
136

Hobart and Smith William College
137
In 2014, in a campus wide letter, the president stated
that he was confident the college had not violated
federal law after students filed a Title IX complaint.
138

Lincoln University
139
In 2014, during a speech at an all-female convocation,
the president spoke about how false rape reports ruin
men’s lives.
140

Eckerd College
141
In 2014, in a campus wide email, the president
suggested that people drink less and engage in less

135
Heldman, Caroline. “Why Are University Presidents Leaving Campus Rape Survivors Out in the Cold?” Ms.
Magazine, 2 July 2018, msmagazine.com/2015/03/18/why-are-university-presidents-leaving-campus-rape-survivors-
out-in-the-cold/.
136
Thomas, Jacqueline Rabe. “Citing Privacy Laws, UConn Providing Little Information about Sexual
Assaults.” The CT Mirror, 24 Oct. 2013, ctmirror.org/2013/10/24/citing-privacy-laws-uconn-providing-little-
information-about-sexual-assaults/.
137
Heldman, Caroline. “Why Are University Presidents Leaving Campus Rape Survivors Out in the Cold?” Ms.
Magazine, 2 July 2018, msmagazine.com/2015/03/18/why-are-university-presidents-leaving-campus-rape-survivors-
out-in-the-cold/.
138
Bogdanich, Walt. “Reporting Rape, and Wishing She Hadn't.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12
July 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/us/how-one-college-handled-a-sexual-assault-complaint.html.
139
Heldman, Caroline. “Why Are University Presidents Leaving Campus Rape Survivors Out in the Cold?” Ms.
Magazine, 2 July 2018, msmagazine.com/2015/03/18/why-are-university-presidents-leaving-campus-rape-survivors-
out-in-the-cold/.
140
“Lincoln University President Resigns after Sex Assault Remarks.” 6abc Philadelphia, WPVI-TV, 24 Nov. 2014,
6abc.com/education/lincoln-u-president-resigns-after-sex-assault-remarks/390702/.
141
Heldman, Caroline. “Why Are University Presidents Leaving Campus Rape Survivors Out in the Cold?” Ms.
Magazine, 2 July 2018, msmagazine.com/2015/03/18/why-are-university-presidents-leaving-campus-rape-survivors-
out-in-the-cold/.

39
casual sex.
142

University of Richmond In 2016, according to the account of a victimized
student, the school’s deputy Title IX coordinator
suggested it was “reasonable” for a man to continue
penetrating a woman for a few more minutes if he was
nearly finished.
143

The student expressed frustration to administrators for
many months.
144
After feeling unheard, she published
a blog post about the alleged comment.
145

The school emailed the student body saying she was
not telling the truth and that her description was
“inaccurate.”
146

Stanford University The school declined to comment on specific cases that
a reporter was writing about in his Huffington Post
article, “How A Stanford Student Accused of
Assaulting Multiple Women Graduated.”

Standard said that some of the facts of the women’s
allegations (as presented to them for comment) were
incorrect but declined giving specifics about what was
wrong.
147

142
Gartner, Lisa. “Eckerd President Blames College Sexual Assaults on Excess Drinking, Casual Sex.” Tampa Bay
Times, The Times Publishing Company, 22 Jan. 2015, www.tampabay.com/news/education/college/eckerd-
president-blames-sexual-assault-on-excess-drinking-casual-sex/2207793.
143
Kingkade, Tyler. “Student Says University Botched Rape Case, Then Called Her A Liar.” BuzzFeed News,
BuzzFeed, 14 Sept. 2016, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tylerkingkade/university-of-richmond-campus-rape-
victim-called-a-liar.
144
Kingkade, Tyler. “Email-Related-to-Fabian-And-Smith.” DocumentCloud, 2016,
www.documentcloud.org/documents/3106552-Email-Related-to-Fabian-And-Smith.html.; Kingkade, Tyler.
“Documents-Related-to-Fabian-s-Comment .” DocumentCloud, 2016,
www.documentcloud.org/documents/3106990-Documents-Related-to-Fabian-s-Comment.html.
145
Carreras, CC. “There's a Brock Turner in All o(UR) Lives.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 6 Sept. 2016,
www.huffpost.com/entry/theres-a-brock-turner-in-all-our-lives_b_57ceca16e4b0b9c5b73a3c65.
146
Kingkade, Tyler. “Student Says University Botched Rape Case, Then Called Her A Liar.” BuzzFeed News,
BuzzFeed, 14 Sept. 2016, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tylerkingkade/university-of-richmond-campus-rape-
victim-called-a-liar.
147
Kingkade, Tyler. “How A Stanford Student Accused Of Assaulting Multiple Women Graduated.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 22 Jan. 2016, www.huffpost.com/entry/stanford-sexual-assault_n_56a0592ce4b0d8cc1098c3d0.

40
Bard College A school official did not permit a survivor to discuss
the alleged rape until she signed a non-disclosure
agreement preventing her from discussing the
assault.
148

University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill
According to a 2013 article by sexual assault
survivor and co-founder of End Rape on Campus
Annie Clark, an administrator told her the following
when she reported her rape: “Well… Rape is like
football, if you look back on the game, and you’re the
quarterback, Annie… is there anything you would
have done differently?”
149

In another example according to Clark’s article,
UNC’s Honor Court charged student, Landon Gambill
with creating an “intimidating environment” for her
rapist. When Gambill subsequently spoke out about
the charge, UNC Vice Chancellor Crisp responded that
he “[knew] of no circumstances where the good faith
report of a rape would result in Honor Code charges,”
implying that Gambill’s claim of assault was not made
in “good faith.”

Also included in the article are the following responses
from school officials remembered by other North
Carolina survivors:
• “They asked me how high my skirt was...where
was the hem?”
• “They asked me how many times I’ve had sex
in my life.”
• “They asked me if it was really rape, or just
bad sex.”
• “They asked me if I knew it wasn’t a good idea
for a ‘pretty girl’ to walk alone on campus.”
• “They asked me to demonstrate how hard I
fought back.”
• “They asked if I was really raped, or if I was
making it up to cover up bad grades.”

148
Georgantopoulos, Mary Ann. “Bard Student Says She Had To Sign A Non-Disclosure Agreement To Report Her
Rape.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 21 Nov. 2015,
www.buzzfeednews.com/article/maryanngeorgantopoulos/bard-student-had-to-sign-a-non-disclosure-agreement-
before-r.
149
Clark, Annie E. “Rape Is Like a Football Game: Why Survivors of Sexual Assault Do Not Report.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 28 Feb. 2013, www.huffpost.com/entry/rape-is-like-a-football-g_b_2769576.

41

In these examples covered by the media, administrators acted unethically by discrediting victims
of sexual assault, perpetuating outdated rape-myths and silencing victims.
Sanctions
How schools respond to sexual assault in their adjudication policies and sanctions for
perpetrators tell a story to the student body and other stakeholders about how seriously the
administration takes sexual assault. Stanford University Law school faculty member Michele
Dauber said that some survivors want to avoid a hearing that they feel is biased or re-
traumatizing.
150
Some researchers have focused on the concept of institutional betrayal.
Survivors put their trust in officials, but when that trust is betrayed, many feel a secondary
victimization.
151
Andrea Pino, the co-creator of End Rape on Campus who is heavily covered in
“The Hunting Ground,” has stated the following about her school, the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. “The rape was nothing compared to the way my school has treated
me.”
152
The majority of survivors who face secondary victimization say they are less likely to
seek help, and experiencing institutional betrayal from schools results in anxiety, dissociation

150
Martin, Kyle. “Stanford Reports Fewer Instances of Sexual Misconduct, but Critic Raises Questions.” Palo Alto
Daily Post, 23 Nov. 2020, padailypost.com/2020/11/23/stanford-reports-fewer-instances-of-sexual-misconduct-but-
critic-raises-questions/.
151
“‘I Said Nothing:" Sexual Violence on Campus The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement: Internet Activism and
Social Justice, by Caroline Heldman et al., Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 16.
152
Baker, Katie J.M. “Rape Victims Don't Trust The Fixers Colleges Hire To Help Them.” BuzzFeed News,
BuzzFeed News, 25 Apr. 2014, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katiejmbaker/rape-victims-dont-trust-the-fixers-
colleges-hire-to-help-the.

42
and sexual dysfunction.
153
For some, institutional betrayal is a motivator to participate in
campus sexual assault activism.
154

According to a 2019 survey of three California universities—The University of Southern
California, Stanford University, and California Institute of Technology—for the Association of
American Universities, USC undergraduate women reported far less confidence that the
university would take their reports seriously compared to other campuses surveyed: 38.6%
compared to 53%.
155
In 2020, Stanford University released the information that fewer incidents
of sexual assault and harassment had been reported compared to the year prior.
156
However,
Dauber said that might be a reflection of student distrust in the school’s response rather than a
decrease in violations.
157
The 2019-2020 academic year saw 187 reported incidents and the
2018-2019 school year saw 279.
158
There were 20 formal Title IX investigations with an
outcome that deemed violations of policy, additional investigations that led to a finding of no

153
Campbell, Rebecca. “The Neurobiology of Sexual Assault: Implications for Law Enforcement, Prosecution, and
Victim Advocacy.” National Institute of Justice, 1 Dec. 2012, nij.ojp.gov/media/video/24056; Freyd, Jennifer.
“Institutional Betrayal and Institutional Courage.” Institutional Betrayal Research Home Page,
dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/institutionalbetrayal/.
154
Linder, Chris, and Jess S Myers. “Institutional Betrayal as a Motivator for Campus Sexual Assault
Activism.” Https://Www.tandfonline.com/Toc/uwhe20/Current, vol. 11, no. 1, 2018, pp. 1–16.,
doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/19407882.2017.1385489.
155
Watanabe, Teresa. “1 In 4 Female Undergrads Said They Were Sexually Assaulted on Campus. At USC, It's
Nearly 1 in 3.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2019, www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-
15/sexual-assault-survey-aau-westat-usc.
156
Martin, Kyle. “Stanford Reports Fewer Instances of Sexual Misconduct, but Critic Raises Questions.” Palo Alto
Daily Post, 23 Nov. 2020, padailypost.com/2020/11/23/stanford-reports-fewer-instances-of-sexual-misconduct-but-
critic-raises-questions/.
157
Ibid.

158
Ibid.

43
policy violations and no disciplinary actions.
159
For context, over 16,000 students attend
Stanford.
160
Dauber, an activist who led the campaign to recall Judge Aaron Persky following his
six-month sentence to former Stanford swimmer rapist Brock Turner, referred to the report as
“disheartening.”
161
Consequences for those who were found to have violated policy included
zero expulsions.
162

Few perpetrators found guilty of sexual assault get expelled. Huffington Post’s 2014
analysis of three dozen colleges found that students found responsible for sexual assault were
expelled in only 30 percent of cases.
163
Huffington Post also looked at data obtained by a
Freedom Information Act to the United States Department of Justice and found the same
percentage across over 125 schools.
164

A major concern about leaving perpetrators on campus stems from the number of
undetected, repeat offenders. David Lisak’s research surveying college men found that 6 percent
had committed rape and the majority of them were repeat offenders, committing an average of 5
rapes each.
165
Over 80% of the men assessed reported committing rapes of women incapacitated

159
Bliss, Chris. “Annual Title IX/Sexual Harassment Report Released.” Stanford News, Stanford University, 23
Nov. 2020, news.stanford.edu/2020/11/23/annual-title-ix-sexual-harassment-report-released-2/.
160
“Welcome to Stanford | Facts.” Stanford University, facts.stanford.edu/.
161
Martin, Kyle. “Stanford Reports Fewer Instances of Sexual Misconduct, but Critic Raises Questions.” Palo Alto
Daily Post, 23 Nov. 2020, padailypost.com/2020/11/23/stanford-reports-fewer-instances-of-sexual-misconduct-but-
critic-raises-questions/.
162
Ibid.
163
Kingkade, Tyler. “Fewer Than One-Third Of Campus Sexual Assault Cases Result In Expulsion.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 29 Sept. 2014, www.huffpost.com/entry/campus-sexual-assault_n_5888742.
164
Ibid.

165
Lisak, David, and Paul M Miller. “Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending among Undetected Rapists.” Violence
and Victims , vol. 17, no. 1, Feb. 2002, pp. 73–84., doi:10.1891/vivi.17.1.73.33638.

44
because of drugs or alcohol. Advocates and experts point to this data to show their worry about
sex offenders remaining on campus.
166
This data is not plastered on the campus sexual assault
literature – for, why would a school want to so openly admit culpability? According to Colby
Bruno of the Victim Rights Law Center, schools that overlook this paradigm are failing their
female students. To Bruno, giving someone a deferred suspension is like giving someone cart
blanche to do it again.
167

While many advocate for expulsion, there is a growing trend towards restorative justice,
which would not include such a consequence. Restorative justice is a theory requiring a radical
way of responding to individual and community needs, including “community circles,” dialogues
and victim-offender mediation.
168
One of the largest schools actively implementing restorative
justice in various situations is the University of Michigan, through a policy titled “Adaptable
Conflict Resolution (ACR),” centering sharing their thoughts, feelings and experiences related to
the event.
169
Survivors participate in such activities knowing it may prevent any disciplinary
actions as the school is no longer responsible for making a determination of guilt, but rather
seeing the conflict-resolution process. A former Title IX Coordinator of a small liberal arts
school who I will keep unnamed stated that most schools are “years and years away” from being
ready for actively implementing restorative justice as the norm.

166
Kingkade, Tyler. “Fewer Than One-Third Of Campus Sexual Assault Cases Result In Expulsion.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 29 Sept. 2014, www.huffpost.com/entry/campus-sexual-assault_n_5888742.

167
Lombardi, Kristen. “A Lack of Consequences for Sexual Assault.” Center for Public Integrity, 24 Feb. 2010,
publicintegrity.org/education/a-lack-of-consequences-for-sexual-assault/.

168
Gonzalez, Thalia. Syllabus for Restorative Justice. Department of Politics, Occidental College, Los Angeles, Fall
2019.

169
“Office of Student Conflict Resolution.” Adaptable Conflict Resolution (ACR) | Office of Student Conflict
Resolution, University of Michigan, oscr.umich.edu/article/adaptable-conflict-resolution-acr.

45
A student at a small school said this about her recent experience in navigating the
process:
"While distrust of the system played into my decision to opt-out of a formal procedure and
instead utilize an informal resolution, my decision was more-so guided by a desire to feel
in control of at least part of my life after so much had been turned upside down. It wasn't a
perfect process and there was undoubtedly hurt along the way, but it was comforting to
know that I was largely in control of the process and wouldn't be completely blindsided by
a decision that did not match my experience. Unlike a criminal trial or Title IX-tribunal,
my voice would be centered in the process and my needs would be listened to. Also, in my
mind, having the means to pursue a fair formal process with some of the newer policies in
place (like a live-hearing and advisory roles) is not accessible to everyone. Within a week
of filing the informal complaint, my perpetrator had hired a lawyer and begun contacting
witnesses. When my family met with a lawyer in preparation for filing a formal complaint,
we discovered the price to justice: $25,000. More so than anything, I wanted an
acknowledgment of wrongdoing -- one that wasn't forced out of him or he would have to
accept from being declared responsible, but one he would provide willingly. Throughout
the process, I was rightly-treated as the wronged party, instead of the law or campus policy
being treated a such. It felt more humane. The process reflected a shuttle-negotiation, as I
presented an initial list of demands (withdraw from the school, receive counseling, and
make a donation to RAINN) and my perpetrator countered by accepting two of the
conditions (receive counseling, make a donation), as well as including additional measures
that he felt may make me more compliant in his desire to stay on campus. After about a
month of back-and-forth, I presented a singular demand of his withdrawal from campus,
with the intention to file a formal complaint if he did not agree. He agreed and withdrew. I
was able to have a conversation with him where he acknowledged the harm he had
committed against me.

The same survivor underscored to me that it comes down to what accountability means to each
individual, and that the most important factor is choice. According to her, survivors should be able
to choose what is right for them and not only have one option, which is why she strongly advocates
for restorative justice as an option. She sees that more avenues are better than one, especially
considering survivors in no way are a monolith.
Some victim advocates, attorneys and professors argue that any sanction less than
expulsion or years-long suspension violates Title IX.
170
Harvard law professor Dian Rosenfeld,

170
Lombardi, Kristen. “A Lack of Consequences for Sexual Assault.” Center for Public Integrity, 24 Feb. 2010,
publicintegrity.org/education/a-lack-of-consequences-for-sexual-assault/.

46
who specializes in Title IX, argues that expulsion should be given under Title IX because leaving
an alleged perpetrator on campus perpetuates a hostile environment.
171
According to consultant
Brett Sokolow of TNG, a risk management firm for schools across the country, Title IX does not
say schools are responsible for educating the offender.
172
While he understands promoting
maturation and better decision making, Sokolow believes this should not be the standard in
“sexual misconduct cases.”
173
S. Daniel Carter from the VTV Family Outreach Foundation
started after the Virginia Tech mass shooting, says that expelling offenders can, in fact, be a
valuable educational tool.
174

Below are some examples of sanctions given to students under the formal process found
responsible for breaking school sexual misconduct policies.
School Sanction
Columbia University Suspended for a semester.
175

Indiana University Suspended over summer vacation.
176

Yale University Suspended for one day.
177

In another case, given a written reprimand.
178

171
Ibid.

172
Ibid.

173
Kingkade, Tyler. “Fewer Than One-Third Of Campus Sexual Assault Cases Result In Expulsion.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 29 Sept. 2014, www.huffpost.com/entry/campus-sexual-assault_n_5888742.

174
Ibid.
175
Dick, Kirby, director. The Hunting Ground. The Weinstein Company.
176
Ibid.

177
Ibid.

178
Jackson, Abby. “American Colleges Have a Massive Rape Problem, and There's No Clear Solution in
Sight.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 2 Apr. 2018, www.businessinsider.com/colleges-rape-problem-title-iv-
2018-4.

47
University of Toledo $25 fine.
179

University of Colorado Boulder $75 fine.
180

Brandeis University Given a warning.
181

University of Chicago Reflection paper.
182

Occidental College Poster-board project listing appropriate ways
to approach women.
183

Bowdoin College Non-academic suspension: the perpetrator
was “removed from campus for all non-
academic pursuits.”

However, Dean of Students Tim Foster
allowed him to attend home baseball
games.
184

University of Richmond Probation.
185

Bard College Allowed to stay on campus even though Bard
determined he violated the school’s sexual
assault policy (contradicting school policy for
punishments).

Weeks later, a police investigation arrested

179
Dick, Kirby, director. The Hunting Ground. The Weinstein Company.

180
Ibid.

181
Ibid.

182
Ibid.

183
Ibid.
184
Lombardi, Kristen. “A Lack of Consequences for Sexual Assault.” Center for Public Integrity, 24 Feb. 2010,
publicintegrity.org/education/a-lack-of-consequences-for-sexual-assault/.
185
Kingkade, Tyler. “Student Says University Botched Rape Case, Then Called Her A Liar.” BuzzFeed News,
BuzzFeed, 14 Sept. 2016, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tylerkingkade/university-of-richmond-campus-rape-
victim-called-a-liar.

48
him on a felony rape charge.
186

Stanford University Quarter away from campus.
187

James Madison University Expulsion after graduation.

The assault was captured on video.
188

Unnamed (from statistics reported to the
Justice Department’s Office on Violence
Against Women)
Alcohol treatment.
189

Unnamed (from statistics reported to the
Justice Department’s Office on Violence
Against Women)
Apology letter.
190

Unnamed (from statistics reported to the
Justice Department’s Office on Violence
Against Women)
Classes on sexual consent.
191

Unnamed (from statistics reported to the
Justice Department’s Office on Violence
Against Women)
Research paper.
192

Unnamed (from statistics reported to the
Justice Department’s Office on Violence
Against Women)
Presentation to a campus advocacy group.
193

186
Kingkade, Tyler. “In One Woman's Sexual Assault Case, Police Succeeded Where Her College
Failed.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2015, www.huffpost.com/entry/bard-college-campus-sexual-
assault_n_5661c356e4b072e9d1c5d615?utm_hp_ref=breakingthesilence.
187
Martin, Kyle. “Stanford Reports Fewer Instances of Sexual Misconduct, but Critic Raises Questions.” Palo Alto
Daily Post, 23 Nov. 2020, padailypost.com/2020/11/23/stanford-reports-fewer-instances-of-sexual-misconduct-but-
critic-raises-questions/.
188
Kingkade, Tyler. “Fewer Than One-Third Of Campus Sexual Assault Cases Result In Expulsion.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 29 Sept. 2014, www.huffpost.com/entry/campus-sexual-assault_n_5888742.

189
Lombardi, Kristen. “A Lack of Consequences for Sexual Assault.” Center for Public Integrity, 24 Feb. 2010,
publicintegrity.org/education/a-lack-of-consequences-for-sexual-assault/.

190
Ibid.

191
Ibid.

192
Ibid.

193
Ibid.

49
Terms & Definitions
Just as relevant as internal and external statements and sanctions are, is how colleges
define and categorize acts of sexual violence in their student handbooks. Colleges purposefully
avoid legal language, instead opting to use milder language. Rather than “rape” or “sexual
assault,” colleges soften terms to “nonconsensual sexual contact” or “nonconsensual sexual
penetration.” Perpetrators are “respondents,” and instead of being found guilty, they are found
“responsible.” This type of language is ready-made for crisis communications. TNG, the risk
management firm for schools mentioned above, is the group initially responsible for colleges
replacing “rape” with “nonconsensual sex.”
194
Brett Sokolow, mentioned above, is the consultant
to coin the term. While the phrase was supposedly intended to refer to rape but without stigma,
the softening of language has enraged some students and alumni.
195
Another reason for the
softening of the language is to prevent defamation lawsuits; Sokolow points out that if women
“walk around saying they’ve been raped, they could be sued for defamation.”
196
If they use legal
language, schools open themselves up to trouble. According to Dr. Caroline Heldman, there are
financial incentives to protect rapists because they are more likely to sue the school than
survivors.
197
Administrators are concerned with school reputation, good policies are costly, and

194
Gordon, Claire. “'Nonconsensual Sex': How Colleges Rebranded Rape.” Al Jazeera America, 17 Apr. 2014,
america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/4/17/nonconsensual-
sexwhenrapeisreworded.html.
195
Kingkade, Tyler. “Fewer Than One-Third Of Campus Sexual Assault Cases Result In Expulsion.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 29 Sept. 2014, www.huffpost.com/entry/campus-sexual-assault_n_5888742.

196
Gordon, Claire. “'Nonconsensual Sex': How Colleges Rebranded Rape.” Al Jazeera America, 17 Apr. 2014,
america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/4/17/nonconsensual-
sexwhenrapeisreworded.html.
197
Dick, Kirby, director. The Hunting Ground. The Weinstein Company.

50
there is a lack of research on best practices for preventing sexual violence.
198
A student expelled
for “nonconsensual sex,” rather than “rape,” is far less likely to lawyer up and hit back.
199

The Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA), a leading voice for student
conduct administration within higher education, does not state outright what punishments should
be given, but it does emphasize that the process is not punitive and that schools should refrain
from using legalistic language.
200
Words like “rape,” “judicial,” “defense,” or “guilty,” for
example, should not be used, according to ASCA, because the process should not resemble court
and should be educational.
201
However, According to Tracey Vitchers, Communications
Coordinator for Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER), rape is a crime and should not be
referred to as terms like “nonconsensual sex.”
202

Case Study: Occidental College
According to my conversations with multiple involved parties and op-eds in the student
newspaper, The Occidental, some have labeled Occidental College's landscape as a political
battlefield between students and the administration. In March 2013, Occidental College President
Jonathan Veitch sent a campus wide “Letter to the Campus Community” email. In one part of the

198
“‘Silence Has the Rusty Taste of Shame:" The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement.” The New Campus Anti-Rape
Movement: Internet Activism and Social Justice, by Caroline Heldman et al., Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 65.
199
Gordon, Claire. “'Nonconsensual Sex': How Colleges Rebranded Rape.” Al Jazeera America, 17 Apr. 2014,
america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/4/17/nonconsensual-
sexwhenrapeisreworded.html.

200
Kingkade, Tyler. “Fewer Than One-Third Of Campus Sexual Assault Cases Result In Expulsion.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 29 Sept. 2014, www.huffpost.com/entry/campus-sexual-assault_n_5888742.

201
Ibid.
202
Gordon, Claire. “'Nonconsensual Sex': How Colleges Rebranded Rape.” Al Jazeera America, 17 Apr. 2014,
america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/4/17/nonconsensual-
sexwhenrapeisreworded.html.

51
letter, Veitch stated that an Occidental student who shared her experience as a rape survivor on
the local news was “actively seeking to embarrass the College on the evening news.”
203
He also
stated that the student’s utilization of the media “reflects poorly on their commitment to this
conversation.” Not a great PR tactic, and also a crucial moment in administration-student
relations.
204

In 2013, the student and faculty advocacy group Oxy Sexual Assault Coalition (OSAC)
filed a 90-page Title IX complaint against the college for the mishandling of sexual assault cases,
after seven years of trying to work with the administration to create change. The original
complaint listed 37 complainants. Fifteen complainants were added to the original for a total of
52, according to The Occidental. They also filed a Clery Act complaint. According to the Los
Angeles Times, several of the complainants hired high-profile women’s rights attorney Gloria
Allred.
While the Title IX and Clery Act complaints are confidential, some of the survivors
publicly spoke about their experiences. According to the New York Times coverage of a 2013
press conference, Kenda Woolfson, a then-recent graduate of the school, said, “For the entirety
of my last year in college, I continued to live every day in fear. In May, I watched as my rapist
shook the hand of our college’s president and received his diploma, and I wished I had not been
discouraged by a dean from reporting the rape.” According to Carly Mee, a senior at the time,
“When I told an administrator that I did not feel safe, I was told that I had nothing to worry
about, that she had met with my rapist, and that he didn’t seem like the type of person who
would do something like that.” In another case, when a student admitted to administrators that he

203
“Past Letters from President Veitch.” Occidental College, 13 Mar. 2013, www.oxy.edu/about-oxy/college-
leadership/presidents-office/letters-statements/past-letters-president-veitch.
204
Ibid.

52
had sexually assaulted a woman (and warned that other victims might come forward), he was
given the punishment of writing an apology letter, according to the Los Angeles Times.
A 2014 report by Pepper Hamilton LLP, the firm that Occidental hired to conduct a
review of sexual misconduct at the college, contended that the school’s activists were responsible
for creating a polarized environment preventing administrators from improving how sexual
assault is handled.
205
In addition to criticizing student activists, the report also argued that media
coverage of sexual assault fails to capture the complexities of dealing with the issue. The two
consultants who conducted the review, former sex crime prosecutors Gina Smith and Leslie
Gomez, have a reputation for looking favorably upon the schools in allegiance to those who hire
them.
206
The two acknowledged they had never read a student complaint.
207
According to
activists at various schools that hired Pepper Hamilton, the “fixers” encourage schools to crack
down on activists instead of rapists and develop policies instead of calling out inept
administrators.
208
In one case, according to Sofie Karasek, lead complainant in federal
complaints against the University of California at Berkeley, "Everyone in our inner circle of
national student activists knows not to trust them or waste your time working with them because
they're just going to run you in circles anyway.”
209

205
Kingkade, Tyler. “Consultant's Report Blames Sexual Assault Activists For Campus Unrest.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 29 Oct. 2014, www.huffpost.com/entry/occidental-sexual-assault-report-gomez-smith_n_6065176.
206
Baker, Katie J.M. “Rape Victims Don't Trust The Fixers Colleges Hire To Help Them.” BuzzFeed News,
BuzzFeed News, 25 Apr. 2014, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katiejmbaker/rape-victims-dont-trust-the-fixers-
colleges-hire-to-help-the.
207
Ibid.

208
Ibid.

209
Ibid.

53
The Department of Education’s investigation found insufficient evidence that the college
violated Title IX, which dissatisfied survivors, activists, and allies in the student body and
faculty. However, it did express concern over college administrators discouraging students from
speaking up about their experiences with sexual violence and interfering with student advocacy.
The Department of Education found “numerous, serious, persistent and systemic” issues.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Occidental College quietly reached a monetary settlement
with some of the complainants to avoid public discussions of the college’s handling of their
cases, their further participation in OSAC, and added lawsuits.
The college made multiple errors in its communications. Appropriate actions would have
included advising the president from the beginning to cease projecting an unsympathetic image
to students. As outlined in section IV, students have increased utilizing various media forms to
get their message across. And what students say negatively affects how people view the school—
but imagine how much less reputational damage would happen if students feel listened to in the
first place. To place blame on activists, as in the outside consultants’ report, is counterproductive
to the ethical issue of sexual violence and maintaining a positive image.
Additionally, the Title IX and Dean of Students offices should have issued a statement
taking responsibility for its past mistakes and laying out concrete steps for moving forward. In
this case, students would feel included and are less likely to create noise. When students perceive
that they are wronged, they want to feel heard. And when students feel listened to, they are less
likely to create problems for the college and more likely to be part of solutions.
However, a lack of liability is hugely vital to institutions. While my words scream
idealist, in 2020, it is possible to take an inclusive approach to problem-solving that values
people as much as reputation. Accountability in higher education is the way of the future.

54
A 2020 study for the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, funded by the U.S.
Department of Justice, assesses the scope and challenges for Title IX investigations and
adjudication.
210
The researchers implemented an environmental web-scan of a randomly selected
representative sample of 969 four-year colleges and universities. The content analysis, conducted
in 2016, examined each school’s website information about reporting, investigation, and
adjudication of sexual assault. They also interviewed 47 Title IX Coordinators on approaches
used in investigating and adjudicating sexual assault and the challenges and benefits of the
methods they took. Below are the study’s conclusions.
● In regard to investigation, when reports increase there is a need for an increased number
of well-trained investigators, whether these are from within the IHE (Institutions of
Higher Education) community, from public safety, or from external sources.
● There is a need to improve Title IX office connections on campus and to cultivate trust in
the community.
● Support from the top is critical to the success of the office of the Title IX coordinator.
Such support includes resources, visibility of the office, and leadership that highlights the
importance of the Title IX activities including reporting, investigation, and
adjudication—but also including prevention
● Much depends on the level of institutional support received, not only in terms of funding
but also in terms of providing an administrative structure that does not silo the Title IX
office off in a way that diminishes the Title IX coordinator’s authority or isolates them
from the larger campus community.
● Institutional support is needed to lower barriers to reporting by students, by faculty and
by staff and thus providing a culture in which sexual harassment and assault are
understood and not tolerated.

The second key point furthers my argument that better communication is critical to
cultivating trust. How can a college expect its students to submit reports to the Title IX office if
they have not received communication that builds trust in the institution? And how can Title IX

210
Williams, Linda M et al., “Responding To Sexual Assault on Campus: A National Assessment and Systematic
Classification of the Scope and Challenges for Investigation and Adjudication.” National Criminal Justice Reference
Service, April 2020, https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/254671.pdf.

55
do its job if nobody trusts the process enough to report? Faith in one another is equivalent to
maintaining a positive relationship between stakeholders and a positive public image.
Part VI: Institutional Harm
Not only does the response from colleges harm students and the campus community
overall, but it also harms the institutions themselves. More specifically, how schools respond to
survivors after they report their experiences affects the decision process to file federal complaints
and go public to media.
211
The 2014 ED list of schools investigated is almost completely the
result of survivor activists filing federal complaints after experiencing inadequate reporting,
adjudication and sanctioning processes.
212
Although the reputational consequences are relatively
opaque (there is no public data on how such outcry affects number of applicants across schools),
critical media is obviously not doing schools any favors as they compete for top ratings and
favorable reputations.
Part VII: A New Approach
Understanding competing priorities and legitimately improving practices toward the
student body is the only way to decrease the amount of sexual violence occurring and stop
campus sexual assault crises from ever happening. In some of the case studies I discussed above,
it appeared to students that administrators had done little to address the issues beyond managing
their reputation to maintain a progressive institution's appearance. Like Jaclyn Friedman has

211
Heldman, Caroline. “Campus Rape: Why Parents Should Send Their College-Bound Daughters and Sons to ‘the
55.’” Dr. Caroline, 30 June 2014, drcarolineheldman.com/2014/06/30/campus-rape-why-parents-should-send-their-
college-bound-daughters-and-sons-to-the-55/.

212
Ibid.

56
said, school administration should not be making decisions in a vacuum. Through visiting
various schools, she has found that not many students feel that the administration has their back,
but campuses where student activists feel like they do are golden.
213
By taking student concerns
seriously through frequently meeting with them and listening to them, prioritizing transparency
and accountability, schools are less likely to face the consequences of reputational damage.
According to Jane Stapleton, co-director of the Prevention Innovations Research Center at the
University of New Hampshire, institutions need to work creatively with students to figure out
how to intervene.
214

Managing crises in a way that legitimately creates space for issues to be solved from the
ground up—including all of the stakeholders—instead of just covered up, is the way of the
future. This means including those activists who are most critical of the school’s actions in the
decision-making. Virtually all schools state that the safety of students is crucial and a priority. It
is time for administrators to follow through on this promise, and when this happens, they will
reap the benefits of their actions.
The Student Empowerment Model
Based on my analyses of schools’ communication efforts, effectiveness, and ethical
errors, I have created a new model that deals with how schools should craft their messaging
surrounding campus sexual assault. My model has four cornerstones: being proactive about

213
Filipovic, Jill. “18 Questions to Ask About Your School's Sexual Assault
Policy.” Https://Www.cosmopolitan.com/College/News/a30503/Questions-to-Ask-about-Your-Schools-Sexual-
Assault-Policy/, Hearst Corporation, 28 Aug. 2014, www.cosmopolitan.com/college/news/a30503/questions-to-ask-
about-your-schools-sexual-assault-policy/.
214
Kingkade, Tyler. “We Know One Way To Stop Sexual Assault, But Students Aren't Doing It.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 23 Sept. 2015, www.huffpost.com/entry/stop-sexual-
assault_n_5601a549e4b08820d91a6cc4?utm_hp_ref=breakingthesilence.

57
preventing sexual assault and tackling the issue head on, prioritizing students’ wellbeing and
need to feel heard, including students in problem-solving efforts and honest conversations, and
being fully transparent and admitting fault. This model does not encompass all aspects of best
practices and should be used in tandem with best practices according to victim advocates. Much
of my student empowerment model is rooted in strategies to increase efficient communication
between high-level school administrators and students, to help combat distrust between the two
and seek to eliminate an “us” versus “them” mentality.

The Student Empowerment Model

58
The model encompasses an open-system—the type of system that responds, adjusts,
adapts, and exchanges information with their environments. Through these activities, schools
will create a safer environment, positively serving public relations efforts. Through frequent
meetings between college presidents and students to discuss what matters, each party's exchange
of information is beneficial. Feeling heard will limit adverse student reactions. Celebrating
activists in their external and internal communications efforts is a way for schools to prove they
view activists as the “enemy.” This messaging suggests gratitude for their work and signifies that
schools are willing to follow through on their mission statements of equality and similar
cornerstones. When it comes to listening to the student body, presidents should not only listen to
the student body president. Presidents should listen to various student body members, including
members of marginalized communities, sexual assault survivors, outspoken feminists, advocates,
and activists. Creating official positions for students, like Title IX Office liaisons, will lessen the
isolation between the Title IX office and the student body. Consistent (not one-time) two-way
exchanges of information between administrators and students and opportunities for students to
immerse themselves in decision making will serve as tools to cultivate trust.
The lack of university oversight is a crucial part of the pervasiveness of date-rape. To
provide a safe college experience for its students, colleges should consider offering realistic, safe
party guideline recommendations for groups that host parties. However, colleges notoriously
prioritize minimizing any liability issues over creating relevant, helpful policies that reflect the
truth that—yes—college students consume alcohol and attend parties. Perhaps recognizing that
and working with that would lead to a decrease in the use of alcohol as a weapon for sexual
violence and the lessening of other elements of rape culture at party spaces. Administrators
should visit Greek chapter meetings, sports team meetings, and all other groups who host parties

59
or have a significant role in the school’s social scene. Administrators should also be sure to meet
with groups that have been rumored to be high-risk for perpetrating sexual assault as well as
groups that often fraternize with those crowds. In such discussions, administrators can help
brainstorm creative ways for how students can host safer events. For example, a student dean
may suggest “sober hosts” to keep an eye out, the availability of nonalcoholic beverages and
food, activities aside from just drinking games, locking bedrooms so guests cannot enter them,
lower music to allow for talking, etc. During these meetings, administrators should also help to
dispel common rape myths.
Part VIII: Conclusion
As I have laid out, ethical errors in high-level administrators' communications activities
have direct consequences on the student experience, which too often includes sexual violence.
Though some administrators may think differently, the ways that schools craft their
communications activities surrounding sexual assault is not just a public relations issue. At its
core, the ways schools communicate about sexual assault is as much a public health issue as
sexual assault itself—and should be seen as such. A student named Jayne recounted her
experience of rape and her school’s subsequent inaction in “The New Campus Anti-Rape
Movement.” She said, “I worry about all the other women he’s raped because he wasn’t stopped
back in college.”
215
There cannot be progress in preventing sexual assault without a proactive
approach that prioritizes students' voices and includes them in creative problem-solving efforts.
As written by campus rape activist Annie E. Clark, when conversation is minimized to protecting

215
“‘I Said Nothing:" Sexual Violence on Campus.” The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement: Internet Activism and
Social Justice, by Caroline Heldman et al., Lexington Books, 2018, pp. 17.

60
institutional reputation through superficial compliance, universities are silent bystanders in the
rapes of their students.
216

In terms of reputational damage, the dynamics between stakeholders, specifically
between administrators and students, are critical to the campus political landscape, how
combative it will be, and what type of media coverage it will garner. How college presidents
communicate with the student body (internally) and about the student body (externally) can set
off a chain of events. Schools can either be proactive or reactive, but the former paints much
more positive outcomes for the relationships between stakeholders and the school’s overall
reputation. Schools must adapt to changing technologies and recognize that students will not stop
utilizing the tools they have at their disposal to make their voices heard. While every four years,
there is an entirely new student body that lacks an institutional memory, tools like social media
and online networks allow a new generation of activists to learn and engage continually.
New data on trends and best practices in brand purpose communication have contributed
to the growing realization that authenticity is one of the most critical topic areas for brands at the
dawn of the 2020s.
217
As young consumers demand that the companies they buy from and work
for take a stance on issues important to them, activities like long-term commitment to important
causes help to better consumer and PR practitioners’ perspectives of for-profit companies.
218

Nike, for example, was subject to backlash and some boycott following its 2018 Colin
Kaepernick campaign. However, it earned $6 billion (in tandem with the start of the NFL season,

216
Clark, Annie E. “Rape Is Like a Football Game: Why Survivors of Sexual Assault Do Not Report.” HuffPost,
HuffPost, 28 Feb. 2013, www.huffpost.com/entry/rape-is-like-a-football-g_b_2769576.
217
Kiefaber, Julia, et al. “Trends and Best Practices in Brand Purpose Communication: A Research Study by the
USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations and PRWeek.” USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations, USC
Annenberg , Oct. 2020, assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/USC_CenterforPR_Brand_Purpose%20_Study_Oct2020.pdf.
218
Ibid.

61
which is known to drive sales) for the brand and was awarded Outstanding Commercial at the
Creative Art Emmys and the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions for Entertainment.
219
College, just like
for-profit companies, stand to reap higher rewards when perceived as authentic.
Even when political leaders attempt to roll back protections against Title IX violations—
like former Secretary of Education Betsy Devos—and global pandemics threaten access to
education and support systems, student activists and their supporters do have a chance to prevail
in their efforts in gender justice. Through the courage of public survivors, the selflessness of
advocates, the tenacity of academics and politicians seeking policy reform, and all of the creative
tactics future generations of students will implement, even despite setbacks, eradicating the
campus rape epidemic is possible. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once famously said, “the arc of
the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
One strategy I recommend to students is to work to erase the lack of institutional
memory, perhaps collaborating more with faculty allies who can bridge current student activists
with those who have graduated and using social networking sites to connect not just with each
other but also students who have graduated.
It is important to reinforce that sexual assault is not only a problem on campus. The
pervasiveness of sexual assault is a societal problem in the United States and college is just one
microcosm. Schools are in the position to be leaders in the movement towards the elimination of
the epidemic: college is a time in many young adults’ lives wherein they are learning more than
ever before, and schools have an opportunity to use effective preventative and educational
measures. Not only should colleges adhere to the law and best practices, but schools are designed

219
Abad-Santos, Alex. “Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad Sparked a Boycott - and Earned $6 Billion for Nike.” Vox,
Vox, 24 Sept. 2018, www.vox.com/2018/9/24/17895704/nike-colin-kaepernick-boycott-6-billion.

62
to educate and have a unique opportunity to model inclusive, nonviolent behavior to the next
generation of leaders.

63
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Traditional and social media in modern crisis communications

Asset Metadata

Creator Stevens, Micaela (author)

Core Title The public relations of campus sexual assault

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Degree Conferral Date 2021-08

Publication Date 05/12/2021

Defense Date 05/09/2021

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag campus rape,campus sexual assault,college communications,crisis communications,crisis management,ethical PR,Greek life and sexual assault,institutional betrayal,institutional harm,new campus anti-rape movement,OAI-PMH Harvest,rape culture,Title IX

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tenderich, Burghardt (committee chair), Floto, Jennifer (committee member), Heldman, Caroline (committee member)

Creator Email micaelad@usc.edu,micaeladstevens@gmail.com

Unique identifier UC13012709

Identifier etd-StevensMic-9618.pdf (original filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-StevensMic-9618

Document Type Thesis

Rights Stevens, Micaela

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu