An open letter to USU Campus Police and Campus Officials
I would like to address an article found in the October 19, 2015 issue of the Statesman titled: “USU officials address spike in campus crime.” This article relates the concerns of campus police and officials regarding crimes that occur at USU, especially in the first few months of each school year. Specifically, I would like to address the comments made by Campus Police Chief Steve Mecham in reference to sexual assaults on campus.
The Association of American Universities recently polled 150,072 students regarding sexual assault and misconduct on campus — one of the largest surveys of its kind. It included 27 universities across the nation, giving the results a wide range of social and cultural variation. The survey concluded that “The incidents [of nonconsensual sexual contact] among female undergraduate student respondents was 23.1 percent, including 10.8 percent who experienced penetration.” This means between one in five and one in four female undergraduate students will experience a sexual assault while attending college. The actual percent of victims reporting these incidents is unknown, but studies indicate upwards of 90 percent of victims do not report the crime. These numbers are staggering.
There is no doubt that sexual assault and misconduct happens on every campus across the nation — even here in Logan, Utah. This fact was acknowledged in the Statesman article by Jenny Erazo, our SAAVI coordinator here at USU. Her language in reference to sexual crimes displayed empathy and concern for those who are victims of this type of life-altering event. Her tone of encouragement and support was shockingly divergent from that of Chief Mecham and the Statesman.
Immediately after explaining that students have multiple resources available to them, there was a shift that sought to downplay the seriousness of these crimes and the number at which they occur. To make matters worse, more emphasis was placed on the consequences of alcohol violation, rather than sexual assault. The article contained zero information as to the potential charges against those who commit such violent acts, and instead the concern was to “[get] the knowledge out there” about alcohol misconduct.
This type of response is not only misguided, it is dangerous. The threat of “an arrest or a citation” due to alcohol use is enough to keep a sexual assault victim silent. Giving more importance to an alcohol violation rather than a physical attack has the potential to cause a student to avoid notifying campus officials about an already underreported crime, simply because there might be alcohol involved. While Utah State might have a lower average percentage of sexual crimes occurring within the student body than other areas of the nation (some reaching as high as 38 percent), we are not immune from the threat or reality of sexual assault.
The dismissive attitude toward three victims in the 2014-2015 school year was astonishing. Blaming two victims for “[refusing] to cooperate” is disturbing enough, but to then say to the third victim “we know he [the perpetrator] did it, we know it happened — but we’re not going to prosecute” is appalling. What have you now told students who attend USU? You’ve told them that as a victim they are responsible, and that even if the offender is found nothing will happen.
While the university’s response in reference to these individual cases might be justified, by making these statements you are telling any future victim not to bother reporting a crime because their effort would be pointless. It is disheartening to have Police Chief Mecham speak in this way, as it creates a campus environment that not only perpetuates rape culture, it fosters it.
Sexual assault perpetrators (most often serial offenders) have been reassured that they are safe, and victims are reassured that silence is more important than speaking out. Under no circumstances should sexual assault victims be made to feel that they should not come forward, or that their experience was not severe enough to warrant an investigation. Even if case numbers increase, and even if those cases may not turn out to be assault, there must be an open door for all students — regardless of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, etc. — so they know their campus is willing to listen to them and will support them in a time when most victims feel they have lost control over their lives. While I hope that this door is and always will be open, the language used by campus officials in the Statesman article effectively slams that door shut. It is enough that these crimes happen and are kept in the dark because victims are embarrassed, ashamed, or wrongfully blame themselves. The time has come to change the way we speak about and address sexual assault crimes that occur on campus. Utah State University officials cannot add to the burden a victim must already carry at the hands of their abuser.
Naomie Barnes
USU Graduate Student