University plans to require students to undergo sexual respect education program
University plans to require students to undergo sexual respect education program
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Columbia students from each undergraduate and graduate school will be required to complete a sexual respect education program or face diploma or registration holds, multiple resident advisers briefed on this program have confirmed to Spectator. Barnard students will not be required to participate.
The program—which will be officially announced on Monday as the University’s first community citizenship initiative—was announced by Dean of Undergraduate Student Life Cristen Kromm and graduate hall directors in meetings with the staff of each residential area over the past two weeks.
Students must complete the requirement by March 13. Residential hall councils and student groups will be encouraged to host workshops before the deadline.
Students will be allowed to choose one of four options, including participating in an hour-long workshop, watching and discussing short films, and submitting anonymous reflection pieces on two separate TED talks. Students may also reflect creatively by producing a piece of art or poetry, which could potentially be displayed at an exhibit later in the semester.
RAs, who requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the press, have said that options like the TED talk reflection and the art project will allow students to work on their own schedule.
“[Administrators] want to be very effective by having people get something out of it, but they understand everyone is really busy,” one RA said.
While students may fulfill the requirement with any of these options, they will be encouraged to participate in a workshop, which will focus on one of a few topics such as healthy relationships and bystander intervention.
No Red Tape prevention coordinator Michela Weihl, BC ’17, said that while the program should offer choices to students, these options should not differ in how much work they require or how much information they convey.
“A lot of the options being offered are pretty visibly less effort, and when you offer students a choice ... unless they’re deeply invested already, they’re going to choose what’s going to take them less time,” Weihl said.
Resident advisers who met with Kromm last week were told the program would not be mandatory. As a result, a second RA, who met with Kromm last week, said that many RAs in the meeting expressed concerns about enforcing student participation without requiring it. “The sentiment wasn’t that we, RAs, wanted to add it as a requirement,” the second RA said. “We thought that students might not partake if there might not be follow up.”
Instead, multiple RAs said that Kromm and the graduate hall directors would do their best to make sure that all students in the University complete the strongly encouraged program.
“The way [Dean Kromm] framed it was as a University honor, like we have an honor code, and we all adhere to it, like we should all voluntarily go through sexual education training,” the first RA said. “Someone who doesn’t understand what rape is and thinks this is bullshit would most likely not participate—and those are the people that need to be reached.”
Yet those who had meetings this week said that they were told the program was a requirement.
If it is proven successful after student assessment, the program will be extended into the future, but may focus on a different topic.
“This initiative, in general, is focusing on the ongoing conversation about issues they [administrators] think face Columbia,” the second RA said. “It is my understanding that this year focuses on sexual respect and consent. But in the future, it could be subject to diversity or another topic focus.”
RAs are hopeful for the impact the program could have.
“I like the idea that I’m doing this because I’m part of a community,” the first RA said. “Even if it doesn’t affect me directly, I’m still part of this community, and this is why I should really take part of this initiative.”
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Columbia University: Attend Rape Workshops, Or No Diploma
Article here.
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Columbia University may be compelling students in the next month to complete a sexual assault education program or else lose the ability to register for classes or even receive their diploma, according to the Columbia Spectator.
Students will have a host of options for how to complete the requirement, including attending an hour-long workshop, watching and discussing a series of short films on the matter or even crafting works of art and poetry to engage with the topic.
Notably, while participation is expected of all students in Columbia's undergraduate and graduate programs, students at Barnard College, Columbia's all-women affiliate, will not be required to take part, suggesting the target of the initiative is actually Columbia's men.
Columbia has been enmeshed in controversy over sexual assault in the past year, after student Emma Sulkowicz made very public allegations that she had been raped by a fellow student and then denied justice thanks to a bungled investigation by the university. Last fall, she drew national attention when she started to carry a mattress with her around campus. On Tuesday, a Spectator writer wrote an opinion piece condemning the paper for helping to stoke an uncritical, witch-hunt attitude towards those accused of sexual assault.
NOW honors 'mattress girl' with Woman of Courage Award
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Emma Sulkowicz, otherwise known as ‘Mattress Girl,’ has been lionized by the National Organization for Women (NOW).
NOW named Sulkowicz a recipient of the Woman of Courage Award at its 2016 Forward Feminism Conference, June 24-26. The Woman of Courage Award has been given out annually since 1994, and past recipients including Lily Ledbetter and Ani DiFranco.
Sulkowicz is best known for her thesis art project at Columbia University, titled “Carry That Weight.” The project involved carrying a mattress around campus for a year. According to Sulkowicz, the weight of the mattress symbolized the weight she had been carrying since she was allegedly raped in her dorm room during her sophomore year.
[RELATED: Columbia student carries mattress around school to protest alleged rapist on campus]
However, Paul Nungesser, the alleged rapist, maintained the sexual encounter was consensual. In fact, the rape account came into question when Nungesser was able to produce Facebook messages with Sulkowicz from months after the alleged incident. The messages from Sulkowicz included telling Nungesser that she loved him and wanted to snuggle with him.
Nungesser was ultimately found “not responsible” by Columbia University, and Sulkowicz decided not to pursue criminal charges. However, she continued her mattress campaign, urging Columbia to kick Nungesser off campus.
Nungesser filed a lawsuit against Columbia for failing to protect him from the highly publicized sexual assault accusations. His suit claimed that Sulkowicz’s project had irreparably damaged his reputation, as students nationwide began carrying their mattresses in protest of Columbia’s decision to allow Nungesser to remain on campus.
[RELATED: Male Columbia student sues school for not protecting him during highly publicized rape accusations]
Sulkowicz continued to publicize the alleged rape, releasing a pornographic video shortly after her graduation. The video, titled “This is Not a Rape,” depicts Sulkowicz engaging in sexual activity that mirrors the rape allegations she made against Nungesser. She urged viewers not to watch the video without her consent.
[RELATED: Columbia University ‘Mattress Girl’ films rape porno depicting alleged rape]
NOW previously honored Sulkowicz with its Susan B. Anthony Award in 2014, explaining that she is “inspiring students to question rape culture.”
Sulkowicz thanked NOW in an Instagram post, stating, “Many people ask me how I've ‘healed’ from my assault, as if healing were another word for ‘forgetting about it,’ ‘getting over it,’ or even ‘shutting up about it.’ To expect me to move on is to equate courage with self-censorship.”
