Assault Policy Reviewers Seek Student Input

A Faculty committee charged with reviewing the College’s responses to sexual assault held its first forum last night to elicit student comment on the topic.

The Lowell House event will be repeated in each of the Houses over the course of the year by the Leaning Committee.

“We have a charge to make recommendations regarding counseling, support and education for issues of sexual harassment,” said Professor of International Health and Committee Chair Jennifer Leaning in an interview after the meeting. “We need to speak to students directly to make those decisions.”

About eight students and two resident tutors attended the meeting, which The Crimson was not allowed to observe. Seven members of the committee were also present, including its two student members, Sarah B. Levit-Shore ’04 and Jared M. Slade ’03.

Committee members said the desire for increased student input stems from the fact only two students serve on the Leaning Committee.

“Having only two students on the committee is limitory,” Slade said. “The whole purpose of having these House meetings is in order to hear more from students. You need to understand the culture of sexual harassment on campus before you can attempt to fix the problem.”

The committee chair said she hopes to reach students who would be unlikely to offer unsolicited comment on issues of sexual assault.

“Our hope is that these meetings will allow us contact with individual students beyond student groups,” Leaning said. “Often those students who ordinarily do not speak publicly about these issues give us the most important and valuable feedback.”

Last night’s meeting covered a range of topics about sex at Harvard, including unhealthy sex, the lack of healthy relationships and traditional dating, sexual assault, what constitutes proper sexual consent and ways to improve assault education.

The meeting focused on students’ personal opinions and experiences regarding sexual harassment and sexual relationships at Harvard.

The Administrative Board’s new policy for investigating peer disputes—the adoption of which created controversy last spring—were not discussed.

“At first, people shared their opinions on issues of sexuality and harassment, but eventually the discussion moved more towards personal experiences with these issues,” said Stephanie L. Safdi ’05, who helped organize the meeting.

The prevalence of sexual assault in both long-term and casual relationships was also discussed.

“We attempted to identify in what situations instances of sexual harassment are common and occur most often,” said Debbie A. Sorensen, a Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment (SASH) tutor in Lowell House.

Leaning said that the meeting was deliberately kept small in order to foster a frank discussion on opinions and experiences with sexual harassment.

“These are delicate issues. We wanted students to be able to speak freely and not worry about their comments leaving the room,” she said.

“A large crowd...or lack of privacy can create a chilling effect for students who are sharing personal opinions or experiences with issues of sexuality and harassment,” said Assistant Provost Marsha H. Semuels.

“Everyone was very comfortable in the discussion—I am always in favor of small group settings for issues related to sexual harassment,” said Susan B. Marine, who was recently appointed director of sexual assault prevention services.

In an effort to publicize the Leaning Committee’s efforts, the Coalition Against Sexual Violence (CASV) posted flyers around campus on Monday.

“The Leaning Committee is making great outreach efforts to get student opinions on sexual harassment issues,” said CASV member Alisha C. Johnson ’04. “But students need to be more aware of its existence—they need to know that it’s a really great place to voice their concerns to effect change.”

As part of the University’s effort to inform the campus about the new sexual assault policy this fall, College administrators have also created a presentation detailing the impact of the new corroboration requirement on the Ad Board’s investigations.

Assistant Deans of the College David B. Fithian and Karen E. Avery ’87 hosted members from CASV, Response and the Leaning Committee last Monday to present and discuss the College’s sexual assault policy.

During the presentation, Avery cited campus resources available to sexual assault victims. Fithian then compared how the Ad Board would investigate a sexual assault complaint under the new policy with how an investigation would taken place in the past.

Fithian said the meeting was set up to explain the new procedural change to concerned students and members of the Leaning Committee.

He added that he has already given the presentation to SASH tutors, new resident tutors, nurses at University Health Services and Harvard University Police Department officers.

Johnson said during the meeting that she thinks the administration needs to explain the procedural change to the student body—not just to those students who are concerned about the issue.

—Anne K. Kofol contributed to the reporting of this story.