Saint Mary's College procedures regarding handling of sexual assaults are designed to help the victim regain a sense of personal control she may have lost as a result of the assault, says Karen Johnson, vice president for student affairs at the Catholic women's college. (Tribune Photo/MARCUS MARTER) |
When it comes to "hooking up" -- the contemporary term for sexual activity -- University of Notre Dame students are explicitly warned in writing that silence, passivity or lack of active resistance is not the same thing as saying yes.
That's just one of the changes the university made this year while revising its policies regarding the handling of campus sexual assault cases. The changes were discussed and planned during 2009-2010 and took effect in August, at the start of this academic year.
The handling of campus sexual assault cases has been a topic of heightened public concern since the Sept. 10 suicide of Saint Mary's College student Elizabeth Seeberg, who on Sept. 1 had reported being sexually assaulted the previous evening in a Notre Dame men's residence hall by a member of the football team.
The news of Seeberg's sex assault report before her death became public knowledge in November as a result of a Chicago Tribune article.
"It was a whole-year effort to get a new policy," said Cathy Pieronek, a Notre Dame assistant engineering dean who also serves as a sexual assault resource person on campus. "The changes were made to be more responsive to victims' needs."Pieronek, a member of the campus committee for sexual assault prevention, is one of two such resource people. The other is Ava Preacher, an associate director in the Arts and Letters dean's office.
The revised sexual assault misconduct policy was incorporated into this year's volume of du Lac, the Notre Dame handbook of student life regulations. The changes include:
-A detailed definition of what constitutes consent when it comes to sexual activity. "Consent means informed, freely given agreement, communicated by clearly understandable words or actions, to participate in each form of sexual activity. Consent cannot be inferred from silence, passivity, or lack of active resistance," the policy reads in part.
Du Lac previously defined what actions constituted sexual assault and rape and urged students to report such cases, but it didn't address the topic of consent in detail.
-An explicit statement regarding drug/alcohol use and the issue of consent: "Intoxication is not an excuse for failure to obtain consent. A person incapacitated by alcohol or drug consumption, or who is unconscious or asleep or otherwise physically impaired, is incapable of giving consent."Under Indiana law, it's a felony to engage in a sex act if the other person is unconscious, incapacitated by drugs or alcohol, or otherwise unable to consent.
When a campus sexual assault is reported, the victim may request that police forward the results of the investigation to the prosecutor's office to consider for criminal charges.
But in some cases, victims instead decide to pursue the matter through a confidential campus hearing board. Such disciplinary hearing boards, which exist at colleges across the country, quietly decide
penalties for actions as serious as battery, drug dealing and rape.
At Notre Dame, a student accused of a disciplinary violation may be required to appear before a hearing panel composed of two or three administrators. The panel listens to evidence about what happened from the accused student and any witnesses, then decides what sanctions, if any, are appropriate. Disciplinary sanctions can range from a verbal warning to a fine to suspension from school to permanent expulsion.In this latest revision of du Lac, Notre Dame also made changes to the way disciplinary hearings are conducted when they involve alleged sexual misconduct, Pieronek said. The changes include:
-When a disciplinary hearing involves a complaint of sexual misconduct, the complainant now has the right to be present throughout the entire hearing. Previously, the complainant was considered a witness and left the room after presenting his or her information, Pieronek said.
-The complainant in a sexual assault case now may be assisted by a fellow student during such hearings, just as the accused student is allowed to bring a fellow student to the hearing.
-The complainant will be informed of the outcome of the disciplinary hearing and any sanction issued. (For cases not involving claims of sexual assault, complainants or witnesses generally are not informed of sanctions.)
To read the complete policy, see: orlh.nd.edu/dulac.The changes were the result of feedback from students, including students who have been involved in the disciplinary hearing process, Pieronek said.
Campus sexual assault allegations are difficult matters to handle, because often it's a "he said-she said" situation, with no other witnesses. "Sexual misconduct is such a serious offense that, if it's proven to have occurred, the person who committed it should not be part of this campus community anymore," she said.
Since Pieronek went through training and became a campus resource person in August 2009, she said, she has been contacted by one victim who reported a sexual assault.
When a victim makes contact, Pieronek provides information about services and support available: medical help, how to report to police and/or the residence life office, and psychological and spiritual counseling. If a victim requests it, campus police will take a victim to a local hospital for a physical examination and collection of evidence for a possible criminal case.
What happens?
The campus policy states that the university will take seriously every report of sexual misconduct it receives by conducting an investigation and working to ensure that students are given appropriate support. The policy encourages students to report all incidents of sexual assault to police: campus police if the incident happens at Notre Dame, South Bend or county police if the assault happens elsewhere in the community.
If a student doesn't feel comfortable contacting police, a sexual assault may be reported to the office of student affairs, the office of residence life or either of the campus sexual assault resource people.
Even if a victim doesn't speak with campus police, Notre Dame must keep track of cases reported to other campus authorities and include them on a crime report that federal law requires all colleges to compile and make public by Oct. 1 each year, Pieronek said.
If a student victim contacts Pieronek and reports an assault, but the student chooses not to go to police, campus policy requires that Pieronek report the assault and the victim's name (in confidence) to the residence life office. If the victim chooses not to pursue the matter further with either residence life or police, administrators will not force the victim to do so, Pieronek said. "It really is a victim-driven process," she said.
Saint Mary's students who report a sexual assault by a Notre Dame student have the right to request and participate in a Notre Dame campus disciplinary hearing for their alleged assailant. Some Saint Mary's students have chosen to go through that process.In the case that has attracted much public attention, it is unclear whether Elizabeth Seeberg was in contact with Notre Dame's residence life office before her death or whether she planned to seek a disciplinary hearing. University officials say they can't discuss that matter because of privacy laws.
Seeberg had reported the alleged assault to Notre Dame Security Police, who conducted the investigation. Campus police notified St. Joseph County police -- who handled the suicide investigation -- of the young woman's earlier assault report. The assault investigation report is in the hands of county Prosecutor Michael Dvorak.
Notre Dame declined a Tribune request for an interview with campus police Chief Phillip A. Johnson regarding training and procedures used in investigating sexual assaults.
At Saint Mary's
Saint Mary's also has a campus policy and support system to educate its students about sexual assault and help them if they become victims."When a student is a victim (of sexual assault), they feel a loss of control. We help a student regain that sense of control," said Karen Johnson, vice president for student affairs at the women's college.
The procedures are designed to help a student herself determine whether she wants to seek criminal charges, go through a campus disciplinary process or take no action, Johnson said.
Any Saint Mary's student may report the crime to the campus security department. The college's policy states a victim will be provided confidential assistance: transportation to a hospital for an exam, if the victim requests it; information about how to pursue criminal charges and/or a disciplinary hearing; and detailed information about psychological and spiritual counseling, including services in the South Bend community.
Saint Mary's has a campus security department, but not a police force. Any sex assault reported on campus is investigated by county police.
If a student reports a sex assault to a college employee but not to campus security, the employee is required to fill out a report to the college about the alleged assault, although the victim's name is kept anonymous, Johnson said. The employee also must encourage the student to seek help, she said.Saint Mary's must keep track of the anonymous-victim reports and include them in its annual crime report.
In 2009, Saint Mary's received a three-year federal grant to establish Belles Against Violence, a campus office that educates students about domestic and dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, and to provide support to victims.
At the start of the academic year, all first-year students are required to attend a sexual-assault awareness program plus two educational sessions on sexual violence presented by the Belles Against Violence office.
For more about Saint Mary's policies, see: www3.saintmarys.edu/student-life/safety-support- education.
Outside help
Notre Dame and Saint Mary's each work with the Family Justice Center, a nonprofit agency that helps victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. The center includes S-O-S, the rape crisis service for St. Joseph County.
Trained advocates are available to help, from supporting a victim during a medical rape exam to explaining the legal system and even sitting in the courtroom if an assailant goes to trial. An advocate's involvement is based on the level of support requested by the victim, Chapman said.
S-O-S provides sexual assault awareness education at Notre Dame, Saint Mary's and other local colleges. S-O-S also offers group counseling, including a sexual-assault survivors' group for college-age individuals that meets on the Notre Dame campus.
Chapman said she can't speak to the issue of campus disciplinary procedures when it comes to sexual assault cases, because her agency is not involved in campus hearings.
Victims may contact the S-O-S hot line at 574-289-4357.Pieronek and others who work with victims of sexual assault say such incidents are complicated because they often involve alcohol use by one or both parties involved.
In 2009, a Notre Dame male student was charged with rape in St. Joseph County for allegedly having sex with an intoxicated female student in his dorm room in February that year.
The case was dismissed last April after new information indicated the male student had a "reasonable belief" that the woman had consented to the sexual activity, the prosecutor's office said at the time.
After receiving the information, prosecutors met with the alleged victim, who acknowledged that the new evidence showed the man could have made a reasonable inference the sexual relations were consensual.
The woman student, who police said had a blood- alcohol level of 0.13 percent, told police she didn't remember much about the evening, only that she had been drinking at an off-campus party and in a dorm room.
Staff writer Margaret Fosmoe: mfosmoe@sbtinfo.com 574-235-6329
