Cornellians discuss efforts combating sexual violence

About 150 students and other members of the Cornell community gathered Dec. 3 for an update on campus initiatives that address issues of sexual violence and to discuss next steps in developing a campus culture that reduces sexual violence and promotes healthy relationships. The event was organized and led by Yamini Bhandari ’17, vice president for outreach for the Student Assembly, who hopes to make this a yearly event to help coordinate efforts and inform future goal setting.

Mary Opperman, vice president for human resources and safety services, focused her remarks on the work of the Council on Sexual Violence Prevention, established in 2013 in response to the need for a campus and communitywide approach to issues of sexual violence. The council, which Opperman co-chairs with Vice President Susan Murphy, comprises students, faculty and staff. Council efforts include the oversight of the SHARE website, which brings together all Cornell and community resources and services related to sexual assault/violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, and the recent release of an online training program for Cornell faculty and staff, “Building a Culture of Respect: Responding to Sexual Violence, Harassment and Discrimination.” A guest presentation in October to the council by Melanie Boyd, assistant dean of student affairs at Yale University, “Preventing Sexual Violence through Positive Culture Change,” provided new ways for the council to think about and address sexual violence prevention, she said.

Among these are the needs to identify and reduce cultural factors that contribute to sexual violence and to build a healthy sexual culture, Opperman said. “This is a long-term problem, and it’s going to take a long-term fix,” she said. Such cultural change will take the leadership of students, supported by the administration, she said. Opperman also noted the recent loss of Cornell student Shannon Jones to domestic violence, saying that issues related to domestic violence must remain part of the university’s overall approach to issues of assault and violence.

Judicial Administrator Mary Beth Grant, J.D. ’88, shared information on how to file a complaint of sexual violence, intimate partner violence or stalking and discussed resources available if a student doesn’t want to file a formal complaint. The JA office can support survivors of sexual harassment or assault, intimate partner violence or stalking in numerous ways, including helping with housing and classroom arrangements to minimize encounters between survivor and perpetrator, she said.

In the small-group discussions that followed, audience members discussed efforts they have been involved in to address sexual violence, challenges facing those efforts, and the roles that administrators can play to overcome those challenges.

Several students highlighted the importance of peer-to-peer training and bystander training. They also stressed the need for greater awareness by first-year students especially, but also by the entire Cornell community, of factors that contribute to sexual violence, the concept of consent and the need for cultural change.

“The presentations from Vice President Opperman and Judicial Administrator Grant were intended to provide insight on how administration sees this issue going forward and what directions Cornell is taking,” Bhandari said. “The breakout discussions were a means of introducing the topics to students and getting their feedback.” Bhandari hopes to synthesize the feedback, using it to help inform future planning and actions by Cornell’s administration and student organizations.

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Joe Schwartz