HANOVER, Indiana — Students protested at Hanover College Friday. Some students said staff isn’t doing enough to protect students from sexual assault.
Dozens of students and some staff members showed up in support. There were several signs showing solidarity with sexual assault survivors. There were also resources for students who need help or want to confidentially speak out.
Organizer Kennedy Walton wants sexual assault survivors to hear and see.
“There are a lot of people whose stories aren’t being told and don’t feel like they can, and all I can say is that it’s important to show support for them, to let people know that you can be a listening ear,” Walton said.
Some students even traveled for the event. Ashley Wilson and Noah Thomas are freshmen at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). They are a part of the Indiana Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign (ISAAC). Thomas is a co-founder.
“We believe the people that have gone through these extremely traumatic and horrific events,” Wilson said.
Thomas said he knew they had to go there and stand with survivors at Hanover.
Galileo Henneman is a survivor himself. He’s a sophomore at Hanover.
“It definitely is a very isolating experience as a victim because there’s only been horror story after horror story as being treated as a victim,” Henneman said.
Sophomore Jaina Lewis said the staff doesn’t clearly communicate the resources available to survivors and doesn’t always make the Title IX process clear, which is a government-mandated process that all sexual assault allegations on college campuses must go through.
The law ensures colleges do several things, including creating a policy against sex discrimination and making sure it's taught to students. Every school must have a Title IX coordinator, and every school must have a procedure in place for students to report sexual assault and discrimination.
For some Hanover students, the trial-like process is traumatizing, with hearings and all.
It’s not all of our administration,” Lewis said. “It’s a very few select people who prove time and time again that they do not genuinely care about us.”
Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing Peter Ashley said the staff does care.
“We want to hear the students' concerns,” Ashley said. “We want to know what’s on their minds. We work hard to address those concerns, so this is another opportunity for students to share what is on their minds.”
Ashley said the school provides several resources to help. He said he thinks the frustration comes down to Title IX requirements.
“One of the concerns we hear is, ‘We don’t like the process that we have to follow to investigate sexual assault claims,’ and unfortunately we really can’t control that process,” Ashley said. “That process is dictated by the government and we are legally obligated to follow that process.”
He said on the campus of 1,000 students, there were three reported sexual assaults in 2020.
Ashley said 2021 data will be reported later this year.
Both Lewis and Henneman said they personally know of many more cases that are unheard of because they said students are scared.
“If you feel alone and you feel unsafe, there are people willing to protect you and be there for you,” Henneman said.
Ashley said he knows the school isn’t perfect and said they’re working on an easily accessible database to disclose more information about sexual assault cases on campus.
The students said they hope to see tangible changes soon, or they’ll be back with more posters and petitions.
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