Alexandra Tashman: UCLA must make sexual assault education an ongoing effort

Sexual assault is a perennial issue on college campuses.

Every year, college students become survivors of a crime that is preventable.

Part of the reason is that consistent and mandatory sexual assault education is sorely lacking on UCLA’s campus, as at many schools.

The most effective means of helping prevent sexual assault is to make sure students are well-educated on what consent is and how to recognize it.

But currently, the only mandatory form of sexual assault education that students have to undergo comes either through New Student Orientationor an online interactive program called “Think About It”required for those who don’t attend orientation or are transfer students, said Roxanne Neal, director of New Student and Transition Programs.

While the messages taught in these programs are effective, their impact is not necessarily long lasting. Who is going to remember exactly what he or she learned during the fourth presentation of the day while crowded in a lecture hall with a bunch of other nervous freshman?

I am deeply passionate about sexual assault education, and I can hardly remember what was said.

One of the primary goals of the recent 7,000 in Solidarity campaign, a student-driven initiative sponsored by two offices of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, is to continue the type of education orientation sessions are meant to foster.

While the 7,000 in Solidarity campaign is an active effort to teach students how to be effective bystanders and improve reporting processes within the university, student-initiated efforts to prevent sexual assault should not be the primary and most visible form of sexual assault education on our campus.

Students shouldn’t have to plead with other students to listen: Programs to foster an understanding of consent should be an institutional facet of our university.

The UCLA administration needs to make a greater effort to continuously educate undergraduate students about sexual assault and consent throughout their time here. Administrative programs that communicate messages similar to 7,000 in Solidarity need to happen every year –not just when students start them.

Mandatory sexual assault education, in some form, should be a central part of every UCLA undergraduate’s experience.

Ideally, students should be required by the administration to complete an annual online class regarding sexual assault or their records will be put on hold – just like what happens when students do not complete the first-year sexual assault or AlcoholEdu programs. Like AlcoholEdu, this course could be mandated in the summer months, to avoid burdening students during the busiest times of year.

It’s not that students need to be taught this information because they would otherwise condone sexual assault – they simply may not know what constitutes consent.

Consent education as a preventative method for sexual assault has garnered attention and traction far past USAC’s 7000 in Solidarity campaign. On a federal level, the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, which takes effect in March, requires that college campuses create new programming to address issues such as domestic violence and stalking.

The university is currently working to comply with the law by the March deadline, said Pamela Thomason, UCLA’s sexual harassment and Title IX Officer, who makes sure the university is in compliance and helps students with complaints. But attaining proper legal compliance should be just a minimum benchmark for the university.