USAC members plan to launch campaign against sexual assault
By Amanda Schallert
Sept. 3, 2013 12:27 a.m.
Members of the undergraduate student government plan to launch a campaign to educate students about sexual assault and are asking for the support of UCLA administrators.
The campaign, called 7,000 in Solidarity, is set to include both outreach to students and research about sexual assault at UCLA. As part of the campaign, students will be asked to take pledges to only engage in consensual sex and to support people who have been sexually assaulted.
Undergraduate Students Association Council President John Joanino and Student Wellness Commissioner Savannah Badalich met with university administrators this week to gain support for the campaign.
The councilmembers asked administrators to officially endorse and contribute financially to the campaign, release statistics about sexual assaults at UCLA, set up an educational faculty training about sexual assault and appear in a campaign video.
Kevin Reed, vice chancellor of legal affairs, and Pamela Thomason, sexual harassment and Title IX officer for the university, said they think the campaign is a good idea because UCLA should continue to be proactive about preventing and addressing sexual misconduct.
The students and administrators said they would work toward the same goals, but it is unclear whether or not administrators plan to officially partner with USAC on the campaign.
Reed said some campus staff disagree with using the number 7,000 from the campaign’s title, “7,000 in Solidarity,” which was calculated using the statistic that one in three women and one in six men are sexually assaulted and then applying those figures to the UCLA population.
The statistics come from the scientific journal article “Sexual Abuse in a National Survey of Adult Men and Women: Prevalence, Characteristics and Risk Factors,” published in 1990.
He said some staff members have said the number is inaccurate and not that high at UCLA. According to UCLA’s Clery Report, an annual report about crime on public university campuses, 23 sex offenses were reported in 2011 on campus or on campus affiliated property, like fraternities or sororities.
The administrators said they support increased research and promotion of university resources, and said they would be willing to appear in a campaign video.
The students requested that UCLA provide statistics on the number of students who had been disciplined for sexual misconduct and for the university to make faculty and staff go through a sexual assault prevention and response training.
Reed and Thomason said they would consider providing statistics on disciplinary measures taken against students disciplined for sexual misconduct, but they would not set up a separate, new faculty training because faculty have to attend numerous trainings already.
They added that a training about sexual assault could possibly be included in the faculty’s regular sexual harassment training in the future.
The students also suggested that administrators contribute financially to the campaign and put an official logo from a UCLA office on the pledge cards, but administrators said they do not plan to do so partially because of the use of the number 7,000 in the campaign title and because they have to use money for other projects.
The students have already met with administrators from the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative and the Office of Residential Life, who have agreed to work with the students and contribute financially to the campaign, Badalich said.
The administrators added that because of Thomason’s position as a sexual harassment office, endorsing the campaign could make her appear biased against those who are accused of sexual misconduct.
Thomason said she thinks students taking initiative in the campaign is important.
“(Students talking) to each other about sexual assault will do more to change the culture than anything that anyone in (the administration does,)” she said.
Joanino and Badalich said they plan to meet with administrators from the Office of the Dean of Students, the Office of Residential Life and the UCPD to continue discussing the campaign and the university’s role in it.
