Vanderbilt survey: Hundreds encounter sexual assault
A new survey of Vanderbilt University students suggests that sexual assaults are far more pervasive on campus than previous reports have shown.
The university asked students in spring 2015 to take one of two surveys on the prevalence of sexual assault and students' attitudes toward the crime. The results, released on Tuesday, provide the clearest available picture of the reality of sexual assaults at Vanderbilt, and they hint at the landscape students face across the state and the nation.
In one of the surveys, written by the independent Education Advisory Board and taken by 1,651 students, 156 said they had been victims of sexual assault — including rape, fondling or unwanted kissing — during the 2014-15 school year. That tally included almost 20 percent of the undergraduate students who took the EAB survey.
In the other survey, written by EverFi and taken by 1,402 students, 140 said they "had experienced unwanted sexual contact or attempted unwanted sexual contact as the result of physical force, the threat of physical force or when they were unable to provide consent," according to Vanderbilt's summary of the results.
The figures in both surveys dwarfed findings included in the university's annual campus security report, which is required by the federal government. That report, which has a more narrow definition of sexual assault and includes only on-campus crimes that were reported to specific campus authorities, showed 23 sexual assaults had been reported at Vanderbilt in 2014.
Colleges provide fuller picture of sex assaults
Kathy Walsh, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, said she wasn't surprised the anonymous surveys painted a different picture than the security report. Several studies have shown that the vast majority of sexual assault victims do not report the crime to authorities.
In the surveys, some of the students who said they were a victim of sexual assaults said they weren't sure if their attacker meant to assault them, and that they were afraid they'd be blamed or judged if they came forward to file a formal report.
“I was really impressed that Vanderbilt wants to look at these results and figure out what the next step is," Walsh said. “It appears that Vanderbilt is really serious about understanding what students know and figuring out what to do to help.”
The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault has recommended that colleges and universities conduct similar analyses, known as campus climate surveys, in order to shed light on the true impact of sexual assault. That effort has become increasingly urgent at colleges and universities across the country, and at Vanderbilt — which has weathered high-profile controversies around the issue — the focus has been especially intense.
In 2013 four former Vanderbilt football players were charged with raping a female student in a dorm room, a case that is still making its way through the court system. And the university remains under review by federal education officials, spurred by six current and former female students who filed a complaint about how Vanderbilt has handled cases of sexual misconduct.
Administrators have responded by rolling out added training and support in recent years, including the creation of a free-standing space for the Project Safe Center, which provides sexual assault education and victim resources.
In a statement released along with the survey results on Tuesday, Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos said the surveys offer "invaluable information about sexual assault on our campus, how many incidents are — and are not — reported, what our students know about the programs and services we provide, and how well we are handling incidents that are reported."
A panel of university leaders released a series of recommended changes based on the outcome of the survey. In particular the panel recommended added training on sexual assaults and campus resources for academic advisers and other staff members.
Cynthia J. Cyrus, vice provost for learning and residential affairs at Vanderbilt, said one key takeaway from the survey that is already triggering change was the fact that only about a third of the students said they understood the "formal procedures to address complaints of sexual assault.” She said staff were already working to clarify the process for submitting and evaluating formal complaints.
Cyrus said she was disappointed to see that one in five undergraduates in one survey reported experiencing a sexual assault, especially after Vanderbilt has rolled out a series of aggressive steps to fight the crime on campus. She said the university released the data publicly to encourage others to come forward, perhaps with a suggestion that would move the needle more effectively.
"We really wanted to look at the problem very directly, call it a problem and work to find solutions," she said.
Administrators are hosting a forum on Monday for students, faculty and staff to discuss the survey and brainstorm ways to combat sexual assaults in the future. Officials at Vanderbilt said they planned to conduct additional surveys, perhaps at two-year intervals.
Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and on Twitter @tamburintweets.