Last August, Suffolk University updated their policy on sexual misconduct found in the student handbook. Were Suffolk students even aware of the policy before it was updated? After asking a few students, they were unaware of what the policy was and did not know it was changed. “I never even thought about it, but it is great to know that Suffolk has the policy,” said Emily Burke, 19, a Suffolk University sophomore.
Recently there have been many news stories on sexual misconduct. Reading any news source in the past month would have included an article written about a college student at Columbia University who was sexually assaulted and carries her mattress to class and will continue to do so until her rapist is expelled. This became a priority to President Obama because of its attention in the media. “Sexual assault is rampant in colleges and people need to be more aware of potential dangers,” said Nick Panzera, 18, a sophomore. According to lawyer and professor Wendy Murphy, “it is more likely to be sexually assaulted in college than anywhere else,” even greater than if you do not attend college, or are in the military. Ann Coyne, the Associate Dean of Students, stresses, “If we (at Suffolk University) have sexual assault it is a form of sexual discrimination and it will interfere with someone’s education.”
Suffolk uses a standard called preponderance of the evidence, which means if the university decides there is a 51 percent chance the allegation is true, the accused student can be disciplined. The victim and the accused have the same rights during the trial process. The policy involves on campus and off campus students. However, Suffolk will investigate all complaints but is only obligated to report what happens on campus.
Suffolk’s policy includes affirmative consent, which states that for the consent to be valid there must be an exchange of mutually understandable words or actions in order for students to participate in sexual interaction. “I haven’t heard about affirmative consent, but I believe it should be the standard for how people go about having sexual relations on a college campus,” said Panzera. On the other side Burke is indifferent about the affirmative consent as part of the sexual misconduct policy. “It is a good policy and we should have it, but in some cases it is not valid,” said Burke. For example she said, “Sometimes it is not fair because when people are drunk they agree to things without thinking about them, and then are embarrassed about it the next day, panic, and claim that they were sexually assaulted.” Sexual assault is a tough topic to talk about, as there are so many different opinions about it.
“90 percent of the time, alcohol is involved in sexual misconduct,” said Coyne when discussing the sexual misconduct policy. However, “being incapacitated or drunk is not an excuse,” said Coyne, for Suffolk’s policy. “I don’t think sexual assault is a big deal at Suffolk because we do not have a campus, and are not allowed to have alcohol in the few dorms that we have,” said Burke. Coyne discussed how Suffolk is a dry campus because the dorms are for the majority freshman, below the drinking age of 21. A lot of drinking and sexual misconduct at Suffolk happens off campus, because there is not much of a campus at all.
Suffolk students should be aware of this updated policy! For more information the student handbook for Suffolk University can be found online.