Content Warning: Contains mentions and discussion of sexual assault.
In the hour leading up to the Community Working Group meeting on Feb. 22, students gathered outside the School of International Service to call on American University’s administration to protect students from sexual assault and violence.
AU students Lillian Frame, Julia Comino, and Sia Patel worked to organize the protest. They titled it “No Excuses” to call out the lack of action since an intrusion and alleged assault in Leonard Hall last October sparked an initial walkout in November. Comino pointed out that the five demands delivered to administrators near the time of the walkout were signed by over 1,400 AU students and staff. Still, there has been no substantial action on the University’s part. “We have become the change,” Comino said when addressing protesters.
Several students spoke to those gathered, sharing their experiences with on-campus assault and AU’s Title IX office. Sophia Joseph, a first-year student, wrote an open letter to AU President Burwell last semester after someone attempted to break into their room at 1:00 a.m. “They tell us to say something, yet when we do they call us liars,” Joseph said, voicing frustrations that many other speakers echoed.
Lillian Frame, a senior and student organizer, called out AU’s Title IX office for not being more engaged with the Community Working Group. “They’re scared of us,” she told students as she pointed out that Title IX office administrators had not yet been to a working group meeting but only showed up at a specific group session. She criticized the inaccessibility of the Title IX office, noting that they only hold office hours from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – one of AU’s most popular class times. Several speakers shared their experiences with the Title IX office, shedding light on what survivors on campus must endure.
Mari Santos, another first-year student, detailed her experiences of harassment throughout the fall semester. She shared the difficulty of obtaining a no-contact order and changing her housing arrangement through the Title IX office. Only after weeks of emails and pushing could she change her room and move further from her assaulter. “I am the reason I got what I wanted,” Mari said, sharing how she had to go up the housing ladder before anything was done about her situation.
Second-year student Marissa Sasso also spoke about her struggles with reporting her on-campus assault during her first year at AU. The assault occurred before the start of the Fall 2021 semester. When Sasso filed a report with the Title IX office, she was told the case would be over in three months. Instead, it ended up being over seven, as she told the crowd. “These can’t continue for so long, it only hurts the witnesses,” she said.
Students Kimberly Kraska and Chelsea Morton expressed their frustration with the Title IX office and the University’s response to sexual assault. “Title IX failed me,” Kraska said, detailing how her Title IX hearing was scheduled at a time when she could not reasonably attend, and the office refused to reschedule. “We deserve to be protected,” Morton said. “We deserve better.”
Organizers intentionally placed the protest outside the School of International Service, where the Community Working Group met from 3 to 5 p.m. to keep it ultra-visible to AU administration. However, no administrators were seen attending or walking by. “That was a decision to ignore survivors,” Comino said. “It’s intentional.”
While frustrated with the lack of administration engagement with the day’s action, Comino hopes students will continue to support survivors by engaging with action items. Writing Survivor Love Letters will remain accessible, and Comino hopes the campus will continue sharing resources that students have put together. She encourages anyone interested in getting involved in more behind-the-scenes work to contact her or Lillian.