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If you haven’t heard already, for the past month The Safe Campus Act has caused quite a bit of discussion across college campuses. This new act formally known as “H.R. 3403” aims to “amend the higher education act of 1965 to protect victims of sexual violence, to improve the adjudication of allegations related to sexual violence, and for other purposes”.
You may be wondering, why exactly is this so important? In a nutshell, the safe campus act, requires student victims to report to both the police and administration in order to prosecute a student for sexual assault. As you may know, sexual assault cases are a huge issue among college campuses and there has been discussion on how to fix the issue. Under the bill, colleges would be unable to investigate any sexual assault allegations until the police are involved. This bill makes it difficult for any victim of sexual assault to be comfortable with coming out about their situation.
The Safe Campus Act has received a negative response from college students. Many sororities have decided to stand against the act by publicly announcing that they do not support the bill. The third largest sorority in the National Panhellenic Council, Alpha Phi, set the precedent by being the first sorority to stand against it. Since then, several other sororities have followed their lead by doing the same.
While some sororities have not explicitly stated why they are against the bill, Delta Phi Epsilon has stated that “The Bills eliminate the process by which sexual assault survivors on college campuses may seek relief, support, advocacy, and help from their campuses”.
If you haven’t already, take the time aside to read the act thoroughly and form your own opinion on the matter. Whether you agree or disagree with this bill, college students should be aware of the changes that could come if the bill is enacted into a law.