Currently, the Sexual Assault resource center at Vanderbilt, Project Safe, is a private institution, which in other words means that they are non-confidential. They are “required to report all information to the Office of Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and Disability Services (EAD) regardless of whether or not the reporting student wants such information shared.”
In an email sent out this morning, the Provost admitted that “we understand that some students may be reluctant to use Project Safe without the assurance of some level of confidentiality.” This is the understatement of the year.
Last spring, I actively avoided the center, even though it was just on the opposite side of the lawn from my dorm. I was paralyzed with the fear that I would say too much and they would start an investigation. The last thing in the world that I wanted was someone to contact my abuser and tell him about my rape claim. As much as I wanted justice for what I had been through, I wanted to heal more, so I never entered the unsafe doors of Project Safe.
I would learn later that Project Safe offers its visitors the option of giving a pseudonym name when they come or telling their story through the “my friend is going through this…” lens. This kind of information would have been rather useful to me at the time, but no one ever mentioned it.
No one ever mentioned either that faculty are mandatory reporters, just like the staff at Project Safe. Two out of the three times that I have confided in my educators, I have found out after the fact that they are legally required to contact the EAD office. I never expected a journal entry for a class discussion about sexual violence would be held under the legal framework of Title IV, but you learn something new everyday in college.
I’ve learned that, in regards to the faculty member who didn’t report after I talked with her, that either she must’ve forgotten the rule or made the ethical choice to not share what they had learned. And I don’t blame her.
I don’t blame any of these faculty members. I blame Vanderbilt for not training their faculty to make it known that they are mandatory reporters, for not making it more clear to their students what the word “private” means and how to get around that. I didn’t consent to the sex, and I didn’t consent to the reports—that’s not okay.
The only places on Vanderbilt’s campus where a student can feel safe in sharing their experience and getting the help they need, without fear of action being taken that is out of their control, is the Psychological and Counseling Center (PCC) and the clergy. These are confidential resources that will only act on your behalf if you announce that you or someone you know is in immediate danger.
As the email states, “Project Safe has resources on campus that these entities do not. We want anyone who has been the victim of an assault to seek help and to benefit from the support and expertise offered at Project Safe. Thus, we will move to designating the Project Safe Center as a limited confidential resource for students.”
What this means is that Project Safe will become like the PCC and the clergy. The EAD will still be an important and useful resource in managing investigations of reported sexual assaults. However, we as survivors will no longer be forced to get the “We would like the opportunity to speak with you” emails from their office.
It is important to note, though, that the EAD is not the enemy. They work with what they’ve got and are generally pretty clear about your options when visiting their under-staffed office. They offer you the ability to completely disregard their emails, or to come in and give as little information as you want. So even if you have been pushed into reporting, you can take back some control.
You may find, as I did, that there is a benefit to speaking with the EAD or Project Safe. Even though I did not wish to report my sexual assault, once I was sitting in the EAD office, I was offered resources that were extremely helpful to me. They offered to make any housing or schedule changes for me that would assist me in feeling more safe on campus. During the months that my PTSD is acting up the most, the EAD has sent emails to my professors requesting that they be accommodating. The emails don’t give any intimate details that I don’t want shared, but they get the job done.
Now that Project Safe will become confidential, they can be a more encouraging place of healing for survivors. We can feel less afraid and more in control, if and when we visit the center. Other survivors can have access to the useful resources that Vanderbilt provides without feeling violated all over again.
We can finally be safe on our own campus.