A new report came out Tuesday from the state, which says there is room for improvement in safety protocols at our 29 public colleges and universities. The report, titled "Securing Our Future," was compiled by a team of security consultants for the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education. It found that we have made progress over the past several years in making schools safer when it comes to preventing active shooters and sexual violence. But more can be done. Two of the people behind the report, Senior Security Consultant at TSG Solutions, Amanda Botelho, and Massachusetts' Department of Higher Education General Counsel, Dena Papanikolaou, joined Adam to discuss.
Papanikolaou said that "The key to this is to look at training and awareness programs." It is important to get the message out to the students at every point possible, and as early as possible. Orientation week is when many of these training programs take place. Botelho said that progress has been made on the part of the institutions, and she cited the mass notification system at all 29 institutions as an example of that progress. However, she noted a disconnect between the administration and the students. Institutions need to identify what in particular works for them and their students, and listen to students for what they need. "We don't want to change the culture of a campus... We have to strike a balance," said Botelho.
Many of the awareness and training programs also address the role of alcohol. Papanikolaou said that alcohol does not cause of excuse sexual violence, but "they are interrelated." Awareness programs help to teach students about how interconnected violence, sexual assault and alcohol are on campuses. Botelho spoke about the effectiveness of "active theater" in teaching students about these issues. Active theater, compared to a lecture, is a more thoughtful and engaging way to learn about issues, and students are more likely to remember the content.
Papanikolaou also spoke about the rape culture on campuses, and said that it is a culture that is "deeply ingrained in our society," starting in K-12. She cited a statistic that one in five women have been sexual assaulted while in high school. Rape is continually underreported on college campuses. The report noted that, only 13% of rape incidents and 4% of sexual battery incidents were reported to an official. And even more daunting, "more than 20% of victims did not report the assault due to concerns that their report would not be kept confidential, and nearly 30% cited fears of retaliation." Papanikolaou said that it's very important to give rape survivors options.
