Event discusses sexual assault at IU

The 23rd spring symposium titled "Toward a safer campus: Challenging student norms involving sex, alcohol, and the campus party scene" met in the Indiana Memorial Union. Participants in the symposium discussed the potential for reform within residence halls, the greek system and campus alcohol policies. \nElizabeth Armstrong, assistant professor of sociology, opened up the dialog with her research on sexual assault. Then participants broke into interest sessions where different campus groups talked about what was currently being done to eliminate sexual danger at IU. \nArmstrong and two sociology doctoral students, Laura Hamilton and Brian Sweeney, presented their findings from the past year, which they spent living on a female floor of an unnamed residence hall. They studied the female residents' behaviors, and talked with them in order to get a better understanding of why college campuses like IU remain "sexually dangerous places for women" despite years of preventative efforts. \n"We were in a residence hall on campus that others had labeled a 'party dorm'" Armstrong said. "This does not mean a lot of partying was happening there. In fact, very little was. But what it does mean is that this was a residence hall where 'party-oriented' students tended to be over-represented."\nHamilton depicted the residence hall as a barren environment undesirable for social interaction. Elements such as "gender-segregated floors" and the "floor lock-down system" created situations in which any casual interaction with the opposite sex had to be scheduled in advance. \n"Many of the women in the hall reported having really close male friends in high school who were really angry and frustrated by their inability to meet guys outside of a fraternity party. They wanted to have male friends, but they couldn't find them," Hamilton said, adding that one of the few places where they could meet men was at parties, which she described as an "alcohol-fueled, eroticized scene" where it was difficult for men and women to bond in a non-sexual, sober context.\n"We noticed many women being told to 'quiet it down' when they were just dancing with each other, which was honestly just good clean fun," Hamilton said. "So they felt like 'if we're going to have fun, we need to go someplace else.'" \nFraternities were not a good place to go to avoid sexual assault, according to Armstrong and her assistant's research. \nLater, Residential Programs and Services, IU Health Center, Office of Women's Affairs and IU Police Department were some of the groups that lead the discussions about curbing sexual assault on campus. \nThree students were brought in to comment on Armstrong's findings. One was Todd Waldman, Interfraternity Council vice president of greek relations and member of Pi Kappa Phi, who said alcohol policies need to be changed. \n"I believe that the University should advocate alcohol management and responsibility, instead of their zero-alcohol stance," Waldman said. "If there was a feasible alcohol policy in the Greek Community, we could maintain more senior/upperclassman leadership in the fraternity houses who would set a positive example for their new members." \nWaldman stressed involvement on campus as a way of meeting new people. \n"These women are constantly putting themselves in these situations in search of meeting new male companions," he said. "I believe that the University, during orientation, should push getting involved in campus activities, such as IUDM (Dance Marathon), as a way to meet other people."\nSgt. Leslie Slone of the IUPD stressed the importance of personal responsibility rather than policy changes. "If you're going to put yourself in a risky environment, you need to know how to protect yourself," she said, adding that many women need to be taught to be strong. \n"There's this idea among women, I think, that strength is not attractive." \nShe said she thought women need to be indoctrinated to know it is okay to be impolite and strong in situations that involve sexual assault, but that men need to understand the implications as well. \nJulie Thomas, an instructor in gender studies who for 10 years has worked at Middleway House, a domestic violence and rape crisis center, said too much burden is being placed on victims of sexual assault. \n"We talk about women and it limits their behavior," she said. "But we don't talk about men. We don't say to men, 'Well, what are you doing?' or 'Do you know this is a crime?"