To the Editor:
Recent Boston Globe articles about the findings of BU’s hockey team task force revealed serious problems within BU’s administration and student body. My freshman year at BU was atypical of what one would expect at a large, party-oriented school. I avoided parties at all costs and went home on weekends to escape drunken peers. Parties seemed too daunting and triggering; I had been sexually assaulted in October of my senior year of high school and was struggling with post-traumatic stress as I pursued charges against the former friend who assaulted me. I returned to BU after every weekend to large drawings of male genitalia on my door with an occasional offensive comment next to the drawing. I considered moving to a single-sex floor, but heard that floor had problems with students frequently having sex in the showers. Moving home seemed like the best route.
Professors to whom I disclosed my story were supportive; the administration was anything but. Thinking the housing department would appreciate my unusual circumstance, I asked the director if I could move out of my dorm and commute from home. I was initially shut down and told the director, “You don’t understand. I can’t sleep; the trial is coming up soon and living here is really detrimental to my well-being.” Coldly, she responded, “I’m sorry. We don’t do that.” Stunned, I decided against speaking with any other administrator, assuming I’d be given the same answer. My experience with BU showed me its administration valued students’ money over students’ concerns and well-being. I can’t imagine the extra challenges I would have faced if I had been assaulted by a fellow BU student.
Housing stuck to its policy of requiring students to live on campus freshman year. It was only after I submitted a doctor’s note that the officials reviewed it and allowed me to move off campus, notifying me that they could not guarantee me housing for the rest of my time at BU.
Sexual assault happens often everywhere and is entirely preventable. The U.S. Department of Justice notes that 1 in 4 college-aged women will be a victim of sexual assault during her time on campus; throughout a woman’s lifetime, that rate is 1 in 6. There is no reason to not ask a potential partner for consent or to ignore his or her response. If someone says “No,” understand and respect that. Consent is not a tricky, tangled web; it is easy to ask for and easy to respect. Colleges need to educate students on consent. Colleges must also take it upon themselves to be supportive of students who report assaults. In recent history, another Boston-area college, Tufts University, had its own sexual assault policy scrutinized. Among the reporting process, Tufts offered the option of mediation, in which the survivor and the accused could try to reach a mutually agreeable outcome. This was not a practice supported by the U.S. Department of Justice or Department of Education. This practice entirely disregarded the survivor’s need for safety and support, not to talk things out with the perpetrator.
After my freshman year at BU, I transferred and became a rape crisis counselor for a Boston-area organization. We all should get active in ending sexual violence. Sexual assault and lack of responsiveness to it is by no means a problem limited to Boston University. It’s time to stop it for good.
Ali Safran
alisonks@bu.edu