It is exciting when students find their voice especially when it focuses upon gender issues here at Connecticut College. However, after the four of us received a letter by a group of students explaining why they felt concern about Connecticut college’s sexual assault prevention environment and the present state of the women’s center, which was followed by a front page article written by a different pair of students in the College Voice on October 27, we have felt compelled to respond collectively and in kind.
We were dismayed to find that the tone and spirit of both the letter and article were unfair and failed to take into account the extraordinary and unprecedented progress this campus has made with respect to resources for women students in just three years time. As administrators who value the college’s emphasis on shared governance, we were disappointed not to be afforded the opportunity to engage in a constructive dialogue about the many issues raised.
There has been a tremendous amount of work and effort to transform the campus on issues related to gender education, sexual assault and violence against women. This work has mostly been generated by the offices in the Dean of the College Community division and especially by the Dean of Multicultural Affairs and the Offices of Student Life. While there is much work yet to be accomplished, much has already been done to improve the lives of students, to improve the safety of our campus and to project more programming into the campus community.
As four newcomers to the College, one of the initial concerns we had was to find a suitable location for the women’s center since it had been housed in a dismal and tiny room in the Jane Adams residence hall. In the summer of 2007, President Higdon and Dean Bengochea worked with the Offices of Student Life to identify and designate a centrally located space for the creation of a new Women’s Center. Smith-Burdick offered a large bright space where students, staff, and faculty could congregate through a wide variety of programs and activities. Its location would also signal the central importance of women’s issues to the campus, both today and historically. The renovation of the space was completed that August while students, staff, and faculty developed an initial programmatic model. During the same year, the Associate Dean of Student Life, Sarah Cardwell, was appointed to advise the Women’s Center as a part of her official professional duties.
On March 27-28, 2008, Connecticut College focused on the principles of equality of rights and respect for human dignity at a cutting edge two day conference: “The Right to Security of Person: Creating a Campus Free of Sexual Assault A Human Rights Conference at Connecticut College.” This conference was cosponsored by the Office of Student Life and the Gender and Women’s Studies Department. A set of recommendations for the campus resulted from this conference which the College then began to address in its various offices. Some of these changes are outlined later in this letter and were incorporated into our protocols and procedures through various committees, trainings, and educational programs.
The Office of Student Wellness, Alcohol & Other Drugs Education was created in January 2008 which included the hiring of a full-time director. One of the director’s responsibilities was to educate students on issues related to sexual assault.
This office has also been heavily involved with implementing or sponsoring programs such as:
• The Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) training classes with Campus Safety for students during the fall and spring semester. This opportunity was afforded due to a private gift from a student’s parent.
• Take Back the Night
• Revision and distribution of wallet cards and brochures on how to access assistance if sexually assaulted
• Educating over 200 Student Leaders during Fall Trainings. The office’s director, CC Curtiss, facilitated a discussion on “Creating a Sexually Respectful Community” for the Peer Advisors, Housefellows, Floor Governors, Judicial Board, SGA, Student Activities Council, Health Peer Educators, Diversity Peer Educators, and Alana Brothers/Sisters. The education of student leaders helps encourage our students to think critically about the standards of the Connecticut College community and how their verbal and non-verbal actions convey those values, particularly with respect to sexual assault. The education of student leaders also increases the number of individuals on our campus who can appropriately refer a student in crisis.
• An overhaul of First Year Orientation sessions on sexual assault. The revised programs now include audience participation and well trained student peers serving as facilitators. The sessions offered are Navigating New Relationships: Hooking-up, Healthy Relationships and Sexual Respect on Campus and Camel 101: Things I Wish I Knew Freshman Year.
Again, in 2008, Connecticut College was delighted when it chose to become the national institutional host for the non-profit organization One in Four, Inc. which works with campuses on sexual assault education and specifically focuses on identifying men as allies. Through active participation by male peer educators, the program focuses on teaching men how to assist sexual assault survivors. One in Four “changes the attitudes of those most likely to commit rape and empowers the silent majority to be a positive force in the movement to end sexual assault.” (One in Four Media Kit) www.oneinfourusa.org This program has thus far been instrumental in helping the campus community realize the recommendation that rape is a men’s issue and encourages men at all levels, faculty and administrators as well, to raise their voices. What was exciting about this initiative is that the Associate Dean of Student Life( who also has the Women’s Center under her purview,) coordinated collaborative efforts between the Office of Student Wellness, Alcohol & Other Drugs and One in Four, Inc., thus showcasing a more seamless approach in our efforts to address sexual assault prevention and education.
This past year, the Office of Student Life developed Critical Incident Response Protocols which are coordinated responses to nineteen (19) different incidents such as fire, hazing, death of a student, vandalism, or room searches. These protocols include a new comprehensive response to sexual assault on campus for Campus Safety, Office of Student Life, Residential Education and Living, Office, Student Health Services, Student Counseling Services, Office of Student Wellness Alcohol/Drug Education, and College Relations. The sexual assault protocol was designed to ensure a watertight response in working with sexual assault victims. To complement the protocols, the Office of Student Life developed Coping with Students in Crisis: A Faculty & Staff Guide for Assisting Students. Again, this document has a section on assisting faculty and staff in working with students who have been sexually assaulted.
Last year, the overall judicial process for sexual misconduct cases (the Dean’s Grievance Committee) was formally reviewed by a taskforce committee chaired by Dean Briddell. The committee included students, campus safety officers, staff, and a faculty member. The taskforce reviewed and compared best practices at peer institutions and met with the New London prosecutor. The highlighted changes include
• The Dean’s Grievance Board membership was reduced, thus allowing more expedited hearings.
• Sexual assault cases will now only be heard by administrative staff to preserve confidentiality for students who may not want their professors to know intimate details about their lives.
• An Investigator position was created to collect information regarding each sexual misconduct case and once the investigation is complete, the case report is turned over to the Dean of Student Life who serves as the chair of the Dean’s Grievance Board.
• The complainant in a sexual assault case no longer must appear at a hearing, thus reducing the possibility of re-traumatizing the victim (a phenomenon widely cited in professional literature). The Investigator can serve in his/her place.
• The sexual misconduct definition was expanded to include sexual harassment and stalking and sexual exploitation.
Recognizing that we do not have the resources to train all the health center staff as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, it is critically important that we maintain a close relationship with Lawrence and Memorial Hospital ER Staff. During the Spring 2008 Dean Briddell, Dean Cardwell, and Cate Moffett, Director of Student Health Services, met with L & M Hospital to assure that our students receive the necessary crisis support while undergoing medical care for sexual assaults. L & M Hospital Emergency Room staff does include Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners that are available 24 hours a day.
Finally, in 2009 the Office of Student Life submitted a United States Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women grant application for $299,000 which was approved last month. The grant will help to develop and strengthen victim services and campus programs on issues of sexual assault, and domestic violence and stalking. This grant will
• create a Coordinated Community Response Team via partnerships with campus offices and the Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Service, New London Police Department, and the State’s Attorney’s Office
• provide on-going training to first responders on campus
• train judicial campus boards
• expand current educational efforts on sexual violence
• provide the College with a full-time sexual assault coordinator
An issue which has arisen for students is the question of staffing for the women’s center which is presently run by student staffers under the guidance of Dean Cardwell and with the further support of an advisory board comprised of faculty, deans and staff. Students are requesting that the college create a model for the women’s center consistent with the model at the LGBTQ Center where there is a professional coordinator in addition to student staff. While we do not find this idea objectionable, we are not convinced that other, less institutionally expensive models have been fully explored as alternatives to the present staffing of the women’s center. Moreover, since the funding of the LGBTQ Center, the College has found itself in a more challenging financial environment in which additions to the college operating budget on a recurring basis may be increasingly difficult to come by in the near term. We do, however, remain open to discussing different operating models for the women’s center with the staff of the center and other interested students. We invite students to engage us on this front.
In conclusion, the College has devoted a considerable amount of resources, both through staff time and financial resources, this past year to generate and implement initiatives that help create a cultural shift around sexual discrimination, harassment, and assault. We outline many of these changes from the implementation of the Women’s Center, creating a fulltime Office of Student Wellness, Alcohol & Other Drugs, hiring staff that includes expertise in the area of women’s and gender issues, new and innovative programs, an additional $3,000 in programming funds for the 2008-09 academic year for the Student Wellness Alcohol/Other Drugs Education Office, and most importantly, the approval of the $299,000 Department of Justice grant for the next three years. This will help foster connections and new collaborations between various student groups, administrative offices, and faculty in educating the campus community about these issues.
We welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these initiatives as well as to further develop ways to improve communication between the Office of Student Life, the Multicultural Affairs Office and student leaders interested and committed to addressing gender issues on campus. As student affairs professionals, we are deeply invested in not only issues of sexual assault, which undoubtedly have a significant impact on women on this campus and in the world, but also in creating programs that further the development of young women into leaders and celebrate the great accomplishments of women around the world. We look forward to the opportunity to develop a sense of collective community among women on campus, to serve as a support system for all students interested in gender issues, and to together provide a vision for the Women’s Center that fosters a sense of collective community which so many incredible women before us relied on in order to achieve their goals of equality for women.
Sincerely,
Dean Armando Bengochea
Dean Jocelyn Briddell
Dean Sarah Cardwell
Dean Elizabeth Garcia
How dare the deans assert that the college is in increased financial trouble because it has provided funding for the LGBTQ Resource Center? This incredible facility is a vital part of student life- just as sports and dances are. Why not draw attention to how much these activities cost the college? In highlighting the costs of the Center, and extending this ideology to why we cannot have a fully functioning Women’s Center with its own Director, as the LGBTQ Center has, the deans are making these centers ‘other,’ special interest groups, not priorities.
Why bother stating how “deeply invested” in these issues you are, when what you actually do belies sexism and homophobia?
Why was the LGBTQ Center sign placed on the Larrabee Green, 250 yards away from the Center, claiming that mounting it outside Burdick was “too permanent” ?
Who are you trying to appease?
First commenter, you’re reading that paragraph wrong. Pretty sure it says that the college has happened to find itself in a more difficult financial situation since the LGBTQ center opened, not that the center is responsible. There is a recession going on, you know.
Actually, jmhs, I disagree with you and feel that this is a thinly-veiled threat:
“Moreover, since the funding of the LGBTQ Center, the College has found itself in a more challenging financial environment in which additions to the college operating budget on a recurring basis may be increasingly difficult to come by in the near term.”
I wholeheartedly agree with the first commenter who is spot on — certainly the college could consider providing for LGBTQ students and women students and students of color as not some extra benefit they do in order to brand themselves as “a progressive institution.”
Bengochea makes good points but in way too much space. This is a productive letter to send to the Women’s Center, but not a productive 2,000 word essay for the entirety of the student campus. The Voice is a good place for a broader conversation that will include us all.