The National Center for Education Statistics reported that nearly 11.7 million women will be attending college in the fall of 2016. Recently I learned, through an interactive educational promotion at my university, that 1 in 5 college women will be sexually assaulted while in college. With know the number of women in college this year the math can be done to show that of those 11.7 million 2.34 million women will be sexually assaulted while they are attending their college or university. Although there is such a high percentage and number of women facing this issue, colleges and universities are doing little to handle this issue, when it is reported to them. While some people may say that this needs to be fixed by us teaching men not to rape, which I do agree with, I also believe that at this present moment colleges and universities need to adjust their policies and the way they handle sexual assault on their campuses. There is a culture of rape on college campuses and women are held responsible for the actions of men. By looking at the way college campuses handle sexual assault cases, we can see that women’s rights are not a priority, which is important because women should feel safe and supported if something as traumatic as sexually assault were to happen.

In the poem “An Open Letter to the Guy at Work” by Liz Ruddy explains a conversation she has with a co-worker of hers. The conversation is about a comment her co-worker made to her after the jury had come out on a rape trial involving the former Stanford student and swimmer, Brock Turner. Turner was a student at Stanford University who violently raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. Turner’s case was taken to court and he was convicted. This may sound like the beginning to a happy story, a story where women’s voices on college campuses are starting to become heard, but no. Turner was sentenced a mere three months in a county jail. This incredibly minuscule sentence made people across the country furious. In Ruddy’s poem she explains just how this conversation shows the opinions of so many people in our society and how women have to prepare for how much of their fault it will be if they get raped.

This is a societal issue and I do believe that we need to change it from the root. There needs to be better education early on to teach boys and men that to have sex there must be clear consent, but this is a terrible issue happening right now and colleges and universities need to show that it is not acceptable or tolerated. This issues needs to be addressed now, because women can’t wait for the change in culture. Colleges are showing quite the opposite at the moment. For example, “Despite statistics exhibiting a high rate of sexual assaults on college campuses, more than forty percent of institutions surveyed had not conducted a single sexual assault investigation in the past five years” (Coray 72). This shows that college campuses are not even attempting to look into the extreme problem they have. This shows that this issue isn’t isolated to one college or one university, but that it is everywhere. 

Coray explains case after case of women at different universities, such as, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Washington, Southern Methodist University, University of Montana-Missoula, Hobart and William Smith College, are just a few. These colleges are spread throughout the United States, and show yet again that this isn’t isolated to one area. Although each of the victims’ stories are different there is one common thread. That common thread is that the men who sexually assaulted these women were never convicted of any crime or kicked off of campus.

The main issue is that colleges and universities are handling these problems from within. They use their own “internal judicial system” of sorts. For example, “At the disciplinary hearing, neither the accuser nor the accused was permitted to have a lawyer present, although each was allowed an adviser who was required to remain silent throughout” (Coray 60). This shows that the internal system that is used to determine guilt is much different than the judicial system our country has in place for the rest of society. Coray also explains the way in which they question the victim and accused, he states, “As with most college and university disciplinary committees, the panelists acted as prosecutors, judges, and jury, without any limitations or guidelines for their questioning. Records indicate that the questioning was sporadic, unclear, and focused on Anna’s actions—what she had to drink and how she had danced—without ever questioning the players as to why their stories had changed multiple times” (Coray 60). In this particular case he shows just how unfair and biased the internal judicial system is. The true focus if the internal panel is not to bring justice or figure out the truth, but to find a reason to doubt that the situation at hand ever happened. Women are not encouraged to come forward and press further charges, because the victim ends up getting blamed.

Title IX is piece of legislation was put into place to help protect the right of women in the work place and in educational settings where the government is funding the institution. “Title IX was enacted on June 23, 1972 on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement as a protection against sex-based discrimination in education programs. The act prohibits colleges and universities from discriminating against students on the basis of sex” (Coray 63). Government funded institutions can be investigated if an injustice is occurring and is brought to the Office of Civil Rights. Title IX was originally put into law for colligate woman to be able to participate in sports, but in 1977 “Title IX legally required colleges and universities to respond to campus sexual harassment and violence claims” (Coray 64). The Office of Civil Rights sent out a letter stating and reminding college campus that colleges and universities, that sexual violence is sexual harassment, which is prohibited under Title IX, because it “creates a hostile environment when it affects a victim’s ability to participate in school” (Coray 67). This shows that although Title IX had been a law for almost forty years, sexual assault, violence, and harassment is still an issue on college campuses. This legislation is here to protect women, which it can do, but its broad wording allows for many different interpretations.

This is not to say that every man on a college campus is a rapist. According to the “It’s on Us Campaign”, which is a campaign that focuses on the students’ responsibilities of sexual assault on their college campuses all over the country, and is also a large part of the University of South Carolina I learned that 91% of rapes are committed by serial offenders. This is to say that if colleges and Universities were to take the cases they received more seriously and took further action when they came to them, then colleges and Universities wouldn’t have such an issue with reoccurring rapists and sexual violence on their campuses.

There are pros and cons to having colleges handle sexual assault cases. The way colleges and universities handle sexual assault is much different to how law enforcement handles sexual assault. Coray states, “Advocates promoting campus disciplinary procedures often point to evidence demonstrating that victims fail to report sexual assaults to police out of fear that law enforcement will not believe them or will treat their claims with hostility” (Coray 77). Although this may be true this cannot be seen as a pro to the campus approaching, because studies show that the campus approach is no more effective than the way the criminal justice system handles the cases. The campus investigation is also much shorter and not as demanding as a criminal trial, which can take upwards of years before they are finalized. While there are some pros to on campus solutions, there is a huge lack of training of the members of the disciplinary committees that make the decisions. For example, Coray says, “Additionally, although those tasked with investigating and adjudicating sexual assault complaints should receive training on handling sexual assault complaints, they often lack legal training” (Coray 80). This shows that although the process may not take as long, the quality of the investigation is much lower due to lack of knowledge on the issue or of the handling and understanding of victims and accused. 

The poem “An Open Letter to a Guy at Work” and our culture are identically connected. We hear over and over again that it is never the victims fault for getting sexually assaulted, but this poem is in direct response to a real crime, a real conviction, and a real response that happened in our society. The crime is that a man raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. The conviction was that the rapist was sentenced to three months. And the response from Ruddy’s co-worker was “People are saying that it's 100% his fault and 0% her fault...And I agree... but—don’t you also agree that this whole thing could’ve been avoided if she had just been more responsible” (Ruddy 37-39, 45-53). All of these actions show that this is a culture not just an anomaly because it isn’t just at one aspect where the doing is wrong. At every step along the way women were shown that they do not matter as much as men. It is at the action of the crime, the lawful handling of that crime, and the public’s reaction in response. Ruddy’s poem shows the reaction of one man and how he believes that women should be more responsible to prevent such terrible acts from happening to them. She also goes on after his reaction to say the hardships and double standards women face daily.

 Liz Ruddy’s poem expresses the fear, courage, and incredible amount of resilience it takes to be a woman in this day and age. She shows this in the beginning of her poem. She starts the poem with how the conversation with her co-worker began. She says things like “how was your weekend?” (Ruddy 3), or “it’s been cloudy lately” (Ruddy 5), just normal small talk. Then just like it is any other small conversation starter he says “so how about that rape letter” (Ruddy 6). The conversation aspect of this poem is something that is very unique. She narrates the conversation they had and adds the emotions and feelings that she is thinking, but doesn’t say aloud. Her co-worker seems to be talking down to her about an issue that she feels so passionately about. For example, she writes their conversation, and he says “Yeah, you saw I'd posted about it like seven times”, then she responds, “Yeah, I tell you it makes me angry. " in reference to the rape case (Ruddy7-8). Ruddy then says “That's when I pull out the thick skin, the kind women always keep tied around their waists like an extra flannel shirt, ready to throw on before meetings or rape trials, or walking down the street, or making small-talk at the office, like, I'll try my best not to get offended by what you say, because I know how offensive it is to have my own opinion” (13-22). These lines are so important because they show the amount of resilience and strength women have to have in today’s culture. Women have to have a bit more tough skin at any time throughout their normal day that men don’t have to deal with. She is trying to show that in normal everyday activities, like walking down the street or talking in the office, to very un-normal activities like having to go through a rape trial. Women have to show more strength and tact when handling someone in the office offending them based on their gender.

Her poem continues and she writes the line that she has been building up to. The line that she has been saying is so offensive and she was preparing herself for. Her co-worker says to her, "People are saying that it's 100% his fault and 0% her fault... And I agree... but—don’t you also agree that this whole thing could have been avoided if she had just been more responsible"(23-34). These lines are what connect the culture to this poem. Colleges and universities teach to not blame the victim, yet comments like this are said and sentences of three months are given and a different story is being told. The responsibility of the man is taken away and the victim, the girl who was unconscious, is being blamed for being sexually assaulted. So many people believe this statement as truth. Our culture shows that we believe this statement from comments like this to the sentence Turner was given. Our nation as a whole is showing with not only our words, but our actions that sexual assault is not as important as a man’s freedom. 

Because her poem is coming from a first-hand account of hearing what happened it strengthens her arguments. She was there to hear the comments he said and her reactions shaped the way in which the conversation continued. Rather than saying something sharp back she simply walked away. Then she continues to say that as she is walking away, showing just how upset his comments made her, he has the audacity to say, “Seriously! Just think about it!” (Ruddy 70). This shows the opinion many people have of victims and sexual assault. They believe that the responsibility is on the woman to not get raped, rather than on the man to not rape her. That she could have prevented getting raped if she had just been more responsible. His responsibility is completely taken away.

Ruddy continues in her poem to explain just how as a woman she doesn’t have the privilege to not think about it. Because as a woman she constantly has to worry and consider how responsible she is going to be. For example, she says, “Like I don't think about it when I go for a run after work and instead of using a timer, my personal best is just running faster than anyone who's following me” (Ruddy 75-80). This shows that even in the slightest most regular tasks she has to worry about whether or not she will make it back from her run safely.

This shows another common double standard our society has for women. She explains how so often women are told that the way they dress makes them guilty. For example, she says “Like I don't think about it when I pick an outfit from my closet and look at it like a piece of evidence, like, if I get raped when I'm wearing this tonight, how guilty would it make me? Like maybe they should mark it on the tag, 60% cotton, 40% her fault” (Ruddy 93-100). Women should not have to question whether what they are wearing is going to cause them to be guilty if they are raped that night. There is such a double standard in our culture that places blame on the victim for how she dressed, how she danced, did she flirt, but no one asks the guy why he decided to take advantage of someone else. The common saying comes to mind, “boys will be boys”, which is absurd, because boys should be held to a higher standard, just as women are. Men should be punished when they decide to take advantage of someone else rather than excused and released back into the exact same environment with no repercussions for their actions. 

Sexual assault and women’s inequality on college campuses has been an issue since women were allowed to begin attending colleges and universities. Women have made such strides and have continued to be an active role throughout their campus to insure that equality in education and experience is reached at colleges and universities. With that being said, statistics are still frighteningly high on how many college women are being sexually assaulted. Women need feel comfortable and trust their leaders that if something as serious as sexual assault happens that it will be taken seriously and handled. Which is not the case at the moment. Students who have been through a traumatic experience are being questioned, and told to be more responsible with the way in which they behave. Students and victims need an environment where they can feel trusted and safe, where they can find support rather than doubt. 
