This research question intrigues me because I find it frightening how universities would deliberately choose to undermine the safety of their students in order to achieve or maintain a better reputation. I'm interested in finding out more about the way in which universities cover up assaults on their students and their motives for doing so. Before researching the issue of consent on college campuses I was completely unaware of the role universities play in how cases of sexual assault are dealt with. Researching this topic is now opening my eyes to appalling issues within the college school system. 

Currently being a college student, I find these very pressing issues. I'm very curious to find out more about them given the fact that they could possibly effect me and others around me very personally. The process of college applications for me were just under a year ago. The idea of college safety ratings is fairly fresh in my mind and in the minds of my parents. I remember that college safety was a very influential aspect in picking a school especially because parents are letting their children live on their own in most cases for the first time in their lives. Parents put a lot of trust into the college they send their child off too and find assurance through the safety records of the school. The fact that universities have been misleading students and their parents is alarming for many. I believe I'm qualified to write about this topic because I'm pulling my information from reliable and informative sources.

In the article, "Concealing Campus Sexual Assault: An Empirical Examination", author Corey Rayburn Yung addresses the claim that universities are substantially undercounting the number of sexual assault cases on their campuses. This was proven throughout the article through references of investigations conducted by the DoE claiming that sexual assault reports while being audited for Clery Act violations are drastically higher than what was previously reported by universities when audits weren't in action. Yung looked into sexual assault accounts before, during, and after universities were audited by the DoE for Clery Act violations. As a result, he found that schools are dramatically undercounting the number of sexual assaults before audits and after. But while audits are being conducted universities have greatly increased the number of sexual assaults in the hopes of making it seem as though they have been telling the truth all along. Different aspects of the author, Corey Rayburn Yung, is that he is credited as a Psychology, Public Policy and Law professor at the University of Kansas. Also this article was published by The American Psychological Association which is known as one of the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States.  

In the column "Why All Colleges Should Adopt Affirmative Consent" author Kelli Guilt states that its pertinent for colleges to embrace the new policy of affirmative consent. The newly signed bill SB967 addresses the federal governments campaign to attempt to end sexual assault on college campuses based off the ideals of Title IX. Affirmative consent was defined as two people consciously and voluntarily agreeing to every step during a sexual interaction. The author addresses the fact that in many cases universities aren't qualified or capable of dealing with sexual assault cases in a legal sense. 76 universities are presently being investigated for inaccurately handling various sexual assault cases presented to them under the ideals of Title IX. Author, Kelli Gulite, is credited as a paralegal in Washington D.C. and a cum laude graduate of George Washington Universities Honors Program. This means she is very well educated especially regarding legal issues. 

The New York Times article, "2 More Colleges Accused of Mishandling Assaults", addresses complaints against two colleges, among many, who violated terms of Title IX and the Clery Act which are federal civil rights laws that call upon schools to fully report campus crimes. Complaints that colleges are insensitively and illegally concealing the reporting of sexual assaults on their campuses is becoming dangerously common. This mistreatment of students has resulted in several investigations and lawsuits. A personal encounter was reported at one of the accused schools, Swarthmore University, where a student addressed that she lives in fear after being raped and that the dean of her school discouraged her from reporting the rape. Its now becoming fairly clear that scenarios like this are quite common that colleges are tampering with cases of sexual assault and deliberately undermining the safety and comfort of their students. This was an article published in the New York Times by authors, Richard Perez-Pena and Ian Lovett. The New York Times is commonly known as a very credible and well read news source in New York making it a reliable article.  

The research question, what steps are universities taking to compromise the safety of their students that are victims of sexual assault and why, presents readers with several paths of investigation. This is a very controversial and current issue with multiple viewpoints and opposing arguments. There are many opposing viewpoints regarding consent and the role universities play in sexual assault cases. The main points of my sources all relatively agree with each other. They all mainly address the fact that universities are driven to conceal and downgrade sexual assault on their campuses. These sources provided me with new points of reference like Title IX and the Clery Act that I can apply to solving the problem presented by my thesis. 

