On January 29th, 2016, a female undergraduate student at the University of South Carolina was sexually assaulted on central campus as she was returning to her residence hall for the night (Barber par 1).  This happened just weeks after the start of the spring semester, shaking the university as a whole, and bringing the issue of sexual assault closer to home for USC students.  Many students were shocked that something this awful can happen so close to campus, and were worried about their safety while pursuing a higher education.  Sexual assault cases on college campuses have hit an all-time high over the past few years, becoming one of the biggest concerns at universities across the United States. One out of five college students experience sexual assault throughout their college career. (Underhill par 3).  Although it is a hard issue to approach, it needs to be discussed among campuses. This incident at USC makes this topic more prevalent for students within South Carolina school systems. 

 Within the issue of college students being sexually assaulted is the problem of the administrators on campus not acknowledging sexual assault or handling it as needed. After the assault, it took several hours for the University of South Carolina to send out a Carolina Alert to the student body about the assault. After the alert, no further information about the incident was given out by university officials.  There have also been many cases where the perpetrator is not convicted because of his or her status at the university, or the college does not want this issue to give a negative impression on their school.  Many colleges struggle with the problem of whether or not to provide details on the assault.  Another issue within sexual assault is the victims not feeling comfortable reporting or speaking out about the assault because of fear of blame or legal actions not being fulfilled.  Victims of sexual assault then have to face the person who took their right of consent away by being in the same city, same residence hall, and sometimes same classes. Students should be able to trust within school administrators and the police to speak up about sexual assault.

 Moreover, the problem is that many students are not taught enough about sexual assault or how to prevent it from happening.  They are also not trained enough about healthy relationships, sexual encounters, and how to deal with certain sexual activity while in college. There is a great deal of controversy over exactly what college students should be taught when dealing with sexual activity in regards to whether students should only be taught abstinence only or also be taught safe sexual practices.  If the administrators and the students work together to provide a safe zone throughout the campus, clear up all issues that go hand and hand with sexual assault, and fight to end the pressing issue, USC's campus would become a better atmosphere in its ability to properly communicate. Specifically, the University of South Carolina should incorporate more classes along with awareness and prevention classes to help build healthy relationships and teach USC students how to effectively communicate with others about sexual encounters in hopes to eliminate sexual assault in Columbia.  By implementing both the building classes and the prevention and awareness classes, students at the University of South Carolina will be able to feel safer and more knowledgeable about the issue at hand.  

First off, there are many different components that go into the history behind the increasing rates of sexual assault. Allison Underhill explains the truth of college culture around sexual assault, stating "'I need to buy you pepper spray'. This seemingly simple message from my dad forced me to face the disturbing truth hidden within campus culture." (Underhill par. 1) This campus culture which forces young women to take such great precautions has turned many heads in regards to the rising sexual assault cases across universities. Within the past two years, the government has started to pressure school officials to make changes around their university to eliminate sexual assault.  Under President Obama's "It's On Us" campaign, university administrators are encouraged to take this problem into their own hands and make a positive change. Within the It's On Us campaign, Obama argues, "It is on all of us to reject the quiet tolerance of sexual assault and to refuse to accept what's unacceptable." (Obama 451).  With the new campaign quickly gaining ground, universities across the US are encouraged that rape across campuses will be eliminated.

 Recently, California passed the new bill in 2014 for sexual assault cases called 'Yes means Yes' or affirmative consent under Title XI in place of the previous 'No means No' policy that was used across the US.  The media and many public figures have dissected both the past and present policy and dug up both their benefits and flaws in regards to the effectiveness the policies bring to college campuses. While many suggest that affirmative consent becomes excessive when having to ask for consent on every sexual thing each partner encounters, others claim that it is the best way to end the problem. Kelli Gulite discusses all of the components of affirmative consent, stating that the sexual partners consciously and voluntarily agree to engage in sexual activity through verbal and non -verbal cues. Simply put, silence is not considered consent. (Gulite 442).  This motion of affirmative consent successful clears up any kind of misunderstanding of the victim giving proper consent. 

  Again, while some critics like Gulite are supportive of affirmative consent, others are opposed to the new law. In opposition, Charlie Glickman suggests many people think affirmative consent becomes too much of a burden to ask for consent before every form of sexual activity, claiming, "Some people are freaking out about it. Their claims are that it would require a written contract or other documentation ... that if you're not yelling 'yes, yes, yes!' it would be considered rape." (Glickman 437).  Other like Roz Galtz, feel that affirmative consent will not be effective within the community. In "A Feminist Says 'No' to Yes-Means-Yes" Galtz argues, "Rather than wasting time managing pretend-judicial systems, they should direct their formidable resources to improving community-based access to rape crisis advocacy, which research suggests would do far more to help survivors than new consent standards ever could." (Galtz 447). Galtz provides a more practical approach by involving the legislature in these cases. Both positive and negative views on affirmative consent show that universities have a long way to go in regards to eliminating sexual assault, but the new bill is definitely a monumental step forward.

As a result, the new laws and policies passed in the last two years effected many colleges and even hit close to home. USC first put their sexual assault and consent policy in place in 1993. In October of 2014, three months after California proposed a new consent policy, USC made revisions to consent guidelines that reflected those of California's. The revisions completely changed the definition of consent, explaining it, "To permit, to approve or agree to comply or act." ("Sexual Assault" 2).  The university also suggests there are additional elements to consent like both individuals being fully capable of saying yes, someone under the use of drugs or alcohol cannot give consent, both partners must be fully conscious, silence or an absence of resistance is not considered consent, and coercion cancels out consent. (3). The policy fully lays out what consent is, and complies with the new standards of approval that are starting to form at other universities in the United States.   Carolina's new policy shows that this community is attempting to make progress and try new approaches to ending this trying issue. 

In particular, the university should spend time working with students and surrounded areas in order help build a better understanding of the components that go into ending sexual assault instead of focusing on the authorities and what should happen after the assault. This method would help prevent rapes from occurring so that there would not be a need for more police or court involvement. While Title IX is a great step forward on the issue, the new bill is only centered around making it easier in court to distinguish whether it is seen as rape or not. Glickman expresses this idea very well, stating, "Adopting the standard of 'did everyone say yes?' when investigating complaints of sexual assault helps to shift away from questioning the actions of the victim and instead, places equal importance on the actions of everyone in the situation." (Glickman 440).  While this is very helpful for authorities when dealing with the sexual assault case, it is not effective of what can be done to prevent or reduce the rates of sexual assault. The university needs something that will reach the students and inform them on the subject in order to make sure it does not happen, they should not keep adding more emphasis steps to take if an assault does happen.

Secondly, the way colleges deal with preventing sexual assault is not the most effective way in making sure the students are protected from predators and are not becoming perpetrators themselves. Many universities teach their students what they can do in order to stay safe on campus.  Underhill suggests administrators advise young adults to know alcohol limits, walk in pairs, stay away from suspicious areas, and to dress a certain way. (Underhill 3). While the students should be protecting themselves, making sure someone stays away from a potential sex offender is not the issue. One cannot know that a person is trying to commit a sexual assault from just looking at them. Instead of teaching only a protection method, the university should focus on instructing ways for the students themselves to learn to communicate effectively and not become a potential perpetrator or hurt a person they are pursuing romantically. This way, the undergraduates will be guided on how to protect themselves as well as make sure they are not potentially committing assault on someone else.

Particularly, there are specific organizations within the university that have more of an impact on sexual assault. The role of Greek life within the university also plays a part in this on college campuses. Katharine Silbaugh argues that members of fraternities are part of the problem. She claims, "The Department of Education should evaluate the role colleges and universities play in enabling Greek life if their role can be demonstrated to increase significantly the risk of sexual assault on campus." (Silbaugh 1072).  The author stresses the need to intervene with the fraternities in order to reduce the rates of assault, considering that most perpetrators are more likely to be in a fraternity than not. (1072). Since USC's campus has a lot of Greek life involvement, working with the sororities and fraternities would be a better plan in moving forward with eliminating assault.  By working with sororities and fraternities in regards to sexual assault, the students will be aware of the college culture and beat the statistic of Greek life in association with rape.  Focusing on the college students, specifically males, in preventing sexual assault instead of centering policies and changes on what happens after an assault has occurred will help stop the issue from happening.

For instance, the suggested seminars would clear up any misleading concepts of consent presented in college culture today. Kristen Jozkowski's article on college students and consent unravels the grey area of permission to engage in sexual activity. The author explains that there are four major themes produced from a survey that was given to all college students at a disclosed university. Jozkowski explains these themes, arguing, "The components found in the survey include endorsement of the traditional responses by male and females, women are responsible for performing oral sex, male aggression towards women, and male deception in obtaining consent." (Jozkowski 519). The author reflects on these four themes as a sort of male responsible problem. If the university adds in relationship seminars into their sexual assault awareness programs, the young adults on campus will have the opportunity to understand how these four themes are interpreted in college culture and how to sort out the confusion presented by the opposite sex.  Jozkowski suggest, "Sexual assault prevention education may benefit from addressing and challenging traditional gender roles within sexual interactions and promoting conceptualization of consent." (522). This demonstrates the need for the seminar classes in order to make sure students understand exactly how to communicate within partnership and grasps the components of consent. Students will then be given the right principles of sexual consent and have a better understanding. 

Along with consent is the issue of male dominance in regards to sexual assault. Martin D. Schwartz discusses how males see females in terms of sexuality, causing contributing factors to assault.  Schwartz argues that men think they can get away with sexually harassing women on campus because it is common for the judge to think the women gave consent (Schwartz xi).  This issue of male empowerment in this issue is not effective in the sexual assault issue.  He also explains how the main focus on sexual assault is now based on damage control, putting more importance on what happens in the courtroom rather than what they can do to help the university as a whole (xi). The author suggests that something should be done to reduce male dominance played in sexual activity.  The biggest mix up within sexual assault is not what to do after an assault happens, but it is clearing up consent, refuting gender roles, and making sure students are able to communicate on what exactly they want to engage in within their relationship.  

A positive way to solve the issue of sexual assault is that the University of South Carolina should incorporate more seminars along with awareness and prevention classes to help build proper college relationships and inform USC students how to communicate effectively with others about sexual encounters in hopes to eliminate sexual assault in Columbia.  Within the seminars would be training and informative sessions that will help students know about consent, gender roles, sexual engagement and communication, effective relationships, and what males and females can do to end sexual assault at the university. Males and females could break out into different sessions in order to feel more comfortable and discuss different parts of this issue that is most relevant to them. This is a great component for males because it will encourage healthy communication from to women and deplete the male dominance culture that colleges have embraced over the course of time.  By doing this, the university will help strengthen communication and partnership skills within both the young men and women which will help them in many different aspects of life, specifically in eliminating sexual assault. 

  Likewise, there are some impressive indications that these seminars will be helpful to USC. LaFrance, Loe, and Brown give many statistics on an experiment done showing the effectiveness of similar seminars like the healthy relationship building class.  The experiment done of the authors' Yes Means Yes seminar shows that students are more likely to have a better understanding of sexual relationships and how to seek campus resources regarding sexual assault (LaFrance 459). This class along with the prevention and awareness aspect would give college students the insight on relationships and today's society and be able to discuss their wants and desires within a connection with the opposite sex.

More specifically, healthy relationship building classes can strengthen administration involvement with students. This gives both officials and students on campus a chance to work together in order to end this big issue. Janet Napolitano discusses how the new additions to the University of California's proposals to end sexual assault around the campus create a connection between officials and undergraduates. She states, "Its charge was to ensure that the University of California employs a fair, consistent, and effective approach to addressing sexual violence, and that the university fosters a culture of trust and safety on its campuses." (Napolitano 390).  This brings a sense of togetherness and focuses specifically on what can change the high rates of sexual violence. Napolitano also discusses how the president of UC advocates for the integration of the community as a whole in working together to fight the problem. The president proposes, "A coordinated Community Review Team consists of the community as well as university members and students; it reviews policies and procedures and identifies processes that are working well." (390-391).  By bringing in the whole community, the university as well as the city can be educated the same way and be fully prepared for the issue at hand.

 A great example of a program that has been effective in bringing the community in as a whole in order to reduce rape on campus is the Green Dot program at the University of Kentucky. ABC news featured Kentucky's president, Eli Capiluto, and discussed how the Green Dot program works with sexual assault prevention and awareness. Within this program, students, faculty and staff, the police, and the community unite to train the university to recognize risky situations and approach them in a proper manner. (ABC News). The training also works to educate young men on how to make the right decisions on getting consent and making sure the men are not using coercion or dominance to engage in sexual activity.  This program has worked to eliminate assault cases in Kentucky over the years, and the college continues to improve their programs in order to make it the best training possible.  With the use of seminars like the Green Dot programs at USC, the rates of sexual assault can only go down from here.

In addition, the seminars could be effectively connected to prevention and awareness classes as well which will tie all aspects of sexual violence together and prepare and inform students of this concern in the best way possible. An example of connecting these two things is from Allison Underhill, as she believes that doing this could help fight rape culture. She claims, "We live in a culture where it's not acceptable to discuss sexual assaults. When we are confronted with the story of sexual assault, we are asked 'what did you wear?' and 'how much did you have to drink?'" (Underhill par 7). We as young adults tend to associate the assault as the victims fault due to what the victim may be wearing, what they had to drink, or even the way they were dancing while at a party or function. The seminars can help fight these stereotypes and teach students how to address and comfort victims of sexual assault. 

At this point in time, the rates of sexual assault on college campuses has not decreased over the years because universities are not working their hardest to improve the students' mindsets about campus culture and to inform them on the issue. 2014 was seen as the year of change as California made new policies to turn around the pressing problem. As the media both supported and refuted affirmative consent, yes means yes started making its way to other universities.  While California has attempted to take a step forward on the problem by proposing 'yes means yes' or affirmative consent, the universities are focusing on what happens after the assault rather than trying to prevent the assault from happening.  The university should center their emphasis on working with students to build healthy relationships, work on communication skills, and learn to work through gender roles. A solution to this is to provide seminars along with awareness and prevention classes to help build suitable connections and inform USC students how to communicate with others about sexual encounters in hopes to eliminate sexual assault in Columbia. The seminars will bring a sense of community, keep students safe, and eliminate sexual assault cases in the future. By taking this step forward with implementing seminars with prevention and awareness classes, USC will be about to stand up to this issue and reduce sexual assault on campus.

