Student Forum Discusses Campus Drinking Culture and Sexual Assault

By Abby Stigler and Juan Carlos Pineda

SGA President Brenna Hill hosts the open discussion.
Photo by Abby Stigler

More than 70 Trinity students gathered on Wednesday to participate in an open discussion on sexual assault and drinking culture on Trinity Campus.

The discussion highlighted misconceptions on terms like “consent” and “blackout,” especially in the gray area related to campus drinking culture. "The drinking culture here has definitely impaired our abilities to define these terms as well as to understand what these sexual interactions mean,” said Brianna Wood, 21.

Another main point of the discussion concerned what Trinity can do to improve its education of students on sexual assault and the drinking climate. Many students agreed that it is difficult for the university administration to make policies that cover every aspect of such broad and complex issues.

“Administrators can only do so much in terms of policy changes and education,” said Brenna Hill, 20, president of the Student Government Association, which organized the meeting. “It’s up to us to stop sexual assault on our campus and foster an environment that supports survivors.”

Callum Squires, a junior who led one of the break-up discussion groups at the meeting, told his group, “I don’t think that we do enough to prevent sexual assault and we should try to teach people it's wrong to do it instead of teaching people how to avoid it.”

Students break into small discussion groups.
Photo by Juan Pineda

Another idea is to include education on sexual assault in the new student orientation. According to surveys done by the SGA, it is most common to be sexually assaulted during the first semester of college.

Students voiced the need to change the campus environment where survivors feel like they cannot report these crimes. The campus climate should make people feel comfortable reporting these assaults and have a system in which students are not punished for telling the truth, students said at the meeting.

Many students also support the notion that people shouldn't go to parties alone. “Students who attend parties should be accompanied with some sort of friend, especially if they are drinking. And they should never walk back to campus,” said senior Robert Lynn.

At the meeting, the SGA released the results of a survey conducted by Coalition for Respect. Based on the survey, 70% of students who experienced rape or sexual assault do tell someone, be it a friend or roommate, but only 30% of the victims report to the authorities.

The university administration has held town hall meetings regarding campus sexual assault in the past, but Wednesday's discussion was solely students' initiative.

“It is important to discuss the issue of sexual assault openly because ultimately, it's up to students to change the culture and improve the campus climate,” said Hill, the SGA president.