Opinion
SMART: what we can do to end sexual violence at Hamilton
By Charlotte Bennett ’17
October 20, 2016
Tags opinion
Thursday of last week, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed Manchester, New Hampshire (for those of you who haven’t watched this speech, you’re missing out. It gave me goosebumps). Her speech came just days after the entire nation listened to Trump privately boast about sexually assaulting women. The First Lady spoke to the audience about “that sick, sinking feeling” she gets when a man makes her feel uncomfortable in her own skin, when these “basic standards of human decency” are cast aside so casually, when a candidate to be the next President of the United States believes women do not have the ability to have a say in what happens to their own bodies. Speaking out against Trump, Michelle Obama said something that should resonate with each and every one of us: “I wanted them to understand that the measure of any society is how it treats its women and girls”.
Hamilton is a society. Hamilton is our home. It provides us with the resources we need to be successful, and a system to maintain order and organization. Hamilton gives us the opportunity to explore who we are, what we want to study, and who we want to be. We live here, we thrive here, we grow here.
So, the question becomes: How is Hamilton treating its women and girls? If the last two weeks are any indication, Hamilton isn’t doing too well. The recent campus activism has created an amazing conversation on campus. This conversation has told us a few things: We do not feel safe. We do not feel adequately protected. We want the safety of our bodies to be a priority. Time and time again, we are reminded that this is not the case.
On Oct. 3, Lisa Magnarelli, our Title IX Coordinator, emailed campus with the “Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Board: 2015-16 Report.” This report highlighted the discrepancy between the prevalence of sexual violence on this campus (which, statistically speaking, is usually between 20 and 30 percent), the number of survivors reporting (only 19 reports) and the number of survivors who pursued a formal investigation (only 5!) Only one individual found responsible for a Title IX violation was suspended from campus. There was not a single expulsion.
Perpetrators of sexual violence remain on campus. They are not reported. They are not investigated. When they are investigated, they still remain on campus. Is this how a society should treat its women and girls? Is this how Hamilton should treat its women and girls? By finding individuals responsible for sexual violence, while still allowing them to live, eat, and study among us, are we truly safe? Are we being taken seriously? Is the violation, degradation, humiliation, and disrespect of the female body significant enough to Hamilton?
I cannot answer yes to a single one of these questions. How can we fix this?
Meet the Sexual Misconduct and Assault Reform Task-Force (SMART). SMART is an activist task force created to address sexual assault and related issues on Hamilton’s campus. We are a group of Hamilton community members dedicated to ending the culture of sexual assault on our campus. Sexual violence is pervasive; it can’t simply be fixed by one small group of students. Even still, we have identified three areas that need some work. So, we made committees for each:
programming committee
The senior co-chair of the Programming Committee and co-founder of SMART, Aleta Brown ’17, is working to develop events for advocacy, support and education which reach all members of our community in their own clubs, organizations, teams, departments etc. The Programming Committee’s main objective is to serve as a liaison between established Hamilton organizations, departments, teams and clubs in order to identify common gaps in sexual assault education and desired programming. By connecting communities across campus, SMART will bridge divides that have historically stifled progress in sexual assault reform. These new and sustainable connections will in turn foster a continuous campus dialogue of unilateral intolerance toward sexual aggression and assault of any form. The underclassman co-chair, Hannah Fink ’19, plans to continue the work SMART starts this year so that the momentum gained is not lost as students graduate. She hopes to not only support and collaborate with Aleta, but also to begin, organize and lead initiatives of her own.
ACTIVIST COMMITTEE
Starting a movement requires societal involvement. We know that sexual abuse, harassment and violence are prevalent all over the globe and are horrendous, colossal issues. But SMART believes that we can initiate constructive and effective change to this worldwide epidemic: starting with you. We aim to unite all of the Hamilton student body to work on this common goal by including social media outreach, such as using #getscrolled to share our message to alumni, students and communities, and through on-campus activism like speak-outs, signage, survivor walks and our very own “Speaker’s Corner.” We want this dialogue to continue to provide a safer environment for all Hamilton students. If you would like to directly get involved with campus activism, contact senior co-chair Sophie Gaulkin ’17 or underclassman co-chair Ashley Huntington ’20.
POLICY COMMITTEE
The Policy Committee plans to implement critical reforms to Hamilton’s Title IX policy. It is clear that the current policy is not adequately meeting the needs presented by the Hamilton community. We deserve better. The Policy Committee also wants to identify some of the reasons that there is such a discrepancy between survivors of sexual assault on this campus and the number of people who report those assaults. Further, we want to organize and train a select group of students to advise survivors who wish to report their assault or pursue a formal investigation.