Oswego State students and faculty have been subject to recent emails pertaining to reports of sexual assaults on campus, raising concern for the safety of the student body. 

On Oct. 20, President Deborah Stanley sent a campus-wide email with “Reports of Non-consensual Sex.”  Just a few hours later, she issued another email, the subject titled “Correction: Report of sexual assault.”  The exact same email was sent both times, yet with different subjects, leaving a worrisome campus and a concerning ambiguity among residents. 

Different campaigns and events on the Oswego State campus such as It’s on Oz and Take Back the Night promote the awareness of sexual assault on college campuses, yet average college statistics regarding sexual assault are devastating. 

RAINN, Rape Abuse & Incest National Network, an organization determined to helping victims of sexual assault, reported that 23.1 percent of females and five point four percent of males of an average undergraduate student body “experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation.” The study goes on to show that  four out of five females who have experienced acts of sexual assault would choose to not report to law enforcement. 

RAINN allowed female victims in their research study to list more than one reason for choosing to not report and among those reasons were “believed it was a personal matter, believed it was not important enough to report, did not want the perpetrator to get in trouble” and “other reasons.”  More often than not, college students fear nothing will be done if they report their case to authorities. However, the school and authorities must take action in handling the case when a victim chooses to report and then decisions can be made in deciding whether to press charges on the perpetrator. 

According to the emails sent by Stanley, multiple sexual assault reports are currently being filed with the Oswego State Title IX office.  The administration is currently bringing the complaint through student conduct processes and decisions are to be made as to what the next course of action will be.

In the case of the correction of the subject of the emails, Stanley has taken the necessary and precautionary measure in addressing this situation. Sexual assault is a very private and very sensitive topic to inform people about and to keep the announcement professional was a strategic move by the campus administration. Students have the right to be informed about sexual assault and the actions that the school will be taking in order to help support the victims in whichever way they can.  As a student who regularly checks my emails, I believe that campus announcement emails bring the severity of sexual assault awareness to reality.  The importance of professionalism in addressing this topic and must be stressed in order to efficiently encourage victims to come forward and provide help for those in need.