April is 8 Months Too Late.
My parents hugged me, told me to be careful, and the door to my residence hall shut behind them. My freshmen year had begun. There were a few hours to unpack, eat, and meet up with my high school friends before our first (and only) first night of college. Just after nine o’clock that evening, a bus, sponsored by one of the University’s fraternities pulled into the middle of the residential village. This would be our transportation to our first college party. The fraternity had rented out a local event space. The guy at the door checked IDs and there was a large, permanent ‘X’ on both of my hands by the time I had entered the event space. There were tons of new people in this club-like environment. It was time to party.
Looking back on this experience 17 years later, I am quick to compliment the fraternity’s event management. They provided safe transportation to an event with a 3rd party vendor who would manage alcohol consumption, and controls were in place to prevent underage drinking. This fraternity had risk management protocols in place. Not so is the case for every first night of college fraternity party that happens across the country. In fact, years later at a different University where I was working, I would be frustrated by the ‘Drop your daughters here’ signs I would see hung on balconies on the side of houses adorned with Greek letters that were chosen by fraternity founding fathers hundreds of years ago, letters meant to stand for something, letters tied to values.
While the controlled event that I experienced night one and the much less ‘compliant’ party scenes I saw at other institutions were (and are) considerably different, the attitudes, expectations, and (pay attention) risk-tolerance of many (I would argue most) of the students in attendance are the same. Study after study in the literature on sexual violence prevention, first-year student behaviors, and alcohol use among students will note that the point of time where young people experience a significant increase in independence, a feeling many traditional-age students experience when they move out of their parents home and into a residence hall (or begin college), is often an event that triggers an increase in high-risk behaviors. The decrease in students’ perception of supervision increases their propensity to engage in high-risk behaviors. These behaviors often include overindulging in alcohol, and sometimes using alcohol (or other drugs) for the first time, not knowing how these substances will affect them, before they know their limits. This is a dangerous context to be around predators.
I have been researching and writing on the efficacy of sexual violence prevention programming for the better part of a decade. In my research, I’ve come across several themes that I believe are absolute certainties, universal truths about sexual violence that apply to college and universities of all sizes and types. I have strong opinions about the importance of a multi-pronged approach to prevention education, the critical role of bystander intervention training in that programming model, the significance of toxic masculinity in the prevalence of these acts of violence and gender-based discrimination, and many other topics on the subject, but the one thing I can’t wrap my head around is why we wait until April to educate students on these issues. Why do we wait until sexual assault awareness month to train students on how to keep themselves and each other safe, as if April is not 8 months too late to help students understand consent and the role that they can, and could, and probably would play in helping prevent acts of sexual violence in their communities and on their campus if given the tools and training they need?
When we know that 1 in every 4 women, and 1 in every 10 men between the ages of 18-25 identify as victims of sexual assault, and we know that August, not April, is the time in which many 18-year-old students experience intense feelings of independence which often lead to high-risk behaviors, can we not easily arrive at the conclusion that early and intentional programming is (at least) a good use of time? New student orientation programming is complex and likely already packed full on most college campuses. There are other very important trainings and programs that students need to engage with to acclimate the university life. I recognize that this is one of many priorities that require resources. I understand why it is easier to do this programming when it is top of mind in April (and it is still important in April) instead of the over-programmed month of August. I’m only suggesting that Tarana Burke coined the phrase “Me Too” in 2006, the same year that I went to that first night of college party. In 2017, just about every woman in my life had #MeToo on their social media accounts. Never in that 11-year window, nor since, have I ever been asked to speak on a college campus in August on sexual violence prevention. Since joining ForCollegeForLife as a speaker in 2014, I often travel to campuses in April and hear stories from survivors about the first party of the year, 8 months too late.
I am lucky that the high-risk behaviors I engaged in at that first night of college party involved trying to ‘Lean Wit and Rock Wit’ with a young lady I would (soon after) learn was dating the sponsoring fraternity’s president. I would join a different fraternity a few weeks later.
We need to hold perpetrators of acts of sexual violence accountable, not victims, and we also have a tremendous responsibility to train our communities to keep themselves and each other safe. We need to train students on consent and how to intervene to protect one another. We need to challenge young men on toxic behaviors and provide support services for reporting, recovery, and ongoing mental health. These are and (not or) statements. We need to raise awareness of Sexual Assault in April AND prevent it in August.
Dr. Kevin Reynolds
Dr. Kevin Reynolds is passionate about the eradication of sexual violence on college campuses and in communities. As a researcher, speaker, advocate, and Title IX investigator, the efficacy of sexual violence prevention programming has been Kevin’s primary area of focus. For more than a decade, Kevin has been speaking and writing on the importance of bystander intervention as a strategy for sexual violence prevention and has partnered with colleges and universities nationwide.
Follow Kevin on Socials: @ReynoldsKevin