I would like to thank The Badger Herald for Tuesday’s coverage of a critical campus issue (“Alleged rape in Sigma Chi,” March 3). This article provides a powerful reminder of the toll of sexual assault on a survivor.
While sexual assault remains a constant issue on this campus, in light of the recent attention, I hope more victims find the strength to come forward for support and counseling. To promote this, I want to clarify the role of my office in supporting and advocating for victims of sexual assault.
The Offices of the Dean of Students and all the staff and faculty at the University of Wisconsin have a deep commitment to creating a safe and healthy campus community. Every incident of sexual assault impacts our university and breaches the trust that bonds us as a community. Survivors of sexual assaults often spend the rest of their lives trying to come to terms with the horrendous violence committed against them. Let me state very clearly, physical and sexual assault of any kind is will not be tolerated at this institution.
If you have been the victim of sexual assault, there is help for you. Nationally, on college campuses, only about 5 percent of all sexual assaults are reported to law enforcement.
If you are dealing with this issue, I would urge you to contact Student Advocacy and Judicial Affairs office by calling (608) 263-5700, visiting www.wisc.edu/students/ or coming to 75 Bascom Hall.
Victims may also seek help from University Health Services, UWPD, or the Dane County Rape Crisis Center, which has a campus office location on the 7th floor of the new University Square building.
I am fortunate to have a compassionate, professional and experienced staff, which can provide a range of other services for students and connect them to resources on and off campus that will help them cope with their experience. You can receive assistance with academics, counseling or your own personal safety.
Our staff can also discuss options for a disciplinary investigation. We take allegations of assault, especially sexual assault, extremely seriously and investigate them thoroughly, when given permission by a victim.
A victim who already faces a difficult and challenging road recovering from the experience has control over how he or she chooses to interact with the office. It is entirely voluntary to pursue any or all of the above options, including a criminal, judicial or student organization complaint, when appropriate.
It is also important to note that the accused has rights to due process under our judicial code, and we cannot pursue anonymous allegations. A victim’s choice allows us to go forward.
In addition to support for survivors, the university is taking steps to proactively address sexual assault issues. A recent $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will further develop our unified campus-community response to sexual assault. Campus organizations like PAVE are extremely active and working with student organizations, including our Greek community.
To give you an opportunity to learn about the resources available and to provide an opportunity for you as students to tell us how we can better respond to these situations, we are planning a forum to discuss sexual assault issues on Tuesday, March 10 at 6:30 p.m., TITU.
I hope you will stand with me in solidarity to eradicate this senseless violence from our campus.
If you have questions or would like more information, please e-mail me at [email protected].
Lori M. Berquam is the UW-Madison dean of students
