I was surprised and angered to read in the "Alleged Rape at UW Frat" about how the University is handling the latest sexual assault allegations. University officials are attempting to pin the blame on alcohol, fraternities and the Greek System in general rather than the underlying problem. While alcohol lowers the need for force in sexual assaults, the larger societal issue is Wisconsin's drinking culture that tolerates abuse.
The Greek system on campus is working to address these issues through requiring all new pledges to complete a PAVE violence prevention workshop and developing the Fraternity Action Coalition, a one-credit independent study to examine the intersections of masculinity and violence against women. The University needs more programming in place to address sexual assault; this is not just a women's issue and it is certainly not simply the Greek Community's problem, it's our campus' problem.
Though sexual assault cannot simply be eradicated through an hour-long PAVE workshop or watching a movie at a SOAR program, these are great starting points. Sexual assault is the type of issue that needs extended periods of time and in-depth, open dialogue to actually get to the root of the problem. Though we are making progress we clearly have a long way to go–for the entire campus. UW needs to become more proactive instead of continuing to react to the instances of sexual assault.
Alexandra Cruickshank
PAVE Peer Facilitator
UW Junior
Social Welfare Major
[email protected]
