Staff members not sure if changes made the system better
Various sexual assault resources around campus responded to the reopening of Simpson’s lawsuit against CU. The different offices cited resources available before and after the lawsuit, and what changes have occurred.
The Grant to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women on College Campuses helped spread awareness and allowed different campus resources to collaborate.
In 2001, the university received $350,000 in federal money from the U.S. Justice Department as part of this grant, authorized by Congress in 1999. The grant runs out at the end of September.
After the original Lisa Simpson Title IX lawsuit, CU applied for and received the grant a second time.
Lee Scriggins, a staff member with the Office of Victim Assistance, said the grant achieved some accomplishments. She also said there were many resources at the university before the grant.
“We have more resources at CU-Boulder than most places,” Scriggins said regarding the state of the university before the Simpson trial. “We have an administration, believe it or not from the Simpson perspective, that generally is not denying the existence of sexual assault and hiding it.”
Scriggins said there will be improvements, but overall the original case did not accomplish anything new for university resources.
“In some ways I think we had more before than we had had and we had some good ideas about more that we could do. It’s a huge tsunami that wipes the landscape clean in a way,” Scriggins said. “In a way it’s been remaking a landscape since then and getting back to a shared knowledge.”
Christy Clark, a coordinator in the Office of Victim Assistance, also spoke on works attributed to the grant.
“It’s about doing a lot of cross training and trying to make the landscape on this campus run as seamless as possible” Clark said.
The Victim Assistance Web site is one new feature under the grant.
The Web site is comprehensive of all victim assistance services and offers information for students so they do not have to wait for office hours or set up an appointment.
Mary Friedrichs, director of the Office of Victim Assistance, said high profile sexual assault cases can scare students away from seeking help.
“I think in general that the cases that have been high profile media cases have made it harder for students to access services,” Friedrichs said. “I don’t mean it’s harder like they can’t come in, but more often when students see big high-profile cases, they worry about reporting. They are afraid to come in. They’re afraid they’ll end up in the front headlines. They’re afraid that the confidentiality won’t be kept.”
Amy Robertson, who worked in the Office of Victim Assistance prior to the Simpson lawsuit, said there was a positive effect of the case.
“It brought more visibility to (the Office of Victim Assistance) resources,” Robertson said.
Karen Raforth, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, said the overall point of the resources on campus is to help victims of sexual assault.
“Sometimes people get embroiled in legalities, it’s important to know that people really care,” Raforth said.
Contact Campus Press staff writer Margot Schneider at margot.schneider@thecampuspress.com.
