The BBC video “Fraternity culture and stopping college rape” is stirring up controversy on campus ever since it was published on the web last Thursday. The video examines CU’s apparent problems with sexual assault, scrutinizing the fraternity culture in Boulder.
CU is one of more than 60 institutions under Title IX sexual violence investigation, which is handled by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Valerie Simons, CU’s director of institutional compliance and Title IX coordinator, appeared in the video but said she felt the video didn’t necessarily reflect the steps CU’s administration is taking to change the way people feel about sexual assault at CU.
Simons said she wasn’t sure a seven-minute video is a good indication of how the entire CU community feels about sexual assault — “There was more that could have been said” — but that it’s an issue the CU administration takes seriously.
“We want to be a leader on this issue,” Simons said. She stressed bystander intervention as a way students can help prevent sexual assault at CU.
Lora Roberts, CU Student Government’s president of internal affairs, said the video was disappointing, but she believed the video’s focus on fraternity culture was not necessarily fair. Roberts said it is important for fraternities to be a part of the conversation about sexual assault at CU.
“I think [the video] showed there needs to be a shift in culture on campus and the gentleman’s comments were a reflection of that,” Roberts said. “There needs to be more of a culture of reporting on our campus.”
The gentleman Roberts referred to, CU student and fraternity member Edmund Hobbs, said in the video, “I think that girls dressing up in extremely provocative outfits and drinking ridiculous amounts of alcohol and going to any party on campus, they’re setting themselves up for a hook-up of sorts. And they’re starting the situation off very poorly.”
“Some of the comments in the video were clearly unfortunate,” Simons said. She added it’s important for students to take note of CU’s consent policy, which states: “Anything but a clear, knowing and voluntary consent to any sexual activity is equivalent to a ‘no.’”
“If even one student is not understanding our policies on consent, whether they appeared in the video or not, that is a problem we need to address,” Simons said.
Hobbs also addressed the need for clear and knowing consent in the video: “You need an absolute affirmative.”
“If we are not changing the culture, then we need to try something else,” Simons said. “We have some work to do. We’re going to get there, though.”
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Sam Klomhaus at Samuel.Klomhaus@Colorado.edu.
