Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Jake Mauff at jacob.mauff@colorado.edu
The University of Colorado released the results of the first phase of its sexual misconduct survey Tuesday evening, which indicated that a total of 1,990 students who responded experienced some form of sexual assault.
Chancellor Phil DiStefano released the data in an e-mail to students revealing that 13,009 students — undergraduate and graduate and from across the gender spectrum — took the 2015 survey, representing 41 percent of the total CU population.
The 1,990 students who experienced sexual assault constitute 15 percent of the total students surveyed.
The results did not end there. Twenty-eight percent of undergraduate freshmen women reported being sexually assaulted.
In addition, roughly 18 percent of participants reported experiencing sexual harassment.
These results come on the heels of the release of the results of the campus climate survey in January. According to this survey’s findings, roughly a quarter of CU students did not feel welcome on campus or a sense of belonging.
Hopefully, DiStefano may use the data collected in the sexual misconduct survey to focus the school’s efforts to address the problem of campus safety.
CU, along with many other colleges across the U.S., was the subject of a Title IX investigation. To improve the campus’ sexual misconduct policies, the school implemented new protocol and hired Valerie Simons to be the Title IX coordinator. Simons helped form the content of the survey.
DiStefano should use this survey as a benchmark. When the new policies become more regulated and easier for students to implement, the hope is that there will be less people facing sexual misconduct.
University officials plan to administer this survey every three years to measure progress.
