Stanford University’s recent decision to ban hard liquor at undergraduate parties on Aug. 22 is not addressing the real problem of sexual assault on college campuses. Although well intentioned, it is ultimately a failed attempt at mending the school’s tarnished reputation after one of its students, Brock Turner, shocked the U.S. by raping an unconscious young woman behind a dumpster at a fraternity party. The national uproar was brought on by Judge Aaron Persky’s all-too-lenient decision to give Turner a six-month sentence for his crime. To make matters worse, Turner was released from jail Friday morning after only serving half of his sentence.
The fact that Stanford University chose to address the issue that occurred at their school this way reinforces Turner’s excuse that it was the alcohol that caused him to commit rape, absolving Turner of his responsibility for the crime. And, subsequently, Turner has been a warning about the dangers of campus drinking culture, instead of advocating against campus sexual assault.
Stanford’s implementation of this ban is not going to stop undergraduate students from drinking, it is just taking the focus away from the real issue: the importance of consent and awareness of sexual assault on campus.
The rape survivor’s powerful letter to the defendant expresses her outrage at what Turner attributes his actions to. “Speak out against campus drinking culture. That’s what we’re speaking out against? … Down with Jack Daniels. Down with Skyy Vodka,” the victim said ironically in her letter. “You realize, having a drinking problem is different than drinking and then forcefully trying to have sex with someone? Show men how to respect women, not how to drink less.”
Jack Daniels and Skyy Vodka are not the reason this woman was raped. Yes, campus drinking culture needs to be addressed, but it should not be an excuse Turner can hide behind.
Stanford currently has five federal complaints about incidents of sexual violence under review. This is the highest number of cases of any school on the list published by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Although Stanford has stated it plans to create prevention programs against sexual assault, the outlawing of hard liquor is a move in the wrong direction.
Unfortunately, our own university is not immune to incidents of sexual assault. Students at NC State have received electronic alerts about alleged sexual assaults occurring on campus and banning hard liquor at undergraduate parties would not make much of a difference. In a report by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, a statistic stated that one in every five college students will experience some sort of sexual assault during their time at the school. And, of these, the ACLU reports that 95 percent of them go unreported.
In the Stanford case, the victim did not know her assailant beforehand. However, in most cases, the victims know their rapists. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, around two out of three sexual assaults are by people the victim previously knew. This frightening statistic is evidence of the importance of educating young people about sexual assault and being aware of who people decide to associate with.
An effective way for students to help lessen the incidence of sexual assault is by taking action when they see situations that might lead to sexual assault. According to The Huffington Post, colleges across the United States are talking about the importance of bystander intervention. Turner’s victim was relatively fortunate that there were two Swedish graduate students passing by that saw she needed help and decided to act upon it. The bystander intervention program, Green Dot, is helping students feel empowered to intervene in situations such as Turner’s to show that anyone can help prevent sexual assault.
People are responsible for their actions, even if they are intoxicated. Sexual assault on college campuses must be addressed directly through programs that make people aware of how it occurs and how they can actively combat it.
