The College Fix

Either sexual assaults are severely underreported at the College of William and Mary, as many victims’ advocates claim, or attention to the issue is having a positive effect.

The school’s latest Clery report on campus crimes shows that “forcible sex offenses” dropped to three in 2013, above the two reported in 2012 but down from eight in 2011, the Virginia Gazette reports.

The school is under federal investigation for its response to assault claims:

At W&M, the Task Force on Preventing Sexual Assault and Harassment was convened earlier this year to analyze the issues and deliver a report to William and Mary President Taylor Reveley by June 30, 2015. Ginger Ambler, vice president for student affairs, is serving as the chairperson of that task force. …

While the college has had a dedicated sexual assault response coordinator for 20 years, Ambler said some new initiatives were rolled out this year. The Haven, which she described as “a safe and welcoming physical space in the Campus Center for anyone in the community who seeks guidance on relational and sexual abuse,” will hold an open house on Oct. 24.

This is at the same time that impairment violations are rising:

Drug law violations are up, rising from 10 in 2011 to 15 in 2012 and 25 in 2013. However, across the report, the most dramatic statistic is liquor law violations, which jumped to 441 in 2013, up from 266 in 2012.

Police chief Deborah Cheesebro said that may be because of increased reporting:

“One factor that may be a contributor is our ongoing effort to encourage students to exhibit care and concern for their peers and to report when they are concerned about another student’s well-being due to alcohol or other drug use.”

So students feel safe reporting when someone is dangerously impaired, but not when they have been assaulted? Perhaps, but this narrative needs more evidence to be credible.

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