Breaking NewsSexual Assault/Harassment

President Obama Forms Task Force to Combat Sexual Assaults on College Campuses

US-WhiteHouse-LogoPresident Obama has announced the formation of a high-level administration task force that has been given 90 days to come up with a plan to combat sexual assaults on the nation’s college campuses. The task force has been charged to formulate recommendations on how colleges should prevent and respond to incidents of sexual assault and to come up with a plan to accurately publicize educational institutions’ track records in dealing with sexual assaults on their campuses.

The new initiative is in response to a report from The White House Council on Women and Girls entitled Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action. The report states “The dynamics of college life appear to fuel the problem, as many victims are abused while they’re drunk, under the influence of drugs, passed out, or otherwise incapacitated. Most college victims are assaulted by someone they know – and parties are often the site of these crimes. Notably, campus assailants are often serial offenders: one study found that of the men who admitted to committing rape or attempted rape, some 63 percent said they committed an average of six rapes each.”
The report outlines the new steps that must be taken. “To make our campuses safer, change still needs to come from many quarters: schools must adopt better policies and practices to prevent these crimes and to more effectively respond when they happen. And federal agencies must ensure that schools are living up to their obligations. To accomplish these and other goals, the President today is establishing a White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.

The Task Force will:

  • Provide educational institutions with best practices for preventing and responding to rape and sexual assault.
  • Build on the federal government’s enforcement efforts to ensure that educational institutions comply fully with their legal obligations.
  • Improve transparency of the government’s enforcement activities.
  • Increase the public’s awareness of an institution’s track record in addressing rape and sexual assault.
  • Enhance coordination among federal agencies to hold schools accountable if they do not confront sexual violence on their campuses.

Watch President Obama and Vice President Biden’s remarks on preventing sexual assault below:

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

Latest News

Darlene Weaver Named the First Woman President of the University of Dayton

0
Dr. Weaver has served as provost of the University of Dayton since July 2023. On July 1, 2027, she will become the first woman to lead the university.

Betty Whitted Holley Assumes the Presidency of Payne Theological Seminary in Ohio

0
In November, Dr. Holley will be installed as the eighteenth president of Payne Theological Seminary in Ohio. She previously served as the seminary's interim president, academic dean, and director of the Alternative Theological Extension Program.

Amy Dittmar Reappointed Provost at Rice University in Houston

0
Dr. Dittmar has served as the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Rice University since 2022. Her contract was recently extended, and she will now serve in the role through the 2031 fiscal year.

Anne Carson Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature

0
Dr. Carson is known for her work in poetry, fiction, and translation. She has taught at several educational institutions throughout Canada and the United States.

Kimberly T. Kostelis Selected to Lead Central Connecticut State University

0
Dr. Kostelis, the new interim president of Central Connecticut State University, has been with the university for more than two decades. For the past five years, she has served as provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Latest Job Listings

Assistant Professor, Management Information Systems – Saunders College of Business

0
The Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor faculty position in Management Information Systems and Business Analytics.

Faculty Position in Electrical Engineering

0
The Division of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology invites applications for tenure-track/tenured faculty positions. We seek highly qualified candidates committed to a career in teaching, mentoring and research excellence in the department of Electrical Engineering.

Assistant Professor, Jazz

0
The Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto invites applications for a full-time tenure-stream position in the area of Jazz.

Associate Professor, Piano Pedagogy

0
The Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto invites applications for a full-time tenure-stream position in the area of Piano Pedagogy.

Future Faculty in the Physical Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship

0
We seek to attract a diverse cohort of early career scientists who will conduct research in physics, broadly defined, including astrophysics, biophysics, geophysics, and planetary physics, independently or in collaboration with Princeton faculty, postdoctoral researchers and students.