American University Turns Down Sexual Assault Prevention Grant

The U.S. Department of Justice issues three-year, $300,000 grants to colleges and universities aimed at reducing violence against women. Last summer, American University in Washington, D.C., developed a grant proposal that called for all new students to attend a workshop on relationship violence, date rape, stalking, and setting boundaries of mutual consent. Under the proposal, students would be required to complete surveys twice a year. Students who did not comply with the survey requirement would not be permitted to register for classes.

But the university’s vice president of campus life reportedly failed to sign off on the grant proposal because she did not agree with the stipulation that students would be prohibited from registering for classes if they did not fill out the required surveys. WIAReport sought a comment from the vice president, but we received no response to our inquiry. See below for video of a protest relating to the university’s action held on the American University campus on March 31.

A 2008 survey at American University found that 6.8 percent of all undergraduate students had experienced unwanted sexual touching or fondling. More than 4 percent said they had experienced “unwanted sexual intercourse.”