The Student Union is right to be concerned about sexual assault on college campuses and the legislation pertaining to it, but its focus should be on causes with results that are directly pertinent to the Boston University community. Support for a State House bill meant to create an advisory council to regulate how colleges in the commonwealth handle sexual assault cases is important, but it should not be the brunt of student government efforts to handle a serious problem that is present on campus in a way that demands far more than distant bureaucracy and a lengthy legislative process.
An Act Relative to Establishing a Campus Rape and Sexual Assault Prevention Advisory Council, Senate Bill No. 737, has been proposed at the state level as a way to “establish uniform guidelines and provide support for state institutions of higher education and campus organizations” for victims “of rape or sexual assault that occurred on the campus of any public institution of higher education in the commonwealth.”
The legislation would give power to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, an institution created by the commonwealth to oversee the public higher education system — but not in most cases the practices of private colleges. As it stands, if passed by the legislature and enacted, the bill sponsored by Sen. Pamela Resor would not affect the sexual assault programs in place at private colleges. If changed, it would overstep the boundary that is meant to exist between the public and private institutions of higher education.
Many aspects of private education are regulated by peer-review institutions such as the New England Association of Schools ‘ Colleges and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, while other decisions remain with the private colleges themselves. Laws and statutes already in place regulate criminal activity on college campuses and how campus police forces may operate. It is the responsibility of private institutions to address sexual assault in the manner administrators, students and public opinion find appropriate. Private colleges in Massachusetts are many and varied, and the methods appropriate for handling sexual assault at each one differ. While BU may need to address specific urban assault-prevention issues, the risks for sexual assault at colleges like Williams College, a school of 2,000 undergraduates located in rural western Massachusetts, or Wellesley College, an all-women’s college near Boston, may be vastly different.
Even within the public education system, different colleges will require unique assault-prevention plans. Community colleges and the large University of Massachusetts system all fall under the authority of the Board of Higher Education, but they may require rape-prevention plans tailored to their specific needs.
To adeptly handle concerns about sexual assault on campus, the Union should be acting to bring changes to BU, not lobby the state legislature to embark on a lengthy advisory council-creation process that could take years to bring about results and which may not even affect BU. It is easy to throw support behind a piece of legislation that appears capable of improving conditions on college campuses. However, the Union should determine the implications of the law up for consideration on Beacon Hill and decide if it actually is what BU students want and need.
Union President Adil Yunis, who spoke passionately about the need for a rape crisis center while campaigning for office last year, should lead the Union to work on projects that directly affect BU students. The Union and other student groups should redouble their efforts to prevent rape at Boston University before diving into state politics.
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