The name change of Syracuse University’s R.A.P.E. center to Sexual Assault Support Services sparked controversy in recent weeks within the campus community.

Yet the center’s intent, representatives say, is not to discourage victims, but to make them comfortable asking for help, similar to other services on campuses nationwide.

‘It’s important to use language that meets people where they’re at, and, in reality, lots of these people don’t use either term,’ said Margaret Nicholson, director of Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER). ‘What’s important is that services and policies are in place to protect survivors, no matter what they call it,’

Nationwide, college campuses spend thousands of dollars on support services, education and prevention. While some institutions meet the bare minimum, others excel in the development and implementation of effective and innovative programs.

Syracuse University’s R.A.P.E. (Rape Advocacy Prevention and Education) center announced the change of its name to S.A.S.S. (Sexual Assault Support Services) in February.

S.A.S.S. operates under the Office of Prevention Services and offers aid to students who have experienced any type of attempted or completed sexual violence. Sarah Mart, the director of the SU Office of Prevention Services, said advocates at the center outline the services and processes available to survivors. The number of people who come in each year range from 25-50, Mart said.

Currently the OPS has three full time staff members – one of whom is assigned to the Options program – and one part-time administrative assistant. The office is in the process of interviewing for two additional positions.

Like many universities, SU has an agreement with an off-campus rape crisis center, Vera House. Advocates at Vera House respond to calls on the SU crisis line after university office hours during the week and on weekends.

The Office of Prevention Services is also home to the Options program, which deals with alcohol and other drug related interventions for students. Students typically become involved with the Options program through judicial affairs or faculty referral.

Mart said a common misunderstanding is the notion that Options and S.A.S.S. are being combined. The name change is in no way a co-mingling of the direct services, she said.

‘Options always has been and always will be separate. Separate services and a separate staff.’ said Mart.

While direct services remain separate, Mart said the Office of Prevention Services is looking into some prevention and education initiatives, which explore connections between sexual violence and alcohol. These programs would be in addition to the offered services, not alterations to current programs.

Mart said the Options program has stopped taking new cases for the remainder of the year due to a growing waitlist caused by the large number of drug and alcohol cases occurring in the spring.

While Syracuse’s support staff may sound low in number, it’s on par with similar programs at other schools.

At Northwestern University, Katie Guilfoyle is the coordinator of violence prevention and sexual health education. And when it comes to sexual assault support services, she’s a one-woman staff.

‘We’re in sort of a transition phase,’ she said. ‘We’re sort of trying to reevaluate our response and hopefully add on to it. Right now it’s pretty bare bones.’

Guilfoyle’s office, like S.A.S.S. at SU, is also a bridge between survivors and their options, whereas SU has three advocates for a student population of approximately 19,000, Northwestern has one for about 14,000.

Guilfoyle said Northwestern’s main challenge is streamlining the process to make options clear, accessible and easy for survivors.

‘Ideally, a survivor – no matter whom they talk to first – they’re always referred to the same place,’ she said. ‘I would like to eliminate some of this shuffling around from me to counseling and make it as easy as possible for them.’

Guilfoyle trained 50 students to serve as peer educators on campus. The group makes itself visible by wearing peer advocate T-shirts and displaying stickers around their dorm rooms.

‘The hope is that if a student is assaulted and knows a peer educator lives around or on her floor, she might feel comfortable going to her,’ Guilfoyle said. ‘The goal is for (the peer educators) to help facilitate a survivor’s next step.’

Issues of rape were in campus conversation at Ithaca in February, where, according to The Ithacan, a resident assistant was found guilty of sexually assaulting a girl on his floor. The RA retained his position until university policies changed, and he was let go, according to The Ithacan, Ithaca’s newspaper.

‘We think we’re safe in Ithaca and that that could never happen here, but of course it happens here, it happens everywhere,’ said Daniel Wald, founder of Ithaca Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER).

Since the reported rape in February, two other women have come forward and said they were sexually assaulted in the past year. The admissions have sparked dialogue and a demand for policy changes on campus. Wald said he and other students were so outraged by the case and lack of clear policies they took matters into their own hands.

Wald formed the sexual assault work group consisting of students, RA directors, counselors and members of Judiciary Affairs. ‘We really didn’t have much of a policy before,’ he said. Now Ithaca has a zero tolerance policy for resident assistants who have been found guilty of sexual assault.

Like SU and Northwestern, Ithaca has an advocacy center that provides transportation and accompaniment for victims to local hospitals. But Wald wants students to become more involved in the issue.

‘I’m trying to push students not to be the bystanders anymore,’ he said. ‘Rapists aren’t born, they’re created by the society we live in.’

Margaret Nicholson, director of Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER), said student involvement is key to any successful program. SAFER, which has no affiliation with Wald’s student group at Ithaca, is a non-profit national organization that aims to help students hold colleges accountable for incidents of sexual assault in their campus communities.

Nicholson said while she’s seen progress since the Jeanne Clery Act was amended in 2000, there is still work to be done.

The act, formerly known as the Campus Security Act of 1990, requires that all universities report incidents of crimes and sexual assault, as well as afford victims of campus sexual assault certain rights.

Nicholson said policies aren’t enough unless supported by programs such as mandatory prevention education and bystander intervention. Often times these programs and the groups running them struggle to get necessary funding and, as a result, incidents of sexual assault go unnoticed.

‘The same stuff is happening,’ she said. ‘Still we’re seeing cases of students being encouraged to shut up or to not pursue disciplinary actions from their attackers, and it can be very frustrating.’

SAFER frequently helps students implement amnesty policies at their schools, which encourage victims of sexual assault to come forward, regardless of extenuating circumstances.

‘If a student is assaulted while they’re violating campus alcohol or drug policies, they should be able to report the assault without concern for getting in trouble,’ Nicholson said.

Nicholson said many schools are still lacking in support services.

‘Where we’re seeing difficulty is with the content of campus policies, which vary widely,’ she said. ‘You’ve got schools like William and Mary with a fairly comprehensive policy supported by an excellent Web site, and then you’ve got schools with sexual assault policies that meet bare minimum and nothing more.’

jmterrus@syr.edu

Published on April 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm