Last week, New Student Orientation coordinators announced that NSO will not include a mandatory sexual assault workshop, as recommended by the Georgetown University Student Association Sexual Assault Working Group. Instead, there will be a voluntary discussion incorporated into the Welcome Week schedule, and sexual assault prevention elements will be added to the compulsory NSO Show and online AlcoholEdu program.
The decision was seen as a compromise between the GUSA SAWG and NSO coordinators. However, the issue of student safety is one that should never be open to compromise.
The period between the beginning of school and Thanksgiving is known as the “red zone” because more sexual assaults occur during those first few weeks than at any other time in the school year. It is precisely because students are arriving in an unfamiliar setting, defining their boundaries, and experimenting with new things that it is crucial for new students to learn how to be safe as they start school.
Unsurprisingly, Georgetown’s numbers are consistent with the national averages of one in four women and one in 33 men falling victim to sexual assault while in school. According to the National Institute of Justice, victims know their attackers 90 percent of the time—in fact, sexual assault occurs in the context of a date almost half of the time. And tragically, here on Georgetown’s campus, the Department of Public Safety estimated that as many as 11 in 12 sexual assaults go unreported.
The changes being made in NSO are a step in the right direction, but as the numbers show, much more remains to be done. Sexual assault education should be incorporated into Orientation Advisor training, and a renewed focus needs to be placed on this kind of education during Resident Assistant training. New students rely on RAs and OAs for guidance, so it is only logical that mentors should be ready and able to give survivors the support and advice they need.
NSO coordinators should reconsider their priorities. We understand that the orientation schedule is already tightly packed, but few programs or events should be regarded as more important than a mandatory discussion of these issues. Without incorporating compulsory sexual assault education, we risk failing to make Georgetown a safe space for all students. NSO should be a fun, welcoming experience, but more importantly should thoroughly prepare students for the beginning of their years on the Hilltop.
In the future, NSO should not half-heartedly squeeze insufficient sexual assault prevention efforts into its schedule only after it is pushed for by student leaders. Rather, it should schedule a mandatory sexual assault workshop from the beginning of planning. No Hoya should enter the Georgetown community without understanding that there is no such thing as legitimate rape, that a girl is never “asking for it,” and that it’s not all harmless fun. Earnest prevention efforts require that these issues be taken seriously and discussed with new students as soon as possible.
