On Nov. 6, students had the opportunity to not only familiarize themselves with the policy and procedure regarding harassment and sexual misconduct, but to give constructive feed back to what they saw as issues on the topic as well. Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean Students Mike Segawa reminded attendees that though he was proud of where our campus was on this topic, he also strongly believed that that we needed change.
The meeting began with a welcome from some key figures on campus that represent students and faculty who are involved in some aspect with the sexual misconduct and harassment on campus. ASUPS representative Kyle Chong thanked students for not only attending the event, but also helping in making it a reality. This year there has been an increase in student voices and questions on how the school deals with incidences of sexual misconduct and harassment, and these Speak Up! events are an effort to make those voices heard and for our student opinions to result in action.
Assistant Dean of Students Sarah Shives emphasized the importance of personal mental health during the conversations and the likelihood of trigger warnings and encouraged students to utilize the peer allies and CHWS employees that were present if they needed to. The environment created by statements such as these and the presence of such groups encouraged the inclusiveness and sensitivity needed to facilitate such talks as these.
The welcome closed with Conduct Coordinator Krystle Cobian giving a brief outline of the University of Puget Sound Campus Policy Prohibiting Harassment & Sexual Misconduct; a detailed 17-page document that not only gave procedural descriptions of what to do in the event of a harassment or sexual misconduct of varying degrees, but also attempted to educate the reader through definitions and preventative measures.
After this, the students broke into two groups and discussed the document. Each group had a facilitator and a scribe from the faculty or staff on campus. The facilitator was there to ask a set of predetermined prompt questions designed to guide the conversation to be the most productive. The scribe was there to record what was said in the meeting in the hopes of what was said in the meeting could further help the faculty and staff make the necessary changes. The scribe made no note of any descriptors of who was speaking or if the speaker made personal comments, so all the speakers would remain anonymous. The scribe and the facilitator did not offer their opinions on what was being said, leaving the bulk of the conversation for the students. There was also the option of writing down and submitting comments if one felt uncomfortable sharing information or simply felt more comfortable sharing through writing.
Overall, the experience was successful in making student voices heard in an inclusive and safe manner on a subject that has so many points of contention. However, there is still much more to be done and many more voices that need to be heard.
If you did not get a chance to attend this meeting, but wanted to, there is another meeting being held on Nov. 13 from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Rotunda. For more information on where to get follow-up information, look out for next week’s article.