It has become readily apparent through the last few weeks that, with an unusually large amount of Northeastern News coverage, several administrative meetings and the successful “Take Back the Night” event, the university is realizing the relevance of sexual assault.
However, despite the administration’s present efforts, there seems to be a lack of willingness to take concrete action in implementing resources for its victims. As a student paying to be here, I can conjure very little reason why such basic services are absent. While it is probably unlikely that I personally would have to utilize a rape crisis counselor, the idle administration seems indicative of a larger problem in responding to student needs. Perhaps, though, students who hold this view are being shortsighted. Admittedly, I know very little about juggling the economics, politics and choices one encounters while running a university. There are, however, some very elementary observations that seem to have been simply ignored.
It is doubtful that anyone in the Northeastern community has any misconceptions about how rape and violence affect people. For the sake of argument, though, consider the issue of rape removed from its powerful emotional connotations. View it only in terms of another campus issue what is likely to be a voluminous collection. Even then, the absence of a qualified counselor on campus severely boggles my simple student mind. Responding to this problem would only serve to better the university community, retain students, avoid liability and strengthen public relations.
So much of the university’s drive seems to be placed on achieving a spot on the illustrious list of the Top 100 nationwide schools. Students can even see this effort in the current landscape work being performed on campus and the college’s wide-scale, highly visible marketing campaign. Having valuable public safety resources would seem to be a given for colleges found on this list, despite not being explicitly used in such a ranking. Student retention, satisfaction and image, “elements that improve such a ranking” are directly affected.
Through “Introduction to College” courses, programs, surveys, events, etc., the university spends much time and resources trying to keep students at the school. Student retention, though, relies heavily on the school’s responding to unexpected and often unpleasant events. While I would hope that most of the campus would never have reason to use such a resource, it would be extremely important for the few that did. With the current inadequacy of counseling available at NU, a victim is most likely to have a significantly deprecated view of their college experience. Students will not stay on a campus when they feel unsafe and ignored. Considering the number of reported sexual assaults in past years (never mind the much higher rate of unreported cases) and the resulting amount of possible tuition lost, employing a full time counselor only makes sense.
Even more motivation comes in the backlash that the university could incur as the result of not providing such a resource. Sections of the Equal Education Opportunity Act, a law guaranteeing equal education access regardless of race and sex among other items, could be used against the university in the event that a victim decided to take legal action. Ignoring the problem has the possibility of leading to a veritable public relations nightmare. Harvard University was recently subjected to widespread media criticism after a similar situation.
I have faith that the administration does not look at the situation in such cold-hearted and calculated terms. I hope, though, that they realize it is a real problem here at Northeastern, one that will inevitably come to hurt the community in many ways if it is not dealt with appropriately.
– David Baldwin is a freshman computer science and cognitive psychology major and a member of the Progressive Student Alliance.