OSAC Dozen, or the 12 Demands

These are the 12 demands we are asking the administration to fulfill. On November 13th we will find out whether or not they agree to them. If not, we will be meeting at the fountain to march to AGC together and begin the sit-in.

1. Remove the automatic appeals language from the policy.
An automatic appeal was included in the policy in the fall of 2012 without proper student input, and students were not informed of this change. An automatic appeal from respondents who think their sanction is unfair negates the formal sexual assault hearing process.

2. Reinstate consent as verbal consent in the sexual assault policy.
Defining consent as verbal or physical consent opens an unnecessarily gray area in determining whether a sexual assault has occurred. This is confusing for students who are trying to engage in consensual sex.

3. Establish a permanent Sexual Assault Advisory Committee.
This committee will be comprised of six members – two administrators, two faculty members (selected by OSAC), and two students (one from Project SAFE and one selected by OSAC). This committee will conduct an annual review of policies and practices using data on reporting and outcomes from the Dean of Student’s office, and make recommendations for changes to the President and Vice Presidents by the end of the regular school year.

4. Return the Title IX Coordinator position to the faculty.
This position was moved from being a faculty position to the Dean of Students office in 2011 without proper consultation with the faculty. It should be reinstated as a faculty position to insulate the sexual assault process from litigious concerns.

5. Inform the campus of all changes to the sexual misconduct policy.
Major changes were made to the sexual assault policy in the last year that did not involve adequate student input or notification. The campus should be informed of all changes, regardless of the size of the change, through campus email as soon as they are made.

6. Double the size of Project SAFE and give PAs more decision-making authority.
Project SAFE is a student-founded group of trained advocates who should be more independent. This can be achieved by doubling the staff (from 2 to 4) and writing job descriptions that allow for more decisions to come from the PAs.

7. Use Oxy’s Crime Alert System to Inform Campus of Reported Sexual Assaults
Oxy should inform the campus of incidences of sexual assault, similar to college reporting of other crimes, through emails. These should inform us of on-campus assaults and off-campus assaults, including assaults by students. Currently, emails sent out only inform us of Oxy students assaulted by strangers on the street.

8. Distribute a Detailed Annual Sexual Misconduct Report
This report must include statistics on the number of complaints (formal and informal), where complaints were initially brought (Residential Education, the Dean of Students, Campus Safety, faculty members, etc.), how many respondents are found responsible, what sanctions are given, and how sanctions are altered in appeals.

9. Establish a 24-hour Sexual Assault Hotline
This hotline would be staffed by students who have completed Peace Over Violence (POV) training, or partner with the LA rape crisis hotline to have Oxy-specific information.

10. Provide annual POV training to all staff involved in the sexual assault process.
Sexual assault is a commonly misunderstood crime, and anyone involved in the process needs training to avoid basing decisions on common rape myths, using harmful language, or triggering survivors in other ways.

11. Provide annual POV training to all student leaders.
Sexual assault is a commonly misunderstood crime, and student leaders are in the unique position to shift campus culture and understanding away from widespread rape myths.

12. Bring POV for Orientation for the next five years.
Sexual assault education at Orientation has been an abysmal failure for years. The college needs to bring trained professionals to campus that use best practices in reaching potential perpetrators and bystanders.