University counseling services respond to attacks

Counseling services and leaders of the campus anti-sexual assault Stand Up campaign are responding with support after the attempted sexual assault made on a Shepherd University student Sunday, Feb. 1.

Rhonda Jackson, one of the resident counselors available to students at Shepherd, said that counseling services is working closely with Residence Life and other departments to be available to students.

According to Ashley Dorsey, one of the leaders of the Stand Up campaign that organizes 3D Thursdays, in response to the assault, this Thursday’s 3D event will be in collaboration with Greek Life. Instead of the planned theme of healthy relationships, Dorsey said, “the focus this week will be on safety.”

Jessica Oswald, the other head of the 3D Thursday campaign, said that they will continue to be sure that our information is not in any way victim-blaming.”

The 3D anti-assault campaign was begun last semester in an effort to stem sexual assaults on campus. It stands for delegate, distract and direct and the goal is to stop attacks before they happen.

Jackson said there has not been an increase in women making appointments to counseling in response to Sunday’s attack. “It may take a while for them to take the steps to come into counseling,” she said. However, she also pointed out that everyone involved in Residence Life, including RAs and hall directors, are constantly looking out for the safety and well being of the students on campus.

Six years ago, before it became federal law, Shepherd introduced a system requiring Residence Life staff to report any kind of abuse or assault on a student that they become aware of so that students can get the support, care, and resources they may need.

This, explained Jackson, is why Shepherd University’s reported number of forcible sexual assaults is comparatively so high. According to the 2014 Campus Security Report (See Below for Report), Shepherd had eight forcible sexual assaults reported on campus in 2013. Fairmont State University, which is of comparable size to Shepherd, reported only one that year, while West Virginia University, which has more than 18,000 students, reported 10. That is the latest year records are available.

“Our numbers reflect the increased focus we have on awareness and reporting that other universities don’t have,” Jackson said. The statistic that one in five women will be raped at college is true on every campus, she said. So while other schools seem to have a lower number of assaults, that number really reflects how safe the students feel in reaching out for help, she said.

“This is a very unusual event to happen on our campus,” Jackson said, since most assaults on college campuses occur between people who already know each other. “To have a stranger incident is really unusual.”

Jackson said that counseling services is proud of the way the campus came together to help protect each other on Sunday night. She said, “The students really put ‘Stand Up, Don’t Stand By’ into action.”

Reported Sexual Assaults on College Campuses Per Year

Source: 2014 Campus Security Report, Shepherd University