The Guilford College Handbook gives students no definition of consent in relation to sexual conduct, which poses a problem in judicial cases and the community’s role in preventing sexual misconduct. “Usually these cases are really emotional and not always clear-cut,” said Alyson Kienle, Associate Dean for Campus Life. “Sometimes it comes down to believing one student over another.”

Kienle, along with the rest of the Campus Life staff, created a list of proposed changes, including defining consent, for the 2006-07 handbook. These items are pending approval at the April 5 Senate meeting.

The new definition of consent for the handbook gives examples of what does not count as consent – silence, implied approval based on previous actions, and anything said under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.

The current handbook’s only reference to consent states only one of these cases: “Consent cannot be legally given when alcohol or other drugs have been consumed.”

The Guilford community expressed concern in reaction to assault incidents on campus, prompting a desire to re-define consent.

“If the policy only said consent is not given by saying ‘no’, variations in how people respond to stress in sexual situations are being ignored,” said Kathryn Schmidt, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology and Director of Women’s Studies.

Two students, Tim Scales and Andy Freedman, created a group for men to help end sexual violence on campus.

“I feel like men are indoctrinated with the message that our sexuality is a form of oppression against women. This needs to be redefined through the issue of consent, which is what our

group hopes to do,” Freedman said.

A group of students involved in the Women’s Studies program, including Leise Gergely (Hall Director for Shore hall), organized the “Take Back the Night” event on March 23. The event focused on asserting women’s power in a world that makes it difficult to do so.

“A lot of people came up to me and said ‘you don’t even understand how much this has helped,'” Gergely said. “I was like, ‘wow, this has really sunk in.'”

Combating sexual misconduct on campus begets the implementation of

consequences.

“We have to make policies broad enough to cover unforeseen things in the future, but specific enough to enforce,” Kienle said.

One unforeseen problem involves the system of charges for sexual misconduct. This year, a charge falls into one of three levels, and the judicial board decides if the accused is guilty of the charge in the appropriate level.

“We want students to have the option to come forward with charges on multiple

levels. This would give the board more leverage and flexibility to decide what

happened,” Kienle said.

Another problem involves the current handbook’s policy allowing additional sanctions if either party admits to using alcohol or other drugs.

Kienle advocates that, even if it applies, students involved in sexual misconduct should not be charged with alcohol or drug violations.

“We don’t want students to be scared of getting in trouble for drugs or alcohol when they’ve been

sexually violated,” Kienle said. “At that point we are more concerned about what has happened to them.”

According to faculty and

students, these new policies should stiffen the

consequences factor for committing sexual misconduct while the student events raise awareness and develop a new level

of respect among the Guilford community.

“We get a lot of messages about societal definitions about sex and consent that we know are not good. Guilford students

want to do better than that,” Schmidt said, “and they can.