This lack of understanding, however, is something the Washington University administration and students are working together to change.

Members of the Advisory Committee on Sexual Violence and Prevention (ACSVP) are moving forward with plans to hire an assistant director of sexual assault prevention and education.

Over the summer, the committee chose three preliminary candidates to interview for the position. The three candidates, whose names cannot be released publicly due to a human resources policy for new hires, will be visiting campus on separate days beginning next week.

Each candidate will be interviewed in a daylong process by the steering committee within the ACSVP as well as its advisory committee, which is chaired by Assistant Professor of Education Mary Ann Dzuback and includes several University faculty members and undergraduate and graduate students.

A separate interview with University student leaders will also take place, involving members of Men Organized for Rape Education, Committee Organized for Rape Education, Sexual Assault and Rape Anonymous Helpline and other groups.

“We feel that the candidates who are coming are all excellent candidates with the credentials we’re looking for,” said Jill Stratton, associate dean of students.

There will also be three open forums for all students, faculty and staff of the University to meet the candidates. The forums will consist of a 30-minute presentation by the candidates, followed by a question-and-answer session. The forums are on Aug. 31, Sept. 10 and Sept. 15.

“Their topic [during the forum] is essentially addressing sexual assault and violence on college campuses,” Stratton said. “How they present that is up to them. We want to see their style and how they interact with the students, since that is an important part of the position”

Following the forums, the committee hopes it will be able to reach a decision, though Dzuback and Stratton both say they do not yet know when exactly the position will be filled.

“That depends on how the search goes,” she said. “But searches can be complicated and much depends on locating the best candidate, and then dealing with the candidate’s requirements and commitments, which has to be done before bringing her/him to campus.”

Still, Dzuback says she hopes a candidate will assume the position by spring 2010.

Alan Glass, director of Student Health Services, emphasized the importance of hiring “a person with the proper credentials, experience and personality.”

“The position will remain open until we find the right individual,” he said.

Coordinator will work with multiple groups on campus

In his or her work on preventing sexual assault and educating the University community about the issue, the candidate selected to the position will receive a great amount of support from Stratton and Jami Ake, lecturer in humanities and assistant dean in the College of Arts & Sciences.

“We realized that even though we have a support system of students, there was a gap in the coordination of the prevention of this issue,” Stratton said.

The director will work out of the Habif Health and Wellness Center on the South 40, according to Dzuback.

“The assistant director will be coordinating efforts with the police, student groups, the Habif Health Services office and the director and other assistant directors, the [judicial board], all groups dealing with the issues and problems that involve sexual assault and relationship violence,” Dzuback said.

Selection of candidates comes after years of planning

Though efforts to create the position have been underway for almost a decade, the administration has not pursued the task as aggressively until now.

The biggest push in the University’s efforts to address sexual assault came in February 2007, when a man who was not a University student entered a suite in Myers Hall and raped a female student.

Arrested by the Clayton Police Department in March 2007, the perpetrator, William Harris, pled guilty and received a 25-year sentence this past April.

Though the incident reinvigorated the issue and emphasized the University’s need for the assistant director position, Stratton said a significant amount of time still passed between the former Committee on Sexual Assault’s initial recommendation and the actual coordination of search efforts.

This was partially due to the 2008 retirement of former assistant vice chancellor Karen Levin Coburn, who had been a key player in the process.

“The University really cares about this issue and there are a lot of people from faculty and staff to students who are very committed and passionate about this issue,” Stratton said.

With additional reporting by Kat Zhao

Susan Marine, former director of Harvard’s Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response and current director of its Women’s Center, addresses Washington University students, faculty and staff on Thursday afternoon in Ursa’s Fireside. (Sam Guzik | Student Life)

Around 30 Washington University students and faculty attended a question-and-answer session Thursday evening with Susan Marine, the former sexual assault prevention and education coordinator at Harvard University.

Marine, the former and founding director of Harvard’s Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response and the current and founding director of the Harvard College Women’s Center, spent Thursday consulting with the University’s Advisory Committee on Sexual Violence and Prevention (ACSVP). The ACSVP has been preparing to hire a director for a similar position and is currently deciding the goals, procedures and resources of the University’s own sexual assault prevention and response program.

The committee hopes to select a director by July 1, according to Jami Ake, co-chair of ACSVP and assistant dean in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Many at the University see the position as essential in coordinating among student groups, faculty and legal resources to ensure that victims of sexual assault receive the support and counsel they require, as well as in promoting a healthier and more understanding atmosphere on campus.

Some view Harvard’s office as a model program. In its first year, reported incidents of sexual assault skyrocketed from 4 to more than 200.

In its commitment to involve students in every step of the selection process of the University’s director, the ACSVP wanted to ensure that the session was open to the public. Ake and fellow ACSVP Co-chair Jill Stratton, assistant dean of students, stressed the need for transparency and student involvement.

“I get the sense lately that students have felt excluded from some of the decision-making that’s been happening,” Ake said. “I want the opposite to be true for this, and I don’t know a better way to do this than to say, ‘Here’s the best information that we’ve got going; ask [Marine] what we can’t think to ask her.’”

Marine addressed what the University as an institution can do to promote knowledge of and combat sexual violence, and emphasized the long-term benefit of studying how to help victims.

“Most people will know a person who is a survivor of violence. They may not know a person at Wash. U., but eventually they will. I think the institution can send messages of, ‘This is life knowledge that will be useful for you at a later time, even if you don’t think it is now,’” she said.

Marine said that while Washington University and Harvard are comparable—both are highly selective liberal arts universities with similar student bodies, similar institutional climes—the University, in her view, has a slightly more conducive environment for the kind of institutional change she would like to see happen.

“I actually see more people interested here in making sure that this gets up and runs successfully,” she said. “I certainly had a core group of supporters at Harvard, but I’ve never seen that many people at a talk [like there are today]. If that many people show up to hear the consultant talk I think, ‘Oh my gosh, how many people will show up to see the person you might hire?’”

Marine noted the enthusiasm she had seen among students at the meetings and then at the question-and-answer session.

“They could have said, ‘No, busy. It’s the day before the last day of class.’ These are just people who care. I think that’s a huge plus,” Marine said.

Marine said that one of the biggest problems in establishing a healthier environment is apathy or hostility among segments of the population—what she calls “virulent disinterest.”

“There’s always going to be a large subset of people who think this doesn’t apply to them, or they know a little bit about it and they’ve already made up their mind about it,” Marine said. “One of the biggest things this person can do is be willing to be an educator and work with that resistance, and that’s a very hard thing to do.”

As for how the hired director can combat such disinterest, Marine had specific advice.

“I think by being methodical about how she or he builds relationships here, in other words, figuring out where the strongest packets of resistance are, and developing relationships with people who can help you get into that realm, [the director can combat resistance],” she said. “It’s up to the person to be diligent and committed to building relationships.”

Marine recommended a pragmatic and innovative approach to combating sexual violence.

“The person should be creative. We don’t actually know everything we need to know to solve this problem yet. This person needs to remain open to learning new information and taking in new evidence that comes forward about how to address it,” Marine said. “The person has to be really interested in building relationships with people who are not invested yet. The third thing that’s essential is that the person is interested in taking some risks, maybe willing to go out on a limb and take some creative approaches and work with faculty.”

According to Marine, one thing that University students can do is think about the ways in which their own social environments do or do not condone sexual violence.

“Last time I checked, administrators and faculty are not the ones who set up parties. I think helping students to think about, ‘What are the ways in which my party may or may not be a safe environment for other people?’” she said. “Students can make a huge difference by paying attention to their environments and making changes that would make sexual violence less likely.”