Mandated sexual assault training due Nov. 28

Jamal Muhammad and Sonia Waraich,
Contributor and Campus Editor

The campus community must finish the first portion of the Haven Sexual Assault Prevention Training by Nov. 28. Students will be sent part two to finish the training 25 days after the first part is completed and is due by Dec. 8.

The recently passed ‘Yes Means Yes’ law in California requires all students, staff, faculty, and administrators on college campuses take this type of training.

“We are trying to create a safe community on our campus so people from different backgrounds and cultures feel safe at CSUEB,” said Nyassa Love, associate vice president of risk management and internal control and Title IX coordinator.

Title IX is a law mandating the prevention of sexual assault and discrimination on the basis of sex, gender or race on college campuses.

Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 967 into law  Sept. 28 to help improve how universities handle sexual assault and rape cases.

The law also makes California among the first to clarify the standard of consent, which cannot be given if a person is unconscious, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or simply silent and unresponsive.

According to Love there are more discriminatory cases on campus than harassment cases, and no rapes had been reported to her in the past four years.

However the latest Clery Act report posted by the University Police Department this month disclosed four rapes on or near campus last year, two in the dorms.

Love said between January and August 2014 there were nine harassment, discrimination and/or retaliations claims at CSUEB, but five of the claims did not have enough evidence to be proven.

The Haven Sexual Assault Prevention Training consists of seven sections with videos, readings and activities, and an assessment given before the start and after the completion of the modules.

Students identified as campus leaders, such as athletes and students in Greek life, have to take  extra training called Bystander Prevention,” said Love.

If one of the leaders witnesses or hears about a sexual assault incident, they are trained to always report it.

Campus employees have a different program called A Responsible Employee Training, and victims can expect different levels of confidentiality depending on what kind of employee they told.

All university employees, except for medical professionals and police officers, who hear about a sexual assault allegation must report it immediately to the Title IX coordinator, and the victim does not have the right to confidentiality.

If the victim goes to a counselor or physician, he or she can expect complete confidentiality.

When reporting to the local or University Police Department, victims must request confidentiality in order to keep their names out of public records.

However, the police must still report the incident, without the victim’s name, to the Title IX coordinator and include it in the annual crime statistics report, required by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

Despite the fact that the training is mandatory the consequences for not taking the training are undetermined.


 

UPDATE: An email sent out Oct. 31 states the deadline for the training has been extended to Nov. 28 to give students more time to complete it. Initially, the deadline was set for Nov. 4.