Sexual violence awareness is rising on college campuses, and DePauw is in on the trend.
This week, Dr. David Lisak, a national figure on sexual violence prevention research, presented a convocation and training session dealing with the topic.
"College campuses will be held accountable for sexual violence," Lisak said during the convocation. "If you're not taking care of cases adequately, you're seen as violating the civil rights of students."
Many campuses consider sexual violence taboo for this reason. Most people show a reluctance to talk about it, and many avoid the topic altogether. However, situations like the Penn State child molestation scandal have given colleges a new and increasingly drastic demand to take preventative measures.
"The issue is getting more and more attention, and it's getting more and more heated," Lisak said. "Universities are getting increasingly frantic."
The meeting pointed out that most rapes are committed by non-strangers to the victim and that most rapes are planned.
Common precursors to campus rape included finding a target, inviting her to a party and getting her intoxicated, according to an anonymous college student interviewed by Lisak.
Lisak interviewed 2,000 college students over two decades, finding that about one in 16 admitted to committing rape. Furthermore, he found that 90 percent of rapes on college campuses are committed by serial rapists, or people who commit rape multiple times.
Freshmen and new students especially are routine targets because they are young and new to campus.
Other potential victims are heavy drinkers.
In fact, 90 percent of all campus rapes happen under the influence of alcohol, according to a study conducted by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
At this point, sexual crime is a legitimate concern to colleges all over the country.
In a location that doesn't have courts, prosecutors and formal investigations, such as a college campus, sexual violence and crime can more easily be masked.
According to Lisak, it's time to stop using that as an excuse.
"Regardless of where we're talking about, we're talking about serious crimes by serious criminals," Lisak said.
Recent statistics and exposés have urged colleges to take sexual violence on campus more seriously.
Conversations at DePauw sprouted after students discovered that the number of sexual assaults on campus had increased for three years in a row. From six reported in 2009, to seven the next year and to 10 reported in 2011.
It is the amount that went unreported that haunts people's minds though.
In fact, sexual assault awareness group Code TEAL endeavored to put a face on rape victims in an overall effort to inform others of sexual assault on campus last year.
Code TEAL aspires to give a definition to sexual assault and violence to others on campus.
"Some people think of a stereotypical stigma, such as a guy in a hood or a total stranger," said Olivia Carmel, a senior and member of Code TEAL. "That's not always what it is, and our goal is to teach people that."
Concern about sexual violence was prevalent on campus last spring especially, but it was not the beginning. Four years ago, Jeannette Johnson-Licon, current coordinator of the Intervention/Prevention Project as well as director of the Cultural Resource Center, applied for a grant from the United States Department of Justice's Office of Violence Against Women, along with others from her office. Though it took a while, she and her associates received the grant in 2011. Three hundred thousand dollars from the department made it possible to secure the speaking engagement of Lisak, as well as those of Jackson Katz and Byron Hurt earlier this year.
"We're not unique in being concerned about this issue," Johnson-Licon said. "The difference is that we have a great deal of institutional support in the grant to address the issue comprehensively and directly."
In addition to convocation on Tuesday, Lisak conducted a workshop for local law enforcement and campus officers to give them effective strategies and insights in preventing sexual violence and recognizing cases of sexual crime.
At this event, Lisak talked about identifying offender behavior and investigative and interviewing tactics. From 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, enforcement officials from campus and the community attended the workshop on preventative strategy.
Meanwhile, prevention tactics are being discussed all over campus.
"Students need to look out for each other more," Carmel said. "If you see someone intoxicated, and it looks like they don't know what they're getting into or don't like what they're getting into, you should intervene. It could be awkward, but in the long run you're doing someone a favor."
The drive to prevent sexual violence on campus doesn't end here - not as long as there's still time left for government support.
"As an institution through grants, we are continuing to bring issues of sexual violence to the floor," Licon said.