Most people look to their phones as a way of acquiring the daily news on the world today. For Kutztown University’s students, cell phones are just another way of socializing, but there is the occasional crime alert text sent out to keep the students informed. Kutztown University, like many other schools, tries their best to protect their students and create a safe learning environment. However, those who receive crime alerts and emails about our campus know sexual assault and rape are one of the main problems at Kutztown University.

After reading the brief, insensitive text or email from public safety, a student can only wonder who the victim and perpetrator are. Since most of the descriptions Public Safety includes can pertain to many people on campus, it is hard to find the perpetrator and sometimes the cases go unsolved. Other times, the victim could be sitting in class with their perpetrator, but are too afraid to speak up in fear of what happens next.

There are several groups dedicated to fighting this situation such as HEART at KU, which is under the instruction of the Berks Women in Crisis (BWIC). This group is located at the Women’s Center in room 126 Old Main. Their main focus is providing counseling services for those who have been sexually assaulted or raped, as well as raising awareness about the subject.

Some students feel as though what HEART is doing is important for the community, but at the same time it isn’t enough. Katie Fusciardi, a senior at Kutztown University, has created a new student organization called “Student Campaign Against Rape” (SCAR).

Fusciardi has big plans in mind to raise awareness about this problem. When asked what SCAR is doing differently than any other support group on campus. Instead of keeping the information at a center, the group plans to “take the information to the student body, tell them what their rights are, tell them what the laws are, tell them the statistics and how they can get involved with changing things”. Fusciardi said to Odyssey Kutztown.

The new organization plans on handing out a survey around campus to find out what the students know about sexual assault and rape. Once the group has an idea on what the student body knows, they plan on educating students on what constitutes rape. Some meetings will be held to discuss ways of preventing a possible sexual assault or rape such as self-defense tactics, or the implementation of rape kits on campus. Other meetings will be held as support groups for students to talk about incidents they have experienced and how they can receive help.

According to Title IX, school staff members are required to confront and report any acts of harassment or discrimination based on sex that they hear, read about, or see in order to protect the students. Acts of harassment include sexual advances, bullying, name-calling, graphics, and harmful or humiliating actions. This affects Kutztown University if a staff member overhears students’ conversations about a sexual assault or other form of harassment. The staff member is required to approach the students and report it so public safety can write up a case about the assault.

Although Title IX is in effect to prevent harassment, Katie Fusciardi feels it will discourage students from telling their stories if they aren’t ready to open up cases about the assaults.

“We are going to figure out a way to work with and around Title IX so that we can still get people talking about what happened to them. The officers are students; students are not required to report. Faculty and staff are required to report. Therefore when we have our support groups it will probably be a faculty-less meeting because we want people to open up and talk about their situation,” says Fusciardi.

The new group, SCAR, has already begun talking to Jesus Peña, Title IX Coordinator and Associate Vice President of Equity and Compliance, about receiving specific training on how to handle sexual assault and rape situations. Jesus Peña also works with Public Safety on these issues and according to SCAR, they will also be working closely with Public Safety.

There have been complaints from students around campus that Public Safety is inconsiderate when dealing with delicate circumstances. When some students try reporting cases of sexual assault or rape, Public Safety questions them on whether they are under some sort of influence. Although drinking underage is a crime, incidents of sexual assault and rape are a higher priority when both acts are presented in the same scenario. It is Public Safety’s duty to handle the situation in a respectful manner according to the victim.

Public Safety also struggles with these scenarios because there aren’t many people reporting these incidents. Most students are afraid of reporting because they may have been under an influence when the occurrence happened and feel they will get in trouble instead of receiving the help they deserve.

One Kutztown University student, Bryanna Stipa, feels as though most of the time, the victim knows their perpetrator but is too afraid to “rat them out.” In some situations, the perpetrator could have been the victim’s friend or maybe have mutual friends. In fear of judgment from mutual friends or being called a liar, the victim won’t report the case. Stipa has heard a lot on this problem because she knows people who have gone through it. There also is the fear people will accuse the victim of making the story up.

Katie Fusciardi makes similar points compared to what Bryanna Stipa believes.

“I have a lot of people that are important to me that have been victims. I don’t want anymore of my friends or my classmates to come to me crying because this happened to them. Sometimes the crying isn’t even from the assault it’s from how people treat them afterwards. I just wanted to create a safe environment where people could deal with this issue” says Fusciardi.

The faculty and students of Kutztown University can all agree that sexual assaults and rapes are happening on campus. Various clubs are teaming up with Public Safety to raise more awareness and prevent these occurrences from happening. Most people understand the difficulty in these situations, but look forward to receiving a different kind of crime text alert or email announcing that the perpetrator has been caught.