As a record number of universities (198 to be exact) have come under more than 250 ongoing federal investigations into allegations that they mishandled cases of sexual assault the White House has announced new rules for future visits of top officials to college campuses.

Under the policy, top members of the administration including the President, the Vice President, their wives and members of the cabinet will no longer visit universities whose leaders do not thoroughly investigate accusations of assault or do not punish perpetrators seriously.

This policy is just another step the White House is taking to show that there needs to be a better system for dealing with these problems on our college campuses.

In 2014, the White House created a Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault and the “It’s On Us” initiative - an advocacy program about sexual assault awareness and prevention.

Earlier this year, in February, Vice President Joe Biden introduced Lady Gaga’s powerful performance at the Academy Awards where she performed Til it Happens to You, a song produced and featured for the documentary, “The Hunting Ground," that details the incidences of sexual assault on college campuses.

Biden also, wrote an open letter to the survivor of the Stanford sexual assault committed by Brock Turner, whose lenient sentence by a California court in June made global news after his victim's impact statement widely circulated on the internet.

Although, all of these efforts has definitely made progress for preventing on-campus sexual assault, it is survivors and student activists who have consistently called for a culture shift regarding sexual assault.

Like Emma Sulkowicz’s performance art senior thesis, “Carry That Weight” turning a mattress into a symbol of protest to Dana Bolger and Alexander Brodsky’s co-founded Know Your IX to educate students about their rights.

I am a part of a student-run organization, SARA (Sexual Assault Response Advocates), on my campus that consists of trained faculty, staff, and students who organize awareness activities, provide 24/7 advocacy services and serve as an educational resource regarding sexual assault for our community.

As a member of SARA, I understand what is most helpful if I know someone who has been assaulted, I know what is required of my college, what I can do, what others can do, ways we can take action, how we show solidarity with survivors, and how we can create our own media campaign.

In addition to SARA, the focus has expanded beyond victims to bystanders, too. I am also, apart of the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program that emphasizes how bystanders can prevent, take leadership, and address sexual assault.

As important as it is to have prevention and response strategies in place like these two groups I am a part of, as a college student, the culture change is about the entire college - it’s our community refusing to tolerate sexual assault!

I have seen this taken place at my college through hosting events like "The Glow Run", participating in "Project: Not Asking For It" and "The Clothesline Project", attending Greek Week "SARA Presentation" to even supporting "the 22 percent" on our campus.

If there is one thing that I know for sure, it is that from my campus to yours, our voices are powerful. We will continue to send an important message that change is necessary to ensure that all students can access an education free from sexual assault.

Author’s Note: Any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient falls under “sexual assault” in this article.