Lake Forest College’s Director of Health and Wellness, Dr. Jennifer Fast, has required all students and faculty to complete a sexual misconduct online training by Everfi, whose mission is to help students and faculty acknowledge critical life issues such as alcohol abuse and sexual assault prevention.
Ninety-seven percent of the college completed this training. Dr. Fast said the survey “indicated that students and faculty think the college is responsive in addressing rape culture and language.” Haven, the sexual misconduct training course, teaches students and faculty that they can take action if they see misbehaving peers, and that they can refrain from being a bystander if an incident occurs.
Dr. Fast wants “students and faculty to feel like they live in a happier and safe community.” “People shouldn’t feel afraid to stand up and speak out,” she said. What most students don’t know is that the Federal Government enforced the Campus Save Act with Title IX Legislation, requiring every College to take action toward ensuring a safe environment. However, the college had already taken steps before the government enforced this.
People shouldn’t be afraid to stand up and speak out. -Dr. Jennifer Fast
A student affairs committee , called Coalition Against Sexual Misconduct, is hosting the It’s On Us Campaign—a nationwide event where people pledge to keep men and women safe from sexual assault as well as not to be a bystander. Committee members hope they will get support from Student Government to implement the It’s On Us Campaign . “ It’s important for all students and faculty to make well informed decisions about sex and relationships; and to feel confident in intervening in problematic situations related to these issues.
“One way that Lake Forest College is striving to provide an environment that is safe and healthy is by addressing sexual and relationship violence through educating the community about sexual misconduct and related resources that are available,” said Dr. Fast in a collegewide announcement and email. Most students felt that the online training was educational and that it attempts to ensure a safe college environment for students to feel comfortable in. However, not all students agreed this training would be helpful since a lot of students have grown up learning about sexual misconduct since middle school. They ended up participating because they did not want to pay the $40 fee for not completing it.
Overall, it seems as if Lake Forest College students believe that no student should have to experience a traumatizing night, but many do not believe that sexual misconduct and assault will be deterred by the mandatory online training.
