An average of 20 women per hour are sexually assaulted in this country — a horrifying statistic that likely doesn’t even begin to encompass the accurate number of women affected. We must be cognizant of the severity of sexual violence, particularly on a college campus that has had so many related incidents. As a student body, it’s important for us to be well versed in the resources Binghamton University provides to both prevent and combat sexual assault. As members of the BU community, it is our responsibility to be aware of sexual violence, how it is defined and what it could look like in a college campus setting. Students enter college with greatly varying levels of education on these sensitive subjects — some students may feel they are knowledgeable in sexual violence prevention and affirmative consent, yet the peer sitting next to them might have never have heard of these concepts. The disparate backgrounds our students possess cannot be ignored and must be considered when new students come to BU. We have to expect that not everyone has the same knowledge of consent and sexual health.

The 20:1 Interpersonal Violence Prevention Program, named after to the statistic mentioned in my first sentence, is a model that works to ensure that the education students receive on sexual violence is comprehensive, informing all BU students regardless of their background or familiarity with sexual violence. Founded by BU, the cultivated three-tier prevention program is also student-led, making it far more digestible in terms of relatability and interaction. For years, 20:1 was a required training for all incoming freshmen at their BU orientation. Eli Gordon, an undergraduate intern for the 20:1 program, described the program by saying, “We have different programs depending on what would suit the group best. We have bystander programming to talk to people who might find themselves in bystander situations often, [and] consent programming for freshmen who need an introduction to these concepts that could be foreign to some people.” The program utilizes many user-friendly exercises to promote awareness like “The Consent Game,” which presents realistic scenarios for the audience to work through that deal with consent, healthy relationships and bystander intervention.

In 2020, 20:1 was removed from freshman orientation altogether. Now, only BU athletes and Greek life members are required to complete the training. The interactive quality of a program like 20:1 is an extremely important criterion for an effective sexual violence program. Holding an in-person program encourages students to stay more engaged and absorb more of the shared information, which enables them to practice healthy habits when it comes to sex and relationships. Despite this, BU has replaced the in-person program that once ran at all new student orientations with an online layout after fall 2019 — this decision was made prior to the pandemic, which bars any explanation related to COVID-19 and remote learning. The decision to substitute an in-person program with a virtual screen that enables students to click through for completion was an extremely wrong choice made by BU’s administration. When asked to compare the online format to past in-person trainings, Gordon explained that “these programs that people click through, you really don’t get that same engagement as when you take someone who is a member of the student community, someone that the audience can actually relate to, who talks to them about examples and scenarios that can draw comparison to what people experience in real life.” The virtual program that substitutes this training is just a formality given by the school to tick off their boxes. It allows administration to claim their students have been adequately educated on sexual violence when that is rarely the case. A robot could click through the prevention training and it would be deemed complete. The structure in which information is given at these programs is crucial and sensitive, as the way it is delivered impacts the retention rate.

As members of the BU community, we must not settle when it comes to something as important as sexual violence prevention. These programs should be held in a format that is most effective, and we all know firsthand after experiencing remote classes that far less information is absorbed virtually. Regardless of where you come from, all of us can be a little more aware. Unfortunately, sexual violence is an issue that has affected many students, which gives all the more reason for each one of us to hold ourselves accountable to stay educated. As a student body, we must advocate for adequate sexual violence prevention programs that extend far past hitting the “complete” button on your laptop and closing the screen.

If you are interested in getting more involved — and I highly encourage that you do — 20:1 is looking for new interns for the upcoming semester to dedicate some of their time to this meaningful program while also gaining class credit. The discussion on sexual violence and prevention must continue. This conversation is entitled to continuously take up space, continuously be revisited and reexamined. BU is an excellent school to be a part of — now let’s all do what we can to make it safer.

In light of a topic like this, I want to make it known that any person reading this who feels triggered or can relate to such a sensitive topic that there are resources available to help support you. You are not alone. For more resources on sexual violence, check out https://cultureofrespect.org/resources/, http://www.cvac.us or https://www.rainn.org.

Madison Grahm is a junior majoring in English.