Some students are concerned that policy changes implemented by the University in the two and a half years since former University student Yeardley Love was murdered by her ex-boyfriend George Huguely haven’t been as effective at making the community aware of the signs of relationship abuse as administrators intended.
The changes since the high-profile murder include revisions to the Sexual Misconduct Policy and procedure, as well as a new criminal disclosure requirement instructing students to inform the University of violations if they are more grave than a minor traffic infringement. University administrators intended these changes to help victims of domestic violence deal with abuse after being victimized.
Because Huguely showed signs of alcohol abuse and violence before he shook Love to death during the spring of 2010, rules such as the criminal disclosure requirement are meant to be preemptive.
Dean of Students Allen Groves said the criminal disclosure requirement for University students is a useful tool in helping the administration detect students with histories of violence or recurring alcohol abuse.
“As the [disclosures] come in we evaluate what happened in each case, look up a specific criminal court record if it is accessible online and call that student in for a meeting if warranted,” Groves said.
With the appointment of Marsh Pattoe as an associate dean of students responsible for monitoring all student criminal profiles, Groves said this year signifies a big change in the University’s approach to criminal disclosure processing.
Certain students, however, say the line between knowing how to respond and knowing when to respond is unclear.
The University lacks education initiatives that teach students the art of detecting relationship abuse in themselves or in their colleagues, said third-year College student Emily Renda, a member of Sexual Assault Facts and Education.
“I would like to see a section of the Safety & Security talks for first years used to address the warning signs of bad relationships so that everyone has that information from the start,” Renda said.
The University also requires first-year and transfer students to take Alcohol-Wise, a substance awareness survey which seeks to educate individuals about the consequences of habitually misusing the drug.
But evaluating students’ retention of information provided in programs such as Alcohol-Wise is difficult, said Vice President Patricia Lampkin, the University’s chief student affairs officer.
“You can never judge.” Lampkin said. “We want to ensure that we have provided the baseline of information.”
Students still can’t recognize the indicators of relationship abuse, even with the Alcohol-Wise program, the revised Sexual Misconduct Policy, the criminal disclosure requirement and other student-led anti-abuse initiatives, Renda said.
“There’s a lot of ambiguity about what constitutes emotional abuse and how to help a friend who might be experiencing it,” she said. “Given that emotional abuse can be an indicator of future physical abuse, it’s really important for students to be able to understand what that kind of emotional manipulation looks like and be able to speak up.”
Student involvement in domestic violence awareness swelled immediately following Love’s death, but interest has since dwindled, Groves said.
“In the immediate aftermath we met with the student leaders and talked about what we could put in place that could be led by students, and the outcome was [Let’s] “Get Grounded,” an education program centered around bystander behavior,” Groves said.
The bystander effect, defined on Stall Seat Journals all across Grounds, is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals watching an incident fail to report an emergency because of the presence and non-action of the other people.
The University’s efforts, however, have not gone unnoticed to some. Groves said there has been a resurgence of interest in the bystander effect this year.
In addition, the community is taking steps toward making people aware of the bystander effect and pushing community members to action, said Amelia Nemitz, fourth-year College student and President of Sexual Assault Peer Advocacy, .
“The whole University community is making great strides toward higher reporting rates,” Nemitz said.
But these issues aren’t easy to tackle.
“Sexual assault and dating violence are tough issues, and regardless of their position in the media spotlight, it’s not that common for people to take up the issue personally and act on it,” Renda said.
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