At Elmira College, Senator Gillibrand Meets Students and Leads Organizing Effort to Combat Sexual Violence on College Campuses

Press Release

At a round table meeting at Elmira College, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was joined today by students and officials from Elmira College and other area colleges, as well as survivors, advocates, and law enforcement to discuss bolstering efforts to combat sexual violence on college campuses. According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, college campuses in New York reported 388 forcible sex offenses and over 5,000 offenses nationwide in 2013.

In February Gillibrand reintroduced a strengthened version of her bipartisan bill The Campus Accountability and Safety Act (S.590) after receiving input from survivors, students, colleges and universities, law enforcement, and advocates. Gillibrand's legislation would flip the current incentives of a broken system to provide real accountability and transparency from higher education institutions. The legislation would professionalize the response to and reporting of sexual assaults that occur on campuses to better protect and empower survivors of campus sexual violence, while also protecting the rights of accused students.

The legislation would secure landmark reforms for how colleges and universities address and report incidents of sexual assault that occur on their campuses. It incorporates feedback from key stakeholders to strengthen how student surveys are conducted and strengthens newly required training standards. The provisions safeguard both survivors and accused students. It extends the amount of time survivors have to file a case with the Department of Education, and sets new notification requirements for both survivors and accused students involved in the campus disciplinary process.

"Right now, some colleges and universities are more inclined to expel a student for cheating on an exam than for committing sexual assault," said Senator Gillibrand. "We know this problem is pervasive and too often swept under the rug. This bipartisan bill is a new path forward to protect students by flipping the incentives and holding schools accountable. I am grateful to the survivors and advocates whose work inspired this legislation. Our work isn't done, and now we need to work together to spotlight this problem, raise awareness, and organize around getting this bill passed so we can make our colleges safer and more transparent."

"Elmira College is pleased to host Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and her guests for this important roundtable discussion. The personal trauma experienced by victims and survivors of sexual offenses undermines the process of learning, is fundamentally inconsistent with the mission of higher education, and offends the very basic standards of community behavior. Sexual offenses have no place in our community and will not be tolerated. We commend the Senator for leading this effort to protect students and boost accountability and transparency at colleges and universities," said Elmira College President, Dr. Ronald Champagne.

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