In light of the alleged rapes by three Carson High School
students in De Neve Plaza last December, sexual assault has become
a growing concern on campus.
“The rapes of last year have changed the mind-set of
probably every female at UCLA,” said Daisy Tran, a
second-year comparative literature student.
Fear for one’s personal safety is not the only issue that
has resulted from this incident. Many people now question how many
assaults actually get reported.
Sexual assaults are a concern not only at UCLA since they occur
across college campuses at an alarming rate.
Between one in four and one in five female college students has
experienced rape or an attempted rape during their college years,
according to a Department of Justice study in December 2000.
Perhaps what is most surprising is how few of these incidents
are being reported.
Only 38 percent of all rapes are reported to police, and less
than half of reported rapes result in convictions, according to the
2002 National Criminal Victimization Study.
In recent years, according to published reports by the National
Organization for Women, multiple universities have been cited for
violating the Clery Act, which stipulates that institutions of
higher education are required to disclose campus security
information.
Administrators often convince sexual assault victims to utilize
the college’s disciplinary system instead of the legal system
by promising that the matter will be handled quietly, the reports
said.
“College disciplinary boards have no business adjudicating
rape cases. They should be turned over to the criminal justice
system. These boards do not have the training or the authority to
be judges,” said NOW Executive Vice President Kim Gandy, a
former prosecutor.
Although UCLA was indicted for underreporting crimes in 2000, it
has now shown to be compliant with the Clery Act.
“The Department of Education’s Report released on
March 31 shows UCLA is compliant and I have no evidence that says
otherwise,” said S. Daniel Carter, executive vice president
of Security on Campus, Inc.
The procedures for filing sexual assault through UCLA is done
through the Dean of Students, and it is the Dean of Students who
determines the validity of the charges, according to Senior
Associate Dean Cary Porter.
If the Dean of Students deems the charges fair, and if the
accused does not admit to the charges, a hearing takes place,
Porter said.
The hearings are arbitrated by the Student Conduct Committee,
which is run by two students, one graduate and one undergraduate,
one staff member and two faculty members, including a law professor
who chairs the committee.
Each of the committee’s members is appointed by the
chancellor.
If the accused are found guilty by a simple majority of the
Student Conduct Committee, they will recommend appropriate
sanctions for the student to the vice chancellor.
The police has no involvement with any of these decisions.
“We don’t require for any person who reports the
sexual assault to go to the police, but we certainly tell them that
is an option for them,” Porter said.
“We encourage everybody to report sexual assaults to the
police department,” said UCPD community relations officer,
Nancy Greenstein.
If the police then finds the charges to be valid, the report is
forwarded to the district attorney or city attorney, who then makes
a decision on whether or not to prosecute the suspect, Greenstein
said.