NICOLAS MARTINEZ

This one is a quick one. Here’s my question: if we have laws place to prevent from sexual harassment and assault within the workplace – granted, the industry sometimes changes whether these laws are effectively enforced or not – why don’t we have those same sort of guidelines on universities? If the four year college setting is meant to train our young adults and educate them to be successful functioning humans in the “real” world – ie. the workplace – then why aren’t we placing serious scrutiny onto social conduct on college campuses?

If a co-worker were to sexually harass a fellow co-worker, they could file with HR and hopefully have some sort of recourse. What happens on a campus when a student harasses another student? Aren’t they suppose to be training themselves to act like adults? Should they not follow the same expectations as in the workplace? And to whom does a young student go to for safety, action, and consequences.

College campuses should see themselves as a cohesive unit similar to a corporation. They do so when it concerns revenues, tuition hikes, and cost-cutting measures, but when it comes to more soft issues like protecting survivors or providing superb mental health services, they fall short. But campuses need to shy away from the hands-off method of the past. Colleges need to take a new approach to managing their concerned parties – in this case the students. Let’s say that the administration is the government or board members, and the students (and professors) are constituents or employees, respectively. Colleges should take on what I call the “Costco method” – your employees are assets rather than liabilities. Colleges all too often treat students as liabilities that need to be taken care of or discarded when it becomes too costly.

These kids are humans too. They are assets to the growth of the American university system and to the economy as a whole. If we don’t start looking out for our young adults in campus environments, then we’ll surely all lose. Let’s protect them and prioritize avenues for sexual assault survivors to find assistance and comfort. They are important. They are human.