Spurred on by student protest over the University's understanding of date rape, campus groups have responded with a wave of new definitions to guide the College in drafting a new policy.

Two different definitions were presented to College administrators after a year of discussion. yet, it remains unclear how the University will recouncile the divergent views and adopt a policy acceptable to all parties.

In February, the Date Rape Task Force--composed of faculty, students and administrators--defined date rape as sex "which occurs without the expressed consent of the person."

The long-awaited report also recommended that undergraduates participate in disciplinary proceedings in all so "peer dispute" cases.

Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 expressed general support for the Task Force report, saying he had "no objection" to letting students participate in judging of date rape cases.

But Jewett insisted on barring students from other sensitive Ad Board cases and business.

In response to the Task Force report, the Undergraduate Council adopted a measure which defined date rape more narrowly, calling it intercourse despite the "expressed unwillingness of the victim."

"[Rape] is having sex with some one when they've said 'no' or physically expressed no...when no one [indicates] anything, it's not rape," says Vice Chair Malcolm A. Heinicke '93, who sponsored he measure.

The resolution was subsequently amended to to include a category called "sexual negligence." The intent of the new category is to punish non-consentual sex, while not treating it as rape, according to Effie K. Anagnostopoulous '92 who proposed the amendment.

The term encompasses acts in which the initiator "fails to elicit consent resulting in the physical or psychological harm of the victim."

But the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) questioned the council's right to set policy and its ability to define date rape. RUS threw its support behind the Task Force report's definition of date rape.

And of course, perennial pundit Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz threw in his two cents, branding the campus discourse on date rape as "amateurish"

"When you're drafting things like this, you need professionals," he told The Crimson last month. "[The discussion] bears all the hallmarks of enthusiastic amateurism."

Acquaintance rape reappeared on the campus political scene when The Crimson in fall 1990 reported a case in which a second-year law student allegedly raped an undergraduate woman sleeping in her dorm room.

Student outrage surfaced when The Crimson quoted Jewett saying that many date rape cases occur because of drunkenness and lack of communication.