Finally, university employees, including faculty, residential staff, and administrators, must undergo thorough training about Title IX. In many cases, survivors’ understanding of their rights under Title IX varies depending on the person to whom they happened to contact at the time of seeking support. If university employees are not trained thoroughly, they may provide inaccurate or inconsistent information to survivors about their rights and possible remedies. This training must extend beyond simple legal education. Currently, survivors of color and LGBTQ survivors are often further alienated by victim-blaming, racist, or homophobic remarks. Training for all administration and faculty to respect survivors’ diverse needs and experiences is essential.

Although rare, it is possible to spend four years on this campus without personal experience of the issue of sexual assault as a survivor, ally, or friend. This April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month will sharpen our attention on the issue as a student body. But each and every day of the year, not one of us can remain indifferent when the institution to which we belong–the school that we have so many other reasons to love—marginalizes the students most in need of its support. We can achieve a safer and more just Harvard. To realize this vision, Harvard must create an open, inclusive forum for change that stretches far beyond the month of April, one that welcomes the voices of those most affected by the policies and practices under review. Harvard must make supporting survivors mean more than a laundry list of legal compliance requirements to check off. And most of all, Harvard must treat its survivors not as liabilities, but as students.

Jessica R. Fournier ’17 lives in Thayer Hall. Emily M. Fox-Penner ’17 lives in Canaday Hall. Kate J. Sim ’14, a social studies and studies of women, gender, and sexuality concentrator, lives in Quincy House. All three are members of Our Harvard Can Do Better, which offers information about sexual assault and Title IX on its resources website at www.ourharvardcandobetter.com.