The orientation video new De Anza students see regarding sexual misconduct was taken off of MyPortal on Friday, June 1 and an interactive quiz is slated to be put up in its place within a month.
The misconduct video called, ‘Not Anymore’ had been in the orientation material for years, and was situated in an ‘orientation’ link under the ‘student’ tab in MyPortal.
“We are changing it because honestly,” Title IX Coordinator Stacey Shears said during an interview in the administration building on May 31, “counselors have felt that the ‘Not Anymore’ video could be a little triggering for people who have experienced any kind of sexual misconduct.”
Replacing the video is a sexual violence prevention interactive quiz by eCheckup To Go, a company offering “online interventions for behavior change.”
“We’re probably looking at another month [for the replacement video],” Laura Watson, executive assistant, said.
The reason for the gap of a month before the new resource is available is because of logistics around contract negotiations.
The De Anza website describes Title IX as a federal mandate that prohibits discrimination and harassment in educational settings.
The removal of the ‘Not Anymore’ video is not the only change to De Anza’s Title IX related activities.
Shears said the Trump Administration tightened rules regarding the standard of proof for substantiating Title IX claims and eliminated the requirement to resolve claims within 60 days.
“It does not surprise me but I did not know that [about new guidelines],” said Julia McDowell, 32, psychology major in a conversation outside of the planetarium at De Anza College.
These changes come while The New York Times published last August that the Department of Education was examining its policies regarding campus sexual assault.
In addition to the orientation video students see when they begin are awareness campaigns on campus such as, ‘It’s on Us’ and ‘One Love.’
“That’s[‘One Love’ campaign] more about domestic relationship violence,” Watson said.
One of the activities that still remains is the quarterly distribution of sexual violence awareness t-shirts during club day in the main quad by the ‘One Love’ campaign.
In reference to cooperation with FHDA police, Shears said claims are usually only reported to authorities if a minor is involved, as required by law.
Shears says a common issue her office deals with under Title IX is stalking related incidents.
“I kinda thought that maybe like catcalls and comments would be the main thing,” Ryan Tran, 21, marketing major. “But yeah, it’s kinda scary to think about that so many people are followed and that’s such a common thing.”
The Title IX page on De Anza’s website provides definitions, contacts and resources for people to find. Shears said her office is working to make the keywords more intuitive for people to find the webpage on the website.
“You don’t have to take feeling so uncomfortable for so long because you don’t want to offend someone,” Shears said.
Shears said the Title IX office could always use more resources especially given the prevalence of sexual violence on campuses in America.
“We can always do more to like, make things better,” Justin Quevedo, 20, communications major said.
Take our quick survey about sexual assault on De Anza College’s campus:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N6B66HB
Listen to the full interview with Stacy Shears, Title IX Coordinator:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/el0fmvos4dzgb3e/Stacy.m4a?dl=0
Title IX webpage on De Anza College’s website:
https://www.deanza.edu/titleix/index.html
New York Times article referenced in the story:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/opinion/weakening-college-sex-assault-policies.html
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